Sr. Staff Engineer, Simulation (R2743)

Founded in 2015, Shield AI is a venture-backed defense technology company whose mission is to protect service members and civilians with intelligent systems. In pursuit of this mission, Shield AI is building the world’s best AI pilot. Its AI pilot, Hivemind, has flown a fighter jet (F-16), a vertical takeoff and landing drone (V-BAT), and a quadcopter (Nova).

The company has offices in San Diego, Dallas, Washington DC and abroad. Shield AI’s products and people are currently in the field actively supporting operations with the U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. allies. 

As a simulation engineer, you will be responsible for improving and scaling our simulation capabilities for the V-BAT and future aircraft. You will build and integrate models across our various engineering teams (e.g. Aerodynamics, GNC, Propulsion, etc.) to enable efficient and scalable simulation workflows. Your simulation solutions will be a key development 

tool for other engineers and also a critical gate in our release process.

• Design, develop, and optimize high-performance simulation frameworks. 
• Implement concurrent programming techniques to ensure efficient utilization of computational resources. 

• Develop inter-process communication mechanisms for seamless data exchange between simulation components. 
• Scale simulation environments into the cloud using technologies such as Kubernetes. 
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including software engineers, autonomy engineers, and aerodynamics engineers, to ensure the simulation accurately reflects real-world conditions. 
• Integrate basic physics principles into simulations to enhance realism and accuracy. 
• Conduct testing and validation of simulation frameworks to ensure performance and reliability. 
• Stay updated with the latest advancements in simulation technologies and apply them to our systems. 

• Minimum of 10 years of related experience with a Bachelor’s degree; or 9 years and a Master’s degree; or 7 years with a PhD; or equivalent work experience. 
• Experience developing and delivering a simulation framework to internal or external customers 
• Solid fundamentals in math and physics 
• Experience with C++ 11 or newer in a production environment 
• Experience with Linux, git, command line tools, etc. 
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to effectively collaborate with multidisciplinary teams and external stakeholders. 
• Proven track record of successfully shipping products, showcasing the ability to navigate through development cycles, overcome obstacles, and deliver high-quality solutions to meet project deadlines and exceed expectations in a fast-paced environment. 
• You have a demonstrated record of working hard, being a trustworthy teammate, holding yourself and others to high standards, and being kind to others

• Experience with Docker, Kubernetes, and/or containerised application development 
• Experience with numerical methods, differential equations, etc.
• Experience with CUDA 

• Familiarity with rigid body dynamics (e.g. Euler’s equations, quaternions), aerodynamics, propulsion systems, etc. 
• Experience with Python 3 and data science frameworks (e.g. NumPy, Pandas, Dagster) 

• Understanding of robotics and autonomous systems, e.g. controls, sensor fusion 
• Experience with simulation frameworks such as AFSIM, NGTS, AirSim, etc.