Shield AI Salary

💰 $135K–$208K salary range

Median: $168K  ·  Based on 125 public Shield AI job postings  ·  Updated June 23, 2026

This Shield AI salary benchmark is built from public job postings — no private placement data. Figures reflect the posted-range midpoint (equity is separate) and are refreshed as new postings are collected.

📊 Salary breakdown

Highest-paying open roles at Shield AI

• Territory Business Development Manager, USMC (R5167) — $270K–$400K · Growth Division
• Senior Director, Finance Transformation (R4928) — $240K–$360K · Finance Division
• Senior Staff Engineer, Flight Controls - X-BAT (R4812) — $220K–$340K · X-BAT Division
• Senior Staff Engineer, Autonomy Behaviors (R4073) — $221K–$331K · Hivemind Solutions Division
• Principal Technical Product Manager (R5249) — $220K–$330K · Hivemind Special Division
• Manager of Engineering - Autonomous Pilot Integration - Emerging Domains (R5176) — $220K–$330K · Hivemind Solutions Division
• Manager of Engineering - Autonomous Pilot Integration (R5153) — $220K–$330K · Hivemind Solutions Division
• RF - Senior Principal Engineer (R4491) — $242K–$320K · X-BAT Division
• Power Electronics - Principal Electrical Engineer (R4822) — $211K–$317K · X-BAT Division
• Principal Engineer, Survivability (R4608) — $200K–$310K · X-BAT Division

Shield AI salary by department

• hivemind solutions division: $226K median · $331K top base — Senior Staff Engineer, Autonomy Behaviors (R4073) (view JD) (17 roles)
• x-bat division: $171K median · $340K top base — Senior Staff Engineer, Flight Controls - X-BAT (R4812) (view JD) (55 roles)
• finance division: $168K median · $360K top base — Senior Director, Finance Transformation (R4928) (view JD) (9 roles)
• v-bat division: $155K median · $281K top base — Staff Engineer, State Estimation (Dallas/San Diego/Boston/DC/San Fran) (view JD) (11 roles)
• aircraft operations division: $150K median · $290K top base — Director of Production (R4782) (view JD) (15 roles)
• legal division: $125K median · $190K top base — Information Systems Security Officer (R4900) (view JD) (8 roles)

Shield AI salary by seniority

• Junior: $110K median · $137K top base — Power Electronics - Electrical Engineer II (view JD) (9)
• Mid: $118K median · $250K top base — Engineer, State Estimation (Dallas/San Diego/Boston/ DC/ San Fran) (view JD) (10)
• Senior: $150K median · $360K top base — Senior Director, Finance Transformation (R4928) (view JD) (41)
• Staff: $190K median · $340K top base — Senior Staff Engineer, Flight Controls - X-BAT (R4812) (view JD) (49)

Shield AI salary — lead & management

• Manager: $191K median · $400K top base — Territory Business Development Manager, USMC (R5167) (view JD) (11)

Shield AI salary by location

• Dallas: $155K median · $340K top base — Senior Staff Engineer, Flight Controls - X-BAT (R4812) (view JD) (66 roles)
• San Diego: $163K median · $317K top base — Power Electronics - Principal Electrical Engineer (R4822) (view JD) (6 roles)
• San Francisco: $168K median · $360K top base — Senior Director, Finance Transformation (R4928) (view JD) (3 roles)
• Boston: $155K median · $240K top base — Senior Software Engineer, Autonomy Behaviors (R4588) (view JD) (3 roles)

Remote work at Shield AI

1% of Shield AI's disclosed-pay roles are remote-friendly.

What Shield AI looks for

Most-required skills across these postings: Python (23) · CI/CD (6) · TypeScript (5) · C++ (5) · Docker (4) · React (4) · Go (3) · AWS (3) · GCP (3) · Azure (3).

About Shield AI

Shield AI is Series G stage · 1,001–5,000 employees · founded 2015 · HQ San Diego, California. This context shapes pay: later-stage, well-funded companies tend to anchor base salary higher.

Experience & background at Shield AI

Roles typically ask for around 6 years of experience (up to 15+ for the most senior). Most postings don't state a degree requirement; of the 48 that do, Bachelor's and Master's and PhD are most common.

Posted pay vs. total compensation

The figures on this page are the midpoint of each posting's advertised salary range (which, for commission roles, includes on-target earnings). Equity is a separate — and often large — component of total compensation, especially at high-growth and AI-native companies; 96% of these postings reference equity (options, rsu). Equity is not included in the medians above.

Shield AI hiring activity

Shield AI has 125 open roles right now, and this benchmark draws on 125 public job postings with disclosed pay. 43 of these roles were first seen in the last 30 days (125 in the last 90). Mostly full-time, with 4 contract roles in the mix.

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Common questions

What does Shield AI pay?
The median pay is $168K, with a typical range of $135K–$208K, based on 125 public job postings (2025–2026). Base only — equity is separate.

What is the highest-paying job at Shield AI?
One of the highest-paying open roles is Territory Business Development Manager, USMC (R5167), at $270K–$400K base.

Which team pays the most at Shield AI?
The hivemind solutions division team, at a $226K median.

Where does this data come from?
Public job postings on company career pages and public job boards — no private placement or client data.

Methodology

Posted-range midpoints (USD) aggregated from 125 public Shield AI job postings (2025–2026). Range = 25th–75th percentile; median = 50th percentile. Roles, departments, skills, and experience are parsed from the postings. Base salary only — equity excluded. Last refreshed June 23, 2026.

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