Principal Engineer, Software (R5285)

The Special Projects team is chartered to operate effectively within ambiguity. While this team does not own any software products, it tactically and strategically impacts the development of all foundational Hivemind products and leverages those technologies to rapidly deliver low-TRL solutions. This work happens shoulder-to-shoulder with the product teams in some cases, and in a forward-sprinting manner within the Special Projects team in other cases. The result is direct contribution to products in the former case, and development of reference implementations in the latter. The Special Projects team also functions as a pipeline for product and solution engineering teams across the organization. Individuals who enter the Special Projects team rapidly gain depth and breadth in their understanding of the Hivemind software ecosystem. This positions them well for leading technology development effort across the product and solution organization.

What you'll do:

• Design and prototype generative AI experience focused on accelerating autonomy development
• Work closely with members of the Office of the CTO to crystallize the vision of the Hivemind product and its documentation
• Lead the user experience design of Hivemind Generative AI
• Work closely with the technical leads of Hivemind Commander (mission planning, command and control, air-ground communications) and Hivemind Design (configurations, test and evaluation, rehearsal, analysis) to enhance the user experience of their products
• Conduct user research to understand user personae and their needs
• Investigate competing products and their user experiences, synthesize findings to present to engineering and product leadership

Required qualifications:

• 15+ years experience developing large, production quality software systems.
• Excellent grasp of software development and coding principles with high productivity in a mainstream language (e.g. Typescript, C++, Go, Python, Rust, etc.).
• Strong knowledge of modern software engineering best practices; Experience with Git and code management tools; Good software hygiene regarding code documentation, unit testing, bug tracking.
• 5+ years of experience with React/Node/Typescript/Javascript development.
• 5+ years of experience with Web applications development ("Front-End" or "Full-stack").
• Deep understanding full-stack web development (Document-Object Model (DOM), browser APIs, standards, semantics, Websockets, HTTP Streaming and Server-Sent Events (SSE), Client and UI state management; best practises and strategies, as they apply to React-based rendering, Advanced SPA routing, URL-based state persistence,sharing mechanisms, Seamless content loading states and progressive rendering techniques.)
• Multi-modal input handling (text, files, images, audio). Experience with client-side LLM Context Management
• Fluid intelligence that allows one to operate effectively in sometimes ambiguous conditions, while finding opportunities to drive technical efforts and force multiply.
• Experience with Linux, Docker, and CI/CD environments.
• Hands-on experience with a major cloud platform (Azure, GCP, AWS).
• This role requires travel to a Shield AI location 1-3 times per quarter

Preferred qualifications:

• Experience with geospatial data and WebGL.
• Experience with Playwright UI testing
• Experience with Electron (or similar).
• Building debugging/inspection UIs for generative AI systems
• Experience with user experience design video games
• Experience designing for “Low Code” or “No Code” systems
• Experience and/or comfort reading C++ and/or Python and/or Typescript

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Full-time regular employee offer package:

Pay within range listed + Bonus + Benefits + Equity

Temporary employee offer package:

Pay within range listed above + temporary benefits package (applicable after 60 days of employment)

Salary compensation is influenced by a wide array of factors including but not limited to skill set, level of experience, licenses and certifications, and specific work location. All offers are contingent on a cleared background and possible reference check. Military fellows and part-time employees are not eligible for benefits. Please speak to your talent acquisition representative for more information.

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