At Shield AI, Prototype Manufacturing is where engineering becomes reality. Our team builds the first aircraft, develops the manufacturing processes, solves complex technical challenges, and establishes the manufacturing foundation that enables scalable production. Every prototype directly influences the future of our products and the capabilities delivered to our customers.
We are seeking an experienced Lead Prototype Technician (Level 5) to join our Prototype & New Product Launch team. This is not a traditional aerospace technician role. You will build first-of-kind autonomous aircraft, develop manufacturing processes, solve challenging technical problems, influence product design through Design for Manufacturability (DFM), and help define how our products transition from prototype to production.
As a Lead Prototype Technician, you will serve as the technical cornerstone of Prototype Manufacturing by transforming engineering intent into flight-ready hardware while driving continuous improvement across manufacturing processes. You will partner closely with Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Quality, and Production to ensure our prototype builds are successful today and scalable for tomorrow.
What you'll do:
- Build prototype, developmental, and first article aircraft from engineering concept through flight-ready hardware.
- Perform precision drilling, reaming, countersinking, riveting, fastening, torqueing, safety wiring, structural assembly, and mechanical integration.
- Execute advanced composite manufacturing including wet layup, bonding, trimming, machining, vacuum bagging, structural repairs, finishing, and final assembly.
- Perform complex aircraft modifications and structural repairs.
- Interpret engineering drawings, CAD models, GD&T, specifications, and manufacturing documentation.
- Partner with Design Engineering to provide Design for Manufacturability (DFM) feedback.
- Develop and improve manufacturing work instructions, build sequences, tooling concepts, fixtures, and standardized assembly methods.
- Support engineering validation, qualification builds, and flight test campaigns.
- Fabricate custom brackets, tooling, fixtures, and prototype hardware.
- Mentor Prototype Technicians while establishing best practices and craftsmanship standards.
Key responsibilities:
- Prototype Manufacturing Excellence
- Design for Manufacturability (DFM)
- Manufacturing Process Development
- Cross Functional Leadership
- Technical Leadership
What success looks like:
- Deliver complex prototype hardware with exceptional quality.
- Solve manufacturing challenges before they become production issues.
- Influence engineering through practical manufacturing expertise.
- Develop repeatable manufacturing processes.
- Mentor technicians and elevate team capability.
Required qualifications:
- 10+ years of aerospace manufacturing or prototype experience.
- Extensive aircraft structural assembly experience.
- Advanced composites experience including wet layup and structural repair.
- Experience with engineering development builds.
- Ability to interpret complex engineering drawings and GD&T.
- Strong troubleshooting and problem-solving skills.
- Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Security Clearance.
Preferred qualifications:
- Military aircraft, UAV, eVTOL, or rotorcraft experience.
- Prototype-to-production transition experience.
- AS9100 experience.
- A&P License or equivalent.
- Military aviation maintenance experience.
- Leadership or mentoring experience.
Why join Shield AI:
Unlike traditional aerospace manufacturing, our Prototype Manufacturing team works directly alongside Engineering to create the next generation of autonomous aircraft. You'll influence design decisions, define manufacturing processes, mentor other technicians, and build technology that protects those who serve.
Shield AI offers competitive compensation, equity participation, comprehensive medical, dental, and vision benefits, 401(k), generous paid time off, professional development opportunities, and the chance to work on some of the world's most advanced autonomous aircraft systems.
Skills Required
- 10+ years of aerospace manufacturing or prototype experience
- Extensive aircraft structural assembly experience
- Advanced composites experience including wet layup and structural repair
- Experience with engineering development builds
- Ability to interpret complex engineering drawings and GD&T
- Strong troubleshooting and problem-solving skills
- Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Security Clearance
- Military aircraft, UAV, eVTOL, or rotorcraft experience
- Prototype-to-production transition experience
- AS9100 experience
- A&P License or equivalent
- Military aviation maintenance experience
- Leadership or mentoring experience
What the Team is Saying
Shield AI Compensation & Benefits Highlights
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Healthcare Strength — Healthcare coverage includes medical, dental, vision, and mental-health support, with company materials describing excellent coverage. Feedback suggests these offerings are comprehensive and consistently highlighted across official and third-party benefit lists.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — Equity is granted to all full-time hires, with RSU structures and tools like Carta Tax intended to improve understanding and tax timing. Feedback suggests this broad-based ownership approach is a notable component of total rewards.
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Parental & Family Support — Benefits include paid parental leave, fertility support, childcare benefits, family medical leave, and onsite resources such as a Mother's Room. Feedback suggests the family-oriented offerings are more expansive than basic coverage.
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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Hybrid Workspace
Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.
