We're looking for an Associate Sourcing Specialist to help bring innovative products to life by leading supplier purchasing initiatives and building high-performing supplier partnerships. Working across cross-functional teams, you'll help ensure critical materials and components are available to support development, production, and long-term success in a highly regulated and capacity-constrained environment.
What you'll do:
- Own the sourcing and procurement of munitions commodities across defense suppliers.
- Identify, qualify, onboard, and manage suppliers capable of meeting cost, quality, delivery, and technical requirements for prototype, development, and production builds.
- Request and evaluate supplier quotations, perform cost analyses, negotiate pricing and lead times, and execute purchase orders and long-term agreements where appropriate.
- Partner cross-functionally with engineering, program management, legal, and finance to align sourcing strategies with program and business objectives.
- Build and manage strategic supplier relationships, including sole-source and limited-source vendors, to ensure continuity of supply.
- Ensure compliance with ITAR, EAR, DFARS, and other applicable U.S. government regulations and export controls.
- Identify and mitigate supply chain risks, including geopolitical, capacity, and regulatory risks specific to munitions.
- Continuously identify opportunities for cost savings, lead time reduction, process improvements, and supplier consolidation.
Required qualifications:
- Education & Experience: Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Business, Engineering, Operations, or a related field, or equivalent combination of education and relevant experience, including exposure to defense or munitions programs or Aerospace Programs.
- Defense & Munitions Expertise: 2-5 years of experience with munitions or defense-related commodities in strategic sourcing, purchasing, or supply chain.
- Regulatory Knowledge: Demonstrated expertise in ITAR, EAR, DFARS, and U.S. government contracting requirements, including experience working with export-controlled materials and compliance frameworks.
- Analytical Acumen: Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to manage multiple suppliers and priorities in a fast-paced manufacturing environment.
- Security Clearance (if applicable): Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance, depending on program requirements.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Business, Engineering, Operations, or a related field, or equivalent education and relevant experience
- 2-5 years of experience with munitions or defense-related commodities in strategic sourcing, purchasing, or supply chain
- Exposure to defense, munitions, or aerospace programs
- Expertise in ITAR, EAR, DFARS, and U.S. government contracting requirements
- Experience working with export-controlled materials and compliance frameworks
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
- Ability to manage multiple suppliers and priorities in a fast-paced manufacturing environment
- Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance, depending on program requirements
What the Team is Saying
Shield Compensation & Benefits Highlights
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Healthcare Strength — Medical, dental, and vision coverage are described as strong and affordable, and offerings include a mental-health assistance program. Overall impressions point to good plan value for many employees.
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Retirement Support — A 401(k) with employer matching is highlighted positively, with accounts describing a company match and favorable experiences. Current match formulas and vesting are noted as worth confirming.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — Full-time hires receive equity (often via RSUs), positioned as a meaningful component of total rewards. A double-trigger structure is noted as potentially deferring taxes until a liquidity event.
Shield Insights
What We Do
At Shield you won't wait years to see your work reach the field. You'll build hardware and software that operates in the real world right now, in the hands of the people who depend on it. Hivemind, our AI pilot, has been flying since 2018. It has flown more than 30 platforms, including an F-16, and it now sits under a U.S. Air Force production contract for Collaborative Combat Aircraft. When you write code or shape a system here, you contribute to technology with a proven flight record and a clear production future. V-BAT flies intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions with an operational record that stretches from Ukraine to the Indo-Pacific. It delivers eyes where they matter most, in the most demanding conditions on earth. The teams behind it watch their work get tested where the stakes are real. X-BAT takes its first flight this year. It's an AI-piloted fighter that needs no runway, built to operate where traditional aircraft can't. Join now and you help shape a program at its earliest, most formative stage. That's the kind of ground-floor work that defines a career. Do the most impactful work of your life, on problems that matter. Autonomy at this level asks a lot of you. You'll take on problems in perception, planning, and control that few teams anywhere are equipped to solve. You'll work across disciplines, from aerospace and robotics to machine learning and systems engineering, alongside people who hold themselves to an exacting standard and expect the same from you. Our mission is clear: protect service members and civilians with intelligent systems. That purpose runs through every decision, every design review, and every deployment. It's why the work here carries a weight you can feel. Ready to join our mission? Explore our open roles and find where you fit.
Why Work With Us
Founded in 2015 by a former Navy SEAL, Shield builds AI pilots and uncrewed aircraft. Veterans aren't an afterthought here, they're at every level. It's why the work carries weight: AI pilots and uncrewed aircraft flying real missions, from Ukraine to the Indo-Pacific, protecting service members and civilians.
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Hybrid Workspace
Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.
