The Senior Program Manager will lead the execution and growth of Navy Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) programs. This role serves as the primary interface between US Navy stakeholders, business development, engineering, operations, and executive leadership to identify opportunities, shape task orders, and successfully deliver mission-critical capabilities to operational customers.
The candidate will possess deep US Navy experience, understand how requirements transition into funded task orders, and will have a proven track record of success leading complex defense programs from opportunity identification through execution. This individual will ensure exceptional customer satisfaction and operational outcomes for Shield AI customers.
What you'll do:
- Deliver proven, exceptional, and reliable performance in support of Navy missions through flawless program management and leadership
- Effectively collaborate and lead relevant stakeholders to successfully deliver programs early, under budget, and with exceptional technical performance
- Develop and maintain trusted relationships with Navy operational, acquisition, and technical stakeholders. Serve as the primary customer-facing lead for assigned programs
- Complete critical path analyses including the evaluation of potential means to accelerate the pace or mitigate identified risks
- Translate evolving customer requirements into executable plans across engineering, operations, logistics, and sustainment teams
- Astutely balance and rebalance shifting customer priories related to cost, schedule, and technical parameters of programs
- Drive program execution across multiple concurrent task orders and customer organizations.
- Lead staffing plans, execution strategies, risk assessments, and program activities
- Establish and maintain accurate program schedules, financial forecasts, staffing plans, and risk registers
- Drive accurate and timely tracking and reporting of budget, resource utilization, contract performance, and project management metrics
- Establish and lead a consistent cadence of well-organized, well-facilitated, and effective meetings, including driving all preparation and follow up activities
- Support the growth and maturation of Shield AI's Navy portfolio while positioning the company for follow-on awards and expanded mission scope
- Support an environment where accountability and program execution excellence are core
Required qualifications:
- 8+ years of Program Management experience supporting Department of Defense programs.
- Demonstrated successful experience running advanced programs consisting of multiple interrelated projects, in a self-directed manner
- Direct experience supporting Navy operational, acquisition, ISR, aviation, maritime, or intelligence communities
- Proven experience managing customer-facing defense programs with responsibility for cost, schedule, and performance
- Experience leading cross-functional teams across engineering, operations, logistics, and business functions
- Demonstrated experience developing, shaping, capturing, or executing government contracts and task orders
- Strong business and financial acumen with experience managing complex program financials
- Excellent leadership, communication, organizational, and stakeholder management skills
- Ability to manage multiple priorities and programs in a fast-paced environment
- Demonstrated success driving long-term business objectives
- Experience with scheduling tools such as Microsoft Project or Smartsheet
- Willingness and ability to travel domestically and internationally as needed
- Demonstrated alignment with Shield AI's values and leadership principles, including accountability, trust, collaboration, and servant leadership
- Active Secret Security Clearance
Preferred qualifications:
- Former Navy experience (active duty or civilian)
- Experience supporting unmanned aerial systems, aviation operations, ISR programs, or defense technology programs
- Familiarity with U.S. Navy operational, acquisition, and technical organizations
- Experience supporting deployed operations, expeditionary operations, or global logistics networks
- Experience transitioning new capabilities into operational fleet use
- PMP certification or equivalent program management training
- Undergraduate degree in engineering, business, or operations management
Skills Required
- 8+ years of Program Management experience supporting Department of Defense programs
- Demonstrated successful experience running advanced programs consisting of multiple interrelated projects, in a self-directed manner
- Direct experience supporting Navy operational, acquisition, ISR, aviation, maritime, or intelligence communities
- Proven experience managing customer-facing defense programs with responsibility for cost, schedule, and performance
- Experience leading cross-functional teams across engineering, operations, logistics, and business functions
- Demonstrated experience developing, shaping, capturing, or executing government contracts and task orders
- Strong business and financial acumen with experience managing complex program financials
- Excellent leadership, communication, organizational, and stakeholder management skills
- Ability to manage multiple priorities and programs in a fast-paced environment
- Demonstrated success driving long-term business objectives
- Experience with scheduling tools such as Microsoft Project or Smartsheet
- Willingness and ability to travel domestically and internationally as needed
- Demonstrated alignment with Shield AI's values and leadership principles, including accountability, trust, collaboration, and servant leadership
- Active Secret Security Clearance
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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Hybrid Workspace
Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.
