Freelance Ai Robotics Engineer Jobs in Reston, VA

Shield AI's future engineering bench is built on campus. We are looking for a Sr. Staff Recruiter to own university recruiting end to end — the campus strategy, the full-cycle hiring of every intern, co-op, and new grad, the conversion of interns into full-time engineers, and the partnership with our internship program team that makes those conversions happen.

This is a single-threaded owner role. You will run the full university recruiting lifecycle — Plan, Attract, Engage, Assess & Hire, Convert, Retain, Optimize — across a standard slate of technical roles including Software Engineering (C++, autonomy), Systems Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Integration & Test, and Mechanical Engineering, plus select business functions. You will operate with real autonomy on strategy and real accountability for outcomes: demand fulfilled on time, offer accept rates in a brutally competitive market, and a 75% intern-to-full-time conversion target.

You are equal parts strategist, closer, and program partner. You are comfortable presenting a school portfolio and ROI analysis to a VP in the morning, running a technical calibration with hiring managers at midday, and closing a rising senior with three competing offers that night.

• Own Shield AI's university recruiting strategy end to end, including the target school portfolio, annual plan, calendar, and budget
• Lead demand collection with business leaders for interns, co-ops, and intern-to-FTE conversions, driving iHIRE approvals and req postings on schedule
• Build Shield AI's campus brand through technical storytelling, faculty and career center relationships, and engagement with robotics, AI, and diversity student organizations
• Represent Shield AI at career fairs, tech talks, and info sessions, and build early pipelines of high-potential candidates ahead of req approval
• Run full-cycle recruiting for all intern, co-op, and new grad roles across software, systems, electrical, integration and test, and mechanical engineering
• Maintain a structured, bias-reduced evaluation process and run intern interview training and calibration to keep the bar consistent across teams and sites
• Extend timely offers within the standard framework by role, location, and level, and partner with Compensation on salary and housing stipend benchmarking
• Own the accepted-offer-to-Day-1 experience to reduce reneges and strengthen onboarding readiness
• Partner with the intern program team on mentorship matching, project scoping, reviews, and intern events
• Own the intern conversion cycle, from identifying full-time-eligible interns through extending return-intern and full-time offers
• Report on demand fulfillment, offer and accept rates, conversion, diversity, and school ROI, and use those metrics to reshape each season's strategy

• 5+ years of full-cycle recruiting experience, with at least 3 years focused on university, early-career, or campus recruiting
• Demonstrated ownership of a campus strategy end to end — school selection, event planning, budget, and season execution — not just requisition execution
• Track record of high-volume technical hiring for engineering roles, and of closing candidates in a competitive market
• Experience partnering directly with senior business and engineering leaders on workforce planning and demand
• Strong data instincts: you build and use funnel metrics, conversion rates, and ROI analysis to make decisions and to influence leaders
• Proficiency with an ATS and sourcing tools; comfort building process, templates, and reporting from scratch
• Excellent written and verbal communication; you represent the company credibly to students, faculty, and executives
• Willingness to travel during peak campus season
• A demonstrated record of working hard, being a trustworthy teammate, holding yourself and others to high standards, and being kind to others

• Experience recruiting in AI, robotics, aerospace, or defense technology
• Experience running or supporting an internship or co-op program, including intern-to-full-time conversion processes
• Familiarity with U.S. defense-industry hiring considerations, including export control (ITAR/EAR) and work authorization requirements for early-career candidates