Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. Its products include Hivemind autonomy software, V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, and Aechelon simulation and synthetic reality technologies. With offices and facilities across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific, Shield AI’s technology actively supports operations worldwide. For more information, visit www.shield.ai. Follow Shield AI on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and YouTube.
Job Description:
As a Simulation Framework Engineer (L1) on the Simulation Framework Team, you will help develop and maintain the software that connects modeling and simulation (M&S) environments with core autonomy software. You will work alongside experienced engineers to write C++ and Python code, build adapters and plugins, and support reusable software components that reduce the simulation-specific complexity exposed to autonomy developers.
This is a hands-on software engineering role intended for an early-career engineer who is interested in defense simulation, autonomy, distributed systems, and technical integration. You will contribute to simulation environments and frameworks such as NGTS, AFSIM, Aechelon, HMSSimBlocks, and the emerging Hivemind Simulation Framework (HMSF).
You will support the team’s migration of HMSSimBlocks capabilities to HMSF by helping implement baseline adapters, port selected modules, test functionality, and maintain compatibility for programs that continue to use HMSSimBlocks. You will also assist integration teams by investigating framework, plugin, interface, and data-exchange issues under the guidance of senior engineers.
What you'll do:
Develop, compile, test, and maintain C++ and Python software for simulation adapters, plugins, and interfaces.
Contribute to baseline integrations for simulation backends such as AFSIM, NGTS, Aechelon, HMSSimBlocks, and HMSF.
Assist with the transition from HMSSimBlocks to HMSF by porting simulation features, updating interfaces, validating behavior, and documenting migration considerations.
Help maintain and improve existing HMSSimBlocks integrations for programs that still depend on the legacy framework.
Support the development of reusable simulation components and plugin patterns that enable other engineering teams to integrate custom sensors, vehicle models, effects, or mission capabilities.
Assist with implementation and maintenance of CIGI-based plugins and interfaces that enable communication between simulation frameworks and Aechelon image generators.
Help verify functional behavior across simulation plugins, including Common Scenario Format (CSF) file loading, DDS communications, GRID interface requirements, and Hivemind SDK compatibility.
Diagnose simulation and autonomy integration issues by reviewing application logs, network traffic, DDS messages, API behavior, configuration files, and call stacks.
Write and maintain unit tests, automated integration tests, developer documentation, and example configurations.
Participate in code reviews, engineering design discussions, bug triage, and collaborative debugging with simulation, autonomy, and integration teams.
Required qualifications:
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or a related technical discipline; equivalent practical experience may be considered.
Foundational programming experience in C++ and Python through coursework, internships, personal projects, research, or professional experience.
Familiarity with Linux development environments, including command-line tools, compiling software, and basic scripting.
Understanding of core software engineering practices, including Git-based version control, debugging, code review, and automated testing.
Familiarity with object-oriented programming, software interfaces, APIs, and modular software design.
Exposure to networking concepts such as TCP, UDP, client-server communication, message passing, or data serialization.
Interest in modeling and simulation, autonomy, robotics, distributed systems, game engines, visualization systems, or defense technology.
Strong analytical and troubleshooting skills, attention to detail, and willingness to learn from senior engineers and cross-functional partners.
Ability to obtain and maintain an active U.S. SECRET security clearance; U.S. citizenship is required.
Preferred qualifications:
Internship, academic project, research, or personal-project experience involving simulation, robotics, autonomy, game engines, embedded systems, or vehicle modeling.
Exposure to modeling and simulation tools or frameworks, including AFSIM, NGTS, Unreal Engine, Unity, Gazebo, ROS/ROS 2, MATLAB/Simulink, or similar environments.
Familiarity with middleware or distributed communications technologies such as DDS, ROS 2, ZeroMQ, gRPC, or message queues.
Basic familiarity with CIGI, DIS, HLA, CSF, or other simulation and interoperability standards.
Experience writing unit tests or automated tests using tools such as GoogleTest, pytest, CTest, or similar frameworks.
Experience using build systems such as CMake, Make, Bazel, or similar tools.
Familiarity with containerized development environments, including Docker or Podman.
