Salary Range: 47 to 65 (Currency: USD) (Pay period: per-hour-wage)

Founded in 2015, Shield AI is a venture-backed defense technology company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent, autonomous systems. Its products include Hivemind Enterprise—EdgeOS, Pilot, Commander, and Forge—as well as V-BAT and Sentient Vision Systems (wide-area motion imaging software). With offices in San Diego, Dallas, Washington, D.C., Abu Dhabi (UAE), Kyiv (Ukraine), and Melbourne (Australia), Shield AI’s technology actively supports U.S. and allied operations worldwide. For more information, visit www.shield.ai. Follow Shield AI on LinkedIn, X and Instagram.

Job Description:

Our 2025 Summer Internship program is a wonderful opportunity for rising 2026 graduates to immerse themselves in an innovative and mission driven culture. Our 10-week paid internship program will provide you with hands on mentorship, an opportunity to add real contribution to our company via your internship project, and a possible job offer at the end. You will have the chance to make lifelong friendships, expand your network, and learn all about what it's like to work in a high-growth, fast scaling tech unicorn. You'll take part in company sponsored events and enjoy exploring a new city. Read on below to learn more about this unique internship!

Are you a passionate and innovative student interested in being a part of a team building AI autopilots? Do you want to work on a product that will make a positive impact? Do you want to work alongside mission driven and values focused teammates? Shield AI is just the place for you!

This position is perfect for an individual who loves technology, solving complex challenges, wants to develop software for multiple projects, and write code with a motivated, diverse team. Shield AI is pushing the envelope by applying advanced AI solutions to real hardware systems. An ideal candidate should aspire to be a part of this industry-changing team developing and deploying advanced technology that can truly make an impact.

10 Week Project Scope & Description:

Week 1 – Present CONOP to interns while they are being onboarded
Weeks 2-3 – Interns design and plan algorithms they plan to use. At the end of each week, managers perform design reviews and give feedback. At the end of week two, the plan is finalized and the team moves forward.
Weeks 4-5 – Team shall be able to demonstrate the scenario running in simulation and communication with an AI Pilot. The goal here is to show the data flowing between components. Behavior teams shall have an environment running to be able to develop heuristic and/or RL behaviors.
Weeks 6-7 – Demonstrate behaviors in simulation which can perform multi-agent search and track behaviors for stationary target.
Weeks 8-9 – Add complexity by doing any of the following: moving targets, EW, comms degraded/denied.
Week 10 – Wrap up, enhancements, bugfixes, prep for demonstration.

Project goals and deliverables:

The CONOP is relevant to current and future projects
Interns will get a full experience of work at SAI from planning a project to executing
A joint effort can help all managers as most teammates should understand this CONOP well enough to give feedback, advice, and mentor
This effort will allow us to put together tools that have been developed by multiple teams and make sure they are ready for primetime.
Interns can leverage lessons learned from other relevant projects like Avatar, Ghost, etc.

Required qualifications:

You are an undergraduate, graduate or PhD student expected to graduate in December 2025 or Spring 2026.
Pursuing a degree in Computer Science, Robotics, or related STEM field.
Familiarity with C++
Background with the Linux operating system
Background in autonomy / robotics
Interest in aerospace engineering (preferably background in the concepts)
Great written and verbal communication.
Demonstrated history of showing ownership of project outcomes and delivering exceptional results.
Record of working hard, being a trustworthy teammate, holding yourself and others to high standards, and being kind to others.

Intern Program Dates:

June 2nd - Aug 8th

June 23rd - Aug 29th

*You MUST be available to start on EITHER June 2nd or June 23rd.

#intern

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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Shield AI is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.

Flight Systems Integration Engineering Intern

Shield AI

Compensation Overview

10 Week Project Scope & Description:

Project goals and deliverables:

Required qualifications:

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