Shield AI is seeking a Product Strategy & Operations Sr. Lead, X-BAT Family of Systems (FoS) to strengthen the strategy, proposal development, and operating rigor of the X-BAT FoS Product organization.
As a core member of the X-BAT FoS Product team, you will support priority U.S. and international pursuits by translating leadership direction, customer requirements, and program priorities into compelling capture materials, proposal storylines, and coordinated execution plans. This is primarily an internal-facing role requiring consulting-grade analytical rigor, exceptional written communication, strong PowerPoint skills, and the ability to manage complex, cross-functional proposal efforts.
What you'll do:
- Partner with X-BAT FoS Product leadership to develop and refine capture strategies for priority domestic and international pursuits.
- Translate customer priorities, mission needs, and program objectives into differentiated capture approaches, win themes, proposal storylines, and messaging frameworks.
- Develop leadership-ready strategy presentations, pursuit-planning materials, internal decision-support products, and capture artifacts.
- Lead development of analytically rigorous responses to RFIs, RFPs, RFQs, white papers, capability statements, and other customer-facing materials.
- Work across technical, program, business development, finance, legal, international, and product teams to turn complex inputs into clear, persuasive customer narratives.
- Ensure proposal materials align with customer requirements, Shield AI’s differentiated capabilities, approved messaging, and X-BAT FoS Capture direction.
- Provide editorial, analytical, and strategic quality control for proposals, written products, briefings, and related customer materials.
- Support proposal kickoffs, content-development planning, reviews, and color-team activities.
- Track proposal and solicitation-response activity across the X-BAT FoS Product portfolio, including milestones, owners, dependencies, reviews, risks, and key decision points.
- Develop and maintain capture trackers, reporting mechanisms, operating cadences, and dashboards that provide clear visibility into active pursuits and proposal progress.
- Monitor consistency and quality across capture and proposal products to ensure alignment with X-BAT FoS strategy, approved messaging, and organizational priorities.
- Identify process gaps and bottlenecks across the capture lifecycle and implement practical improvements.
- Support knowledge management and development of reusable capture tools, templates, content, and best practices.
- Coordinate cross-functional contributors to enable timely, aligned, and high-quality proposal execution.
Product Strategy and Proposal Development
Capture Operations
Required qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree with 8+ years of relevant experience, Master’s degree with 4+ years of relevant experience, or PhD with 2+ years of relevant experience.
- 2+ years of experience in management consulting, capture strategy, capture operations, business development, proposal strategy, proposal operations, or another high-rigor analytical environment.
- Demonstrated experience supporting complex defense, aerospace, intelligence, or U.S. Government pursuits.
- Strong ability to develop and write detailed RFI, RFP, RFQ, white paper, or other customer-facing solicitation-response materials.
- Exceptional PowerPoint, written communication, editing, and quality-control skills.
- Demonstrated ability to develop capture storylines, win themes, messaging, and differentiated value propositions.
- Strong analytical and conceptual problem-solving skills, with the ability to structure ambiguous problems and translate complex information into actionable outputs.
- Experience managing cross-functional workflows, deliverables, and deadlines across multiple concurrent efforts.
- Ability to work collaboratively across teams and influence stakeholders without direct authority.
- U.S. citizenship required, with the ability to obtain and maintain a security clearance.
Preferred qualifications:
- Experience in a strategy or operations consulting role supporting defense, aerospace, or public-sector clients.
- Experience supporting capture efforts for U.S. Government contracts.
- Experience with DoD or U.S. Government acquisition processes, requirements development, and competitive proposal environments.
- Experience supporting U.S. and allied or international defense opportunities, including Foreign Military Sales, Direct Commercial Sales, or international business development.
- Familiarity with uncrewed systems, autonomy, tactical aviation, mission systems, AI-enabled capabilities, or advanced aerospace programs.
- Experience supporting proposal reviews, managing color-team processes, or serving in a proposal management, capture management, or strategy role.
- Customer-interaction experience is preferred but not required.
Skills Required
- Bachelor’s degree with 8+ years of relevant experience, master’s degree with 4+ years, or PhD with 2+ years
- 2+ years of experience in management consulting, capture strategy, capture operations, business development, proposal strategy, proposal operations, or another high-rigor analytical environment
- Experience supporting complex defense, aerospace, intelligence, or U.S. Government pursuits
- Ability to develop and write RFI, RFP, RFQ, white paper, and other customer-facing solicitation-response materials
- Exceptional PowerPoint, written communication, editing, and quality-control skills
- Experience developing capture storylines, win themes, messaging, and differentiated value propositions
- Strong analytical and conceptual problem-solving skills
- Experience managing cross-functional workflows, deliverables, and deadlines across multiple concurrent efforts
- Ability to collaborate across teams and influence stakeholders without direct authority
- U.S. citizenship and ability to obtain and maintain a security clearance
- Strategy or operations consulting experience supporting defense, aerospace, or public-sector clients
- Experience supporting capture efforts for U.S. Government contracts
- Familiarity with DoD or U.S. Government acquisition processes, requirements development, and competitive proposal environments
- Experience supporting U.S. and allied or international defense opportunities, including Foreign Military Sales or Direct Commercial Sales
- Familiarity with uncrewed systems, autonomy, tactical aviation, mission systems, AI-enabled capabilities, or advanced aerospace programs
- Experience supporting proposal reviews, color-team processes, proposal management, capture management, or strategy roles
- Customer-interaction experience
What the Team is Saying
Shield AI Compensation & Benefits Highlights
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Healthcare Strength — Company materials highlight comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage with mental-health support and an EAP. Third-party benefits summaries also portray health coverage as a strong component of the package.
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Retirement Support — Offerings include a 401(k) with employer matching, cited on the careers page and independent benefits directories. Multiple sources indicate a match exists, though exact formulas have varied over time and warrant confirmation.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — Company communications describe equity for all full-time hires and stock benefits as part of total rewards. Independent listings also note company equity/RSUs as a standard element.
Shield AI Insights
What We Do
At Shield AI, 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 AI 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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