Lead Software Architect for XBAT Program · Shield AI

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 16:13:54 GMT
Engineering

Shield AI · Pay within range listed + Bonus + Benefits + Equity · onsite

Lead the software architecture for Shield AI's XBAT program across Mission, Vehicle, and Autonomy software domains. Build a safe, secure, and scalable architecture that enables high-assurance, cyber-relevant software development for an advanced airborne system and its ground stations, reporting to the XBAT Software Lead.

Key responsibilities include:

Defining and evolving the system-wide software architecture for XBAT, spanning airborne vehicle, ground station, and autonomy layers.

Translating safety and security goals into technical requirements, standards, and design patterns that guide engineers across multiple software teams.

Ensuring architecture supports safety-critical and cyber-relevant workflows, including formalizing architecture decisions, traceability, and compliance pathways appropriate for advanced airborne systems.

Driving cross-team alignment on APIs, data flows, fault handling, verification strategy, and risk management so mission, vehicle, and autonomy components integrate cleanly.

Partnering with engineering leadership, system architects, and validation teams to balance innovation speed with rigorous assurance practices.

Setting technical direction for long-term scalability: modularity, maintainability, testability, and support for future capability growth or certification needs.

Mentoring senior engineers and architects, raising the bar for design rigor, documentation quality, and architectural judgment across the organization.

Producing and maintaining architecture artifacts: high-level system diagrams, component interfaces, data models, risk analyses, and design rationales.

Leading technical reviews for major features, changes, or integration points; ensuring alignment with architectural standards and safety/security constraints.

Defining architecture governance: decision records, change control processes, quality gates, and collaboration flows among development, verification, and operations.

Collaborating with systems, hardware, and avionics teams to manage boundaries, timing, resource allocation, and failure modes that affect overall aircraft and mission performance.

Driving technology evaluation and roadmap: selecting or validating frameworks, middleware, and tooling that meet performance, assurance, and cyber-hardening needs.

Supporting external or internal readiness evaluations: providing architectural evidence, participating in reviews, and helping the program articulate compliance posture as requirements evolve.

Advocating for continuous improvement in architecture practice: metrics, architecture reviews, knowledge sharing, and onboarding for new team members.