At Shield AI, we’re redefining the battlespace with autonomy-enabled airpower. As part of our global expansion, we’re looking for a bold and visionary Director – USMC Advanced Systems to lead strategic sales, customer engagement, and capture efforts for our X-BAT and other advanced systems supporting USMC markets. This is a high-impact role at the cutting edge of aerospace and defense innovation. You’ll be on the front lines, driving adoption and revenue for Shield AI’s technologies by engaging directly with top-tier USMC stakeholders.
You’ll bring a rare mix of defense sales expertise, technical credibility, and a deep understanding of USMC missions and acquisition frameworks. From identifying new opportunities to closing complex deals and launching early-stage programs, you’ll own the entire advanced system business development lifecycle for USMC customers.
The Advanced Systems Program Director – Marine Corps will lead Shield AI’s Advanced Systems programmatic capture actions involving Dept of the Navy opportunities with a focus on USMC programs. This individual will guide, shape, and inform X-BAT and other advanced system capture actions as Shield AI’s lead agent for program office interaction and design.
What you'll do:
- Lead Shield AI’s work with acquisition offices shaping and responding to solicitations.
- Drive teams toward multi-year strategic Dept of Navy (DoN) program wins and close high-value contracts.
- Build and maintain trusted relationships within program offices and manage industry partner relationships.
- Anticipate customer needs and influence policy, requirements, and solicitations to positively align with Shield AI portfolios.
Required qualifications:
- 10+ years strategic capture / DoN acquisition experience
- Deep knowledge of DoN/USMC acquisition and/or requirements processes
- Experience with emerging technologies
- Strong leadership, communication, and analytical skills with the ability to cross-collaborate across technical and operational teams
- Active Secret clearance (TS preferred)
- DAWIA Program Manager - Advanced certification
Preferred qualifications:
- Advanced degree in business, engineering, or a related field
- Navy/Marine Corps program capture within previous 5 years
Skills Required
- 10+ years of strategic capture or Department of the Navy acquisition experience
- Deep knowledge of Department of the Navy and/or USMC acquisition and requirements processes
- Experience with emerging technologies
- Strong leadership, communication, and analytical skills
- Ability to collaborate across technical and operational teams
- Active Secret security clearance
- DAWIA Program Manager Advanced certification
- Advanced degree in business, engineering, or a related field
- Navy or Marine Corps program capture experience within the previous five years
- Top Secret clearance
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.
