Lead Application Developer @ Shield AI

Salary Range: 157595 to 236393 (Currency: USD) (Pay period: per-year-salary)

Founded in 2015, Shield AI is a venture-backed defense technology company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. Its products include the V-BAT aircraft, Hivemind Enterprise, and the Hivemind Vision product lines. 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, YouTubeand Instagram.

Job Description:

We’re looking for a Palantir Foundry Developer to lead the design and implementation of digital manufacturing and supply chain solutions that enable Shield AI to scale production with speed, precision, and resilience. You will be a lead developer embedding Foundry into the core of Shield AI’s operational ecosystem—building applications that serve as our MES, material planning engine, supplier portal, and data-driven cockpit for the factory. This role requires deep technical acumen, strong business intuition, and the ability to build modular systems that replace fragmented legacy tools with a single-source operational platform. You’ll partner with engineering, operations, and Palantir teams to accelerate our digital transformation and set the standard for what agile defense manufacturing should look like.

What you'll do:

Act as the technical lead for Foundry-driven manufacturing, operations, and supply chain solutions, building and integrating enterprise tools that support production planning, material movement, part traceability, quality workflows, and real-time execution
Drive the transition of operational execution to Foundry as the central operational hub
Architect and implement scalable workflows across manufacturing, engineering, supply chain, and quality teams using Foundry's workflow, object, and ontology layers
Develop reusable frameworks and templates to rapidly deploy digital manufacturing applications with standardized UX and system logic
Lead cross-functional technical efforts with internal developers and Palantir partners; mentor new Foundry developers and guide solution architecture
Integrate LLMs and AI into the Warp Speed OS to automate decisions, accelerate root cause analysis, and reduce manual data interactions
Partner with product owners and domain leaders to define technical requirements, translate operational needs into data and workflow models, and drive execution through agile sprints
Ensure success of large-scale digital initiatives by aligning with engineering, finance, and executive stakeholders while managing technical debt and system performance
Support the build-out of future-proof tools including supplier portals, digital work instructions, automated inspection systems, and Kanban-driven material flow—all within the Foundry environment
Ensure solutions are robust, testable, and adaptable across a rapidly evolving defense manufacturing landscape.

Required qualifications:

5+ years of experience with Python and React
2+ years of hands-on Palantir Foundry development
Proven experience integrating and deploying Large Language Models (LLMs) or AI-driven workflows into operational systems
Technical depth in data engineering, system architecture, and software engineering
Strong problem-solving ability and the capacity to thrive in ambiguous, fast-moving environments
Proficiency in backend/frontend languages (Python, Java, TypeScript, etc.)

Preferred qualifications:

Experience with Palantir AIP, Carbon, and Ontology SDK (OSDK)
Expertise in Prompt Engineering, RAG, or other LLM tuning methodologies
Familiarity with manufacturing system architecture, including MES, ERP, and supply chain systems
Experience building data pipelines, analytics tools, and operational dashboards using Foundry
Strong understanding of API-based integration across distributed platforms
Background in engineering fields like Computer Science, Aerospace, Software Engineering, or Industrial Engineering

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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.

Lead Application Developer

Shield AI

Compensation Overview

What you'll do:

Required qualifications:

Preferred qualifications:

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