Director, Autonomy Applications Engineering

Company: Shield AI
Location: San Diego
Posted on: January 21, 2026

Job Description:

The Director of Applications Engineering will lead Shield AI’s global team of Hivemind Application Engineers responsible for deploying Hivemind with customers across defense and allied nations. This leader will own technical customer success from onboarding through operational deployment—ensuring mission outcomes, technical excellence, and value realization at scale. This role requires a blend of technical depth, customer empathy, and organizational leadership to drive Hivemind’s adoption across unmanned platforms worldwide. What youll do: Customer Technical Lifecycle Management • Develop and implement a comprehensive technical customer engagement strategy from initial onboarding through full operational deployment and ongoing expansion. • Oversee the creation and execution of detailed phased engagement plans (e.g., 3-6-9-12 months) tailored to customer needs and strategic objectives. • Champion the development of customers as “sovereign capabilities,” enabling them to become self-sufficient operators of Hivemind. Team Leadership & Development • Build, mentor, and lead a high-performing global team of Application Engineers. • Manage distributed teams across the globe (USA, Japan, Korea, Singapore, EU etc.). • Foster a culture of customer obsession, proactive problem-solving, and technical excellence. • Own and drive training programs for managers and ICs • Set and drive team OKRs to meet company OKRs Customer Technical Education • Set standards and drive creation of high-quality customer training materials. • Oversee the creation of technical documentation, best practice guides, and learning materials. Delivery Excellence & Project Oversight • Drive execution of key customer projects, including CONOP demonstrations, integrations, and production deployments. • Oversee execution for high-impact events such as Tech Days and customer demonstrations. • Implement processes for milestone tracking, risk management, and timely delivery of deliverables. Cross-Functional Collaboration & Voice of the Customer • Partner with Sales and Business Development to ensure seamless pre- and post-sales transitions. • Collaborate with Product and Engineering to feed customer insights into the Hivemind roadmap. • Work with Marketing to produce case studies, success stories, and public communications. • Build relationships with key customer engineering and leadership contacts. • Contribute to reviewing and responding to customer RFIs and RFPs. • Contribute to creating and reviewing Scope of Work documents for customer proposals. Strategic Relationship Management • Build long-term relationships with executive stakeholders and program leads. • Ensure customers achieve measurable mission success with Hivemind. • Develop strategies to create “highlight moments” and referenceable customer outcomes. Required qualifications: • M.S degree in Computer Science, Aerospace Engineering, Robotics or a related field required; Master’s or MBA preferred. • 15 years in customer-facing technical leadership (solutions/support). • Proven success leading globally distributed technical teams. • Deep understanding of enterprise software integration, SDKs, and mission-critical systems—ideally within AI/ML, autonomy, or defense technology sectors. • Strong program and project management skills; experience overseeing complex deployments. • Excellent communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to engage both technical and executive stakeholders. • Experience working with defense primes or international government customers is highly desirable. • Customer-Obsessed: Passionate about understanding customer needs and driving their success. • Strategic Thinker: Ability to see the big picture, anticipate future customer needs, and align enablement efforts with business goals. • Execution-Focused Leader: Proven ability to translate strategy into action and deliver results. • Collaborative & Influential: Adept at working cross-functionally and building strong internal and external relationships. • Technically Credible: Comfortable diving into technical details up to and including reviewing code and engaging with engineering teams. • Adaptable & Resilient: Thrives in a fast-paced, dynamic environment. Preferred qualifications: • Ph.D. degree in Computer Science, Aerospace Engineering, Robotics or a related field required; • MBA • Hands on development experience in C/C++ • Hands on edge autonomy applications development experience

Keywords: Shield AI, Malibu , Director, Autonomy Applications Engineering, IT / Software / Systems , San Diego, California