Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) Engineer - Ranger (R6391)

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 .

You will build and lead the Guidance & Control (G&C) team for Ranger, a fully autonomous aircraft designed for conventional runway takeoff and landing. You will own the team’s technical direction, development roadmap, and project execution, delivering flight control and flight-autonomy capabilities from requirements and architecture through flight verification.

What You'll Do

Build and lead the Ranger G&C team. Define staffing needs, establish clear technical ownership, and develop the team through mentorship, design reviews, and hands-on problem solving.

Own the G&C development roadmap. Translate program objectives into a phased plan for requirements development, algorithm maturation, simulation capabilities, software integration, verification, and flight testing. Establish measurable milestones and align priorities with program leadership and partner teams.

Own project execution and delivery. Scope and estimate work, allocate resources, manage schedules and cross-team dependencies, and track progress against deliverables. Identify technical and schedule risks early, drive mitigation plans, and communicate trade-offs and resource needs.

Define and deliver the G&C architecture, including Auto-Taxi and ATOL algorithms, inner- and outer-loo