Software Engineer jobs in Washington, D.C.

Palantir

Full-time · Washington, DC · $135,000 – $200,000

Palantir is building autonomous systems that combine sensors, AI, and real-time actuation for military and commercial edge applications. This role suits engineers who want to develop and deploy cutting-edge systems integrating hardware, software, and intelligent decision-making in austere environments.

Listed on Palantir’s careers site · Apply there ↗

Shield AI

Full-time · Washington, DC · $220,800 – $331,200

Shield AI seeks a senior autonomy engineer to develop control systems and multi-agent coordination capabilities for maritime platforms, balancing theoretical rigor with practical integration into operational systems. This role suits experienced engineers comfortable moving across diverse programs and blending control theory with optimization and software architecture.

Listed on Shield AI’s careers site · Apply there ↗

Shield AI

Washington, DC · $160,000 – $240,000

Shield AI is seeking a senior engineer to develop autonomous control and coordination capabilities for maritime platforms, working across motion planning, multi-agent systems, and tactical behaviors. The role suits someone who can balance sophisticated control theory and optimization with pragmatic software integration for real-world defense systems.

Listed on Shield AI’s careers site · Apply there ↗

Shield AI

Washington, DC · $187,531 – $281,297

This is a Staff-level software engineering role focused on developing autonomy and control systems for military platforms across air, sea, and space domains. It suits someone who can balance sophisticated control theory and optimization with practical software integration to deliver real-world capabilities for defense applications.

Listed on Shield AI’s careers site · Apply there ↗

Shield AI

Full-time · Washington, DC · $220,800 – $331,200

Shield AI is seeking a Senior Staff Engineer to develop autonomy and control systems for their space platforms, working across motion planning, tactical behaviors, and multi-agent coordination. This role suits someone who thrives balancing advanced theory with practical software implementation on real-world defense systems.

Listed on Shield AI’s careers site · Apply there ↗

Shield AI

Full-time · Washington, DC · $160,000 – $240,000

Shield AI seeks a Senior Software Engineer to develop autonomy capabilities for space platforms, working on control systems, motion planning, and multi-agent coordination. This role suits someone who can bridge advanced algorithms with practical software integration to deliver real-world autonomous systems.

Listed on Shield AI’s careers site · Apply there ↗

Shield AI

Full-time · Washington, DC · $152,000 – $228,000

Lead software integration of autonomous flight systems onto diverse defense platforms including aircraft, weapons, and maritime systems. This role suits experienced engineers who thrive solving cross-disciplinary technical challenges and want to see autonomy technology move from development into operational deployment.

Listed on Shield AI’s careers site · Apply there ↗

Shield AI

Full-time · Washington, DC · $150,000 – $220,000

A high-leverage infrastructure role building developer tooling and automation around generative AI to accelerate software engineering across the organization. Suits experienced engineers with expertise in build systems, CI/CD, and developer workflows who want impact that scales through others' productivity.

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Shield AI

Full-time · Washington, DC · $195,200 – $292,800

Lead the development of machine learning and computer vision systems that enable autonomous platforms to perceive and understand their environment. This role suits experienced engineers who want to bridge cutting-edge AI research with production systems while mentoring a team on perception challenges in defense technology.

Listed on Shield AI’s careers site · Apply there ↗

Palantir

Full-time · Washington, DC · $135,000 – $200,000

Join Palantir's Mixed Reality Group as a forward-deployed engineer embedding directly with customers to architect and build immersive applications that solve critical real-world problems. This role combines hands-on work with cutting-edge MR hardware, full-stack development, and direct customer collaboration in small, agile teams with startup autonomy backed by enterprise resources.

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Shield AI

Full-time · Washington, DC · $167,500 – $251,000

This role involves building and deploying machine learning models for autonomous systems, focusing on computer vision and vision-language capabilities. It suits engineers who want to move cutting-edge AI research into production systems while working cross-functionally with researchers and autonomy teams.

Listed on Shield AI’s careers site · Apply there ↗

Palantir

Full-time · Washington, DC · $135,000 – $200,000

A Forward Deployed Software Engineer at Palantir solves complex technical problems for government and enterprise customers by designing end-to-end solutions, integrating data, and iterating based on customer feedback. This role suits engineers who enjoy working directly with customers, learning new technologies rapidly, and taking ownership of projects from conception to deployment.

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Shield AI

Full-time · Washington, DC · $233,760 – $350,640

This senior engineer role involves building and deploying machine learning models that help autonomous defense systems perceive and understand their environment, bridging research and production. It suits experienced ML engineers who want to work on vision and vision-language models at scale while solving real-world deployment challenges for military applications.

Listed on Shield AI’s careers site · Apply there ↗

Palantir

Full-time · Washington, DC · $135,000 – $200,000

This role deploys Palantir's data platform to solve complex problems for government and enterprise customers, combining system design, software development, and data integration to address real-world challenges. It suits engineers who want to learn rapidly across diverse industries while working directly with customers and building solutions that matter.

Listed on Palantir’s careers site · Apply there ↗

Shield AI

Full-time · Washington, DC · $233,760 – $350,640

A leadership role designing and deploying autonomy software for military drone and aerial platforms that operate in distributed, networked fleets. You'll handle complex integration challenges across motion planning, perception, and control systems while working with real hardware and field operations.

Listed on Shield AI’s careers site · Apply there ↗

Shield AI

Full-time · Washington, DC · $195,200 – $292,800

This role leads technical integration of autonomous systems across emerging military platforms including satellites, maritime vehicles, and unmanned helicopters. The position suits experienced software engineers who can architect complex autonomy solutions from concept through field testing and who thrive working across multiple technical teams to transition research into operational capabilities.

Listed on Shield AI’s careers site · Apply there ↗