Shield AI is seeking a Strategy & Operations Lead to help define enterprise strategy and ensure its operational execution. This role offers immersive exposure to the company’s most critical decisions — spanning aircraft systems, AI software (Hivemind), autonomy hardware, and international growth.
As a core member of the Strategy & Operations team, you’ll apply structured problem‑solving, financial rigor, and operational discipline to turn strategic priorities into actionable, measurable outcomes. The role combines high‑performance expectations with a strong learning and development environment — ideal for professionals seeking to grow into future strategy, operations, or general management leaders.
What you'll do:
- Support the multi‑year strategic planning and annual operating strategy cycles.
- Evaluate portfolio tradeoffs across platforms, software, hardware, and emerging growth vectors.
- Conduct market sizing, competitive analysis, and scenario modeling across U.S. and allied defense markets.
- Build financial models and analytic frameworks for investment decisions (new platforms, manufacturing, international expansion).
- Assess TAM, margin structure, capital intensity, payback, and risk‑adjusted returns.
- Contribute to the development of enterprise‑wide capital allocation frameworks and governance processes.
- Translate strategic priorities into cross‑functional execution plans with defined KPIs and milestones.
- Track and report on progress through structured operating cadences (monthly and quarterly performance reviews).
- Identify bottlenecks, analyze root causes, and recommend actionable solutions to sustain execution velocity.
Enterprise Strategy Development:
Capital Allocation & Business Case Rigor:
Operationalization of Strategy:
Required qualifications:
- Min 12+ years of experience with Bachelors, 8+ with Masters, and 5+ with PhD.
- Min 4+ years’ experience in a strategy consulting, corporate strategy or other high‑rigor roles.
- Strong analytical and conceptual problem‑solving abilities.
- Demonstrated ability to structure ambiguous problems and drive insight through analysis.
- Financial modeling and analytical capability (unit economics, forecasting, scenario analysis).
- Experience or strong interest in complex, technical, or regulated industries (aerospace, defense, AI, or advanced manufacturing preferred).
- Ability to work collaboratively across teams and influence senior stakeholders.
- U.S. citizenship required (ability to obtain and maintain a security clearance).
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree with at least 12 years of experience, or master's degree with at least 8 years, or PhD with at least 5 years
- At least 4 years of experience in strategy consulting, corporate strategy, or another high-rigor role
- Strong analytical and conceptual problem-solving abilities
- Ability to structure ambiguous problems and drive insights through analysis
- Financial modeling and analytical skills, including unit economics, forecasting, and scenario analysis
- Experience or strong interest in complex, technical, or regulated industries
- Aerospace, defense, AI, or advanced manufacturing experience
- Ability to collaborate across teams and influence senior stakeholders
- U.S. citizenship
- Ability to obtain and maintain a 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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Shield AI Teams
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Shield AI Offices
Hybrid Workspace
Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.
