Principal Technical Program Manager — MMA
Shield AI’s mission is to protect service members and civilians with intelligent systems. We develop autonomy software and advanced aircraft to help U.S. and allied forces accomplish their missions in challenging environments.
About the Role
Shield AI is seeking a Principal Technical Program Manager to lead execution of our aircraft development efforts supporting the U.S. Air Force’s MMA program. This leader will translate customer objectives into an integrated execution plan spanning concept development, aircraft and mission systems integration, prototype demonstration, flight test, and production readiness.
You will partner closely with the program leader, Chief Engineer, engineering teams, manufacturing, supply chain, and government stakeholders to deliver against technical, schedule, and cost commitments. Success requires balancing mission capability with affordability, modularity, and speed—making disciplined decisions about what must be developed, what can be reused, and what is required to demonstrate readiness for the next phase.
The ideal candidate combines engineering depth with program leadership experience and a record of delivering complex aerospace systems under demanding timelines. You can challenge assumptions, resolve competing priorities, and build alignment across organizations while maintaining clear ownership of program outcomes.
What You’ll Do
- Own integrated program execution. Establish and maintain the program baseline, connecting engineering deliverables, hardware availability, supplier commitments, integration activities, test events, and customer milestones.
- Translate customer needs into executable plans. Partner with systems engineering and technical leadership to define program scope, measurable success criteria, requirements priorities, and verification milestones as the program evolves.
- Drive multidisciplinary coordination. Align air vehicle, propulsion, avionics, flight controls, autonomy, mission systems, and ground systems teams around dependencies and interface commitments.
- Keep affordability and production at the center of execution. Incorporate unit-cost targets, component availability, manufacturing complexity, and sustainment considerations into program planning and decision-making.
- Manage customer and partner commitments. Lead program reviews with government stakeholders and industry partners, communicate progress candidly, and coordinate contractual deliverables with contracts and program leadership.
- Anticipate and retire risk. Identify critical-path threats, immature technologies, supplier constraints, and resource gaps early; assign mitigation owners and drive timely resolution.
- Build the path to production. Align development schedules with tooling, long-lead procurement, manufacturing readiness, configuration control, and quality requirements.
- Provide clear executive visibility. Present concise assessments of milestone confidence, financial performance, technical progress, and decisions requiring leadership action.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in engineering or a related technical discipline, or equivalent relevant experience.
- 10+ years of progressive experience in aerospace engineering, technical program management, or complex hardware and software development.
- Experience leading a major aircraft, spacecraft, unmanned system, or similarly integrated aerospace program through significant development and test milestones.
- Technical breadth sufficient to evaluate integration dependencies, understand engineering tradeoffs, and challenge execution assumptions across disciplines.
- Demonstrated ownership of integrated schedules, budgets, program risks, and cross-functional delivery.
- Experience working directly with government customers or major aerospace partners on requirements, reviews, and delivery commitments.
- Ability to lead through influence, establish accountability, and make sound decisions with incomplete information.
- Clear written and verbal communication, including executive briefings and customer-facing technical discussions.
- Has lived and experienced a demo-build cycle
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with Group 5 unmanned aircraft, clean-sheet aircraft development, or rapid aerospace prototyping.
- Familiarity with Air Force acquisition programs and competitive prototype-to-production efforts.
- Experience integrating autonomy, mission payloads, avionics, or ground control systems into aircraft.
- Understanding of modular open systems approaches and their implications for integration, supplier coordination, and future upgrades.
- Experience preparing for flight-test campaigns and coordinating airworthiness and safety-review activities.
- Demonstrated success applying design-to-cost principles and transitioning development hardware into repeatable production.
• Active U.S. security clearance.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in engineering or a related technical discipline, or equivalent relevant experience
- 10+ years of progressive experience in aerospace engineering, technical program management, or complex hardware and software development
- Experience leading a major aircraft, spacecraft, unmanned system, or similarly integrated aerospace program through significant development and test milestones
- Technical breadth to evaluate integration dependencies, understand engineering tradeoffs, and challenge execution assumptions across disciplines
- Experience owning integrated schedules, budgets, program risks, and cross-functional delivery
- Experience working directly with government customers or major aerospace partners on requirements, reviews, and delivery commitments
- Ability to lead through influence, establish accountability, and make sound decisions with incomplete information
- Clear written and verbal communication, including executive briefings and customer-facing technical discussions
- Experience with a demo-build cycle
- Experience with Group 5 unmanned aircraft, clean-sheet aircraft development, or rapid aerospace prototyping
- Familiarity with Air Force acquisition programs and competitive prototype-to-production efforts
- Experience integrating autonomy, mission payloads, avionics, or ground control systems into aircraft
- Understanding of modular open systems approaches and their implications for integration, supplier coordination, and future upgrades
- Experience preparing for flight-test campaigns and coordinating airworthiness and safety-review activities
- Demonstrated success applying design-to-cost principles and transitioning development hardware into repeatable production
- Active U.S. security clearance
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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Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.
