2027 Summer Intern, Human Machine Teaming

About the Role

Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. Our Summer Internship program is an opportunity for Fall and Spring graduates to immerse themselves in an innovative and mission-driven culture. This paid internship will provide hands-on mentorship, a project with real contribution, and a possible job offer.

The Human Machine Teaming (HMT) Group within Hivemind Solutions’ Strategic Product Development department is hiring an engineering intern. HMT at Shield AI refers to the design, development, management, and assurance of adaptive relationships between end users and the systems they operate. This role will work with SDK and HMI development teams and product managers across Shield AI to enable effective product design and ensure the end product satisfies customer and market needs.

Key Responsibilities

• Become a skilled user of the Hivemind SDK and its autonomy modules, building with the same tools development teams and customers use.
• Conduct knowledge elicitation and applied human factors, front-end analysis with developers as users of the Hivemind SDK, tools such as Forge and Commander, and with other HMIs.
• Translate developer, operator, and customer needs into design, development, and HMT requirements that SDK and HMI teams can implement and test.
• Specify HMT requirements for developer-facing and operator-facing interfaces and systems, and review proposed designs against them.
• Assess whether delivered tools, code, and systems satisfy stated user requirements, and document gaps with recommended remedies.
• Define acceptance criteria and evaluation methods for HMT requirements, and maintain traceability from developer and operational need through requirement, acceptance, and robustness testing.
• Develop and maintain HMT design and development guidance, documentation, and training materials.
• Represent HMT in design reviews, architecture decisions, and trade-off discussions, making the HMT case in engineering terms.
• Convert recurring friction in the development toolchain and HMIs into durable, prioritized requirements.
• Work alongside the development team, implementing requirements in code and addressing integration and API issues.
• Feed implementation constraints and technical realities back into HMT design and experimentation.
• Support field events and operator engagements, carrying learnings into requirements for development teams.
• Travel to company, test, demonstration, and customer locations to conduct project work (approximately 20%).

Requirements & Tech Stack

• Currently pursuing a Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related technical field, with a minor/focus in human factors engineering, cognitive systems engineering, or human-computer interaction.
• Hands-on software development experience sufficient to earn credibility with engineers, reason about feasibility and cost, and read code and interfaces.
• Proficiency in Python and C++.
• Familiarity with at least one other relevant language and tool, such as JavaScript, C#, HTML, CSS, or docker.
• Demonstrated experience eliciting user needs, translating them into design or development requirements that an engineering team implemented, and assessing whether the delivered system met them.
• Working knowledge of human machine teaming and human factors concepts, including joint work requirements, and ability to reason about developer-development system interaction.
• Appreciation for the methods and contributions of human factors practitioners, designers, and operators, and ability to act as a conduit between engineering, HMT, and customer audiences.
• Experience in multidisciplinary settings, and ability to work in complex, ambiguous problem spaces and produce clear and structured artifacts.
• Strong teamwork and collaboration skills.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• U.S. citizenship required.
• U.S. DoD Secret clearance is required, with the ability to obtain and maintain Top Secret, SCI, and/or SAP-level access.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in an applications, integration, or solutions engineering role, working between customers and product engineering.
• Experience with autonomy, robotics, or simulation software, and with build, simulation, and test toolchains.
• Hands-on experience with human machine teaming, MUM-T, human-robot interaction, or applied artificial intelligence, specifically in mission autonomy applications such as UAV Groups 3–5.
• Experience with developer-experience research, developer productivity measurement, or qualitative study of how engineering work gets done.
• Familiarity with developer platforms and workflows, such as Git, GitLab, CI/CD, or cloud-native development practices.
• Familiarity with traceability methods, or with AI assurance frameworks.
• Experience with mission planning, C2, and battle management concepts, processes, and doctrine, and with ground control stations or HMIs.
• Willingness to use agentic AI to speed the path from design concept to fielded product.

Compensation & Benefits

• $48 - $67 an hour.
• Salary determined by academic level.
• Stipend to subsidize relocation costs.
• Opportunity to attend presentations from company leaders.
• Social and networking events.
• Mentorship from current Shield AI Engineers.
• Eligible for paid company holidays.