Shield AI is seeking an experienced and visionary Senior Director of Flight Operations to lead the execution and employment of V-BAT globally. This role provides leadership for Flight Test, Deployed Operations, Mission Control, and Training, ensuring aircraft, personnel, and operational resources are employed safely, efficiently, and in alignment with enterprise priorities.
As the senior operational leader for aircraft employment, you will oversee the planning, execution, and governance of all flight activities supporting product testing, customer operations, training, demonstrations, and operational growth. You will balance competing demands across developmental testing, deployed operations, customer commitments, and strategic initiatives while maintaining the highest standards of safety, readiness, and operational excellence.
The Senior Director will establish operational strategy, standardize execution across globally distributed teams, and develop scalable operational capabilities that support Shield AI's continued growth. This role partners closely with Engineering, Aviation Sustainment, Program Management, Business Development, and executive leadership to ensure operational execution aligns with technology development, customer success, and enterprise objectives.
What You'll Do:
Lead and scale the Flight Operations organization consisting of Directors, Senior Managers, Managers, Supervisors, and technical professionals across Flight Test, Deployed Operations, Mission Control, and Training.
Establish enterprise governance, decision frameworks, and operating standards for all V-BAT operations across the Aircraft Division.
Develop organizational strategies that enable safe, scalable, and efficient V-BAT flight operations worldwide.
Foster a culture of operational excellence, disciplined execution, accountability, and continuous improvement.
Oversee the execution of developmental V-BAT flight testing, contractor-owned/contractor-operated missions, customer demonstrations, deployed operations, and internal and customer training events.
Ensure operational activities are conducted safely, efficiently, and in accordance with regulatory, contractual, and company requirements.
Establish operational readiness standards for aircraft, personnel, support equipment, and operational sites.
Provide oversight of operational risk management, flight scheduling, and mission execution across all operational organizations.
Provide executive oversight of Mission Control, ensuring enterprise aircraft allocation, configuration posture, and mission prioritization support strategic business objectives.
Balance competing operational demands across flight test, customer operations, training, demonstrations, and internal flight operations activities.
Ensure V-BAT employment decisions appropriately consider customer commitments, revenue recognition, technology roadmap priorities, operational readiness, and long-term fleet health.
Review and adjudicate high-impact operational conflicts requiring executive prioritization.
Lead internal and customer training organizations responsible for developing qualified operators, maintainers, and instructors.
Ensure training programs, curricula, simulators, and qualification standards evolve with product capabilities and operational requirements.
Supervise operational qualification, currency, standardization, and evaluation programs across all Flight Operations personnel.
Oversee Standardization & Evaluation leadership to ensure procedures, technical publications, and training products remain synchronized with operational execution.
Partner with Engineering to mature next-generation aircraft capabilities, operational concepts, and flight test strategies.
Validate software and hardware updates for customer readiness.
Collaborate with Aviation Sustainment to align fleet availability, maintenance capacity, logistics readiness, and customer support with operational demand.
Support Business Development through customer demonstrations, operational evaluations, strategic capture efforts, and international engagements.
Represent Flight Operations during executive planning, customer engagements, operational reviews, and strategic decision-making forums.
Establish operational performance metrics including mission success, fleet utilization, aircraft availability, training throughput, schedule adherence, and operational safety.
Ensure operational lessons learned are captured, analyzed, and incorporated into procedures, training, engineering improvements, and organizational processes.
Develop scalable operational capabilities that support future V-BAT programs, international expansion, and enterprise growth.
Champion a culture of learning, innovation, and disciplined execution across all Flight Operations organizations.
Enterprise Flight Operations Leadership
Flight Operations & Mission Execution
Mission Control & Fleet Employment
Training & Operational Readiness
Strategic Leadership & Cross-Functional Integration
Operational Performance & Continuous Improvement
Required Qualifications:
Bachelor's degree in Aviation Management, Aerospace Engineering, Business, Operations Management, Military Science, or a related field.
15+ years of progressive leadership experience in military aviation, commercial aerospace, defense, or advanced aviation operations.
Demonstrated experience leading large multidisciplinary aviation organizations consisting of multiple operational functions and senior leaders.
Strong understanding of aircraft operations, operational risk management, mission planning, aviation safety, and operational governance.
Demonstrated ability to balance competing enterprise priorities involving customer commitments, engineering schedules, operational readiness, and business objectives.
Experience developing operational strategy, organizational governance, and scalable operational processes.
Exceptional leadership, organizational development, communication, and executive decision-making skills.
Preferred Qualifications:
Master's degree in Business Administration (MBA), Aviation Management, Engineering Management, or related discipline.
Former military aviation leader (Operations Group Commander, Squadron Commander, or equivalent senior aviation leadership position).
Proven success managing complex flight operations involving developmental testing, deployed operations, operational training, or globally distributed aviation organizations.
Experience leading developmental flight test, operational test, or advanced autonomous aircraft programs.
Familiarity with FAA, DoD, DCMA, and international aviation regulatory frameworks.
Experience leading globally distributed aviation operations supporting government and international customers.
FAA Commercial Pilot, ATP, Military Aviator, or equivalent aviation qualifications.
Experience integrating enterprise fleet management, operational planning, and resource prioritization across multiple product lines.
Experience supporting rapid organizational growth and scaling operational organizations in aerospace or defense industries.
Skills Required
- Bachelor’s degree in Aviation Management, Aerospace Engineering, Business, Operations Management, Military Science, or a related field
- 15+ years of progressive leadership experience in military aviation, commercial aerospace, defense, or advanced aviation operations
- Experience leading large multidisciplinary aviation organizations with multiple operational functions and senior leaders
- Strong understanding of aircraft operations, operational risk management, mission planning, aviation safety, and operational governance
- Ability to balance competing enterprise priorities involving customer commitments, engineering schedules, operational readiness, and business objectives
- Experience developing operational strategy, organizational governance, and scalable operational processes
- Exceptional leadership, organizational development, communication, and executive decision-making skills
- Master’s degree in Business Administration, Aviation Management, Engineering Management, or a related discipline
- Former military aviation leadership experience, such as Operations Group Commander or Squadron Commander
- Experience managing complex flight operations involving developmental testing, deployed operations, operational training, or globally distributed aviation organizations
- Experience leading developmental flight test, operational test, or advanced autonomous aircraft programs
- Familiarity with FAA, DoD, DCMA, and international aviation regulatory frameworks
- Experience leading globally distributed aviation operations supporting government and international customers
- FAA Commercial Pilot license, ATP, Military Aviator qualification, or equivalent aviation qualification
- Experience integrating enterprise fleet management, operational planning, and resource prioritization across multiple product lines
- Experience scaling operational organizations during rapid growth in aerospace or defense industries
What the Team is Saying
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.
