What you'll do:
- Own and lead the enterprise indirect procurement strategy, aligning category roadmaps with business priorities and long-term growth plans
- Provide executive oversight for complex, high-value sourcing initiatives across all indirect spend categories
- Establish and govern category strategies, including demand management, supplier consolidation, and innovation partnerships
- Sponsor and oversee RFx processes (RFI, RFP, RFQ) for mission-critical goods and services
- Lead or approve negotiations for major contracts, including pricing models, SLAs, risk allocation, and long-term agreements
- Drive enterprise-level cost savings, cost avoidance, and value realization initiatives
- Set the strategic framework for supplier relationship management, performance management, and risk mitigation
- Build and maintain executive-level relationships with key strategic suppliers
- Partner with Legal and Compliance to oversee contract standards, negotiation strategy, and approval authority
- Ensure governance over contract lifecycle management, renewals, and commercial obligations
- Resolve escalated supplier issues and lead remediation or exit strategies as needed
- Serve as a trusted advisor to senior leaders and executives across the organization
- Translate business strategy into procurement-led solutions that balance cost, risk, speed, and innovation
- Influence stakeholders on sourcing decisions, demand planning, and total cost of ownership considerations
- Champion procurement best practices, governance, and policy adherence at the leadership level
- Provide leadership and direction to indirect procurement teams, including coaching, performance management, and capability development
- Establish scalable procurement operating models, policies, and approval frameworks
- Oversee procurement execution, including requisitions, purchase orders, vendor onboarding, and invoice resolution
- Ensure robust documentation, audit readiness, and process discipline across procurement operations
- Ensure enterprise compliance with procurement policies, approval authorities, and internal controls
- Provide oversight for SOX, FAR/DFARS, cybersecurity, and regulatory compliance as applicable
- Lead supplier risk management efforts, including financial, operational, cybersecurity, and regulatory risk
- Promote ethical sourcing, sustainability, and supplier diversity initiatives aligned with corporate values
- Define and monitor KPIs for spend visibility, savings, supplier performance, and risk
- Present procurement performance and insights to executive leadership
- Sponsor enhancements to procurement systems and tools (ERP, P2P, contract lifecycle management)
- Lead continuous improvement, automation, and digital transformation initiatives across procurement
- Contribute to enterprise governance, policy development, and long-range procurement planning
Required qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in Business, Supply Chain, Finance, or a related field (MBA or advanced degree preferred)
- 10+ years of progressive experience in indirect procurement, strategic sourcing, or supply chain leadership
- Demonstrated experience leading enterprise-level indirect spend categories (IT, software, professional services, facilities, etc.)
- Proven track record of developing and executing procurement strategies at scale
- Executive-level negotiation and contract management expertise
- Strong understanding of procurement governance, compliance, and risk management frameworks
- Experience with ERP and P2P platforms (SAP, Oracle, Workday, Coupa, Ariba, or similar)
- Advanced financial acumen, data analysis, and spend analytics capabilities
- Exceptional communication, executive presence, and stakeholder influence skills
- Demonstrated people leadership and organizational change management experience
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in Business, Supply Chain, Finance, or a related field
- MBA or advanced degree
- 10+ years of progressive experience in indirect procurement, strategic sourcing, or supply chain leadership
- Demonstrated experience leading enterprise-level indirect spend categories (IT, software, professional services, facilities, etc.)
- Proven track record of developing and executing procurement strategies at scale
- Executive-level negotiation and contract management expertise
- Strong understanding of procurement governance, compliance, and risk management frameworks
- Experience with ERP and P2P platforms (SAP, Oracle, Workday, Coupa, Ariba, or similar)
- Advanced financial acumen, data analysis, and spend analytics capabilities
- Exceptional communication, executive presence, and stakeholder influence skills
- Demonstrated people leadership and organizational change management experience
What the Team is Saying
Shield AI Compensation & Benefits Highlights
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Healthcare Strength — Company materials describe excellent medical, dental, and vision coverage alongside a mental‑health EAP. Site perks such as an onsite gym in DC and a gym discount in San Diego support a health‑focused offering.
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Retirement Support — Careers materials highlight a 401(k) with company match as part of the standard package. A Total Rewards overview emphasizes retirement features within a broader, transparent compensation view.
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Career-Linked Recognition & Rewards — Compensation for in‑demand technical and senior go‑to‑market roles is described as competitive, with visible engineering ranges and top‑end packages. This points to meaningful upside tied to role, level, and scarce skills.
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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Shield AI Teams
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Shield AI Offices
Hybrid Workspace
Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.
