What You'll Do:
- Define and lead the supplier development strategy across key commodities, driving systemic improvements in cost, lead time, quality, and scalability.
- Establish and institutionalize supplier process audit frameworks and continuous improvement roadmaps aligned to company growth objectives.
- Partner with executive leadership to prioritize supplier investments, consolidations, and capability expansion.
- Own the supplier quality strategy, including audit standards, escalation frameworks, and corrective action governance.
- Lead root cause investigations for systemic supplier performance issues and ensure cross-functional resolution.
- Develop standardized quality and performance review mechanisms (QBRs, scorecards, KPI dashboards).
- Assess supplier technical maturity, manufacturing readiness, and operational scalability.
- Drive supplier capability upgrades in partnership with Engineering and Operations to meet future product and rate requirements.
- Lead make vs. buy strategy alignment for new and existing programs.
- Establish technical standards and expectations for supplier manufacturing processes, drawing interpretation, GD&T adherence, and quality controls.
- Ensure supplier alignment with evolving product designs, material specifications, and manufacturing complexity (composites, injection molding, mechanical hardware).
- Influence early design decisions to ensure manufacturability and supply chain scalability.
- Build and oversee supplier performance monitoring systems covering delivery, quality, cost, and risk indicators.
Proactively identify supply chain risks (capacity, geopolitical, technical, financial) and implement mitigation strategies at the portfolio level. - Lead executive-level supplier escalations and recovery plans when required.
- Own supplier readiness strategy for NPI programs, ensuring manufacturability, quality validation (FAI/PPAP), and capacity planning are completed prior to production ramp.
- Partner with Engineering to align release timelines with supplier capability and risk mitigation plans.
Required Qualifications
- 10+ years of experience in mechanical hardware manufacturing, manufacturing engineering, or supplier development leadership roles.
- Demonstrated leadership of supplier development or manufacturing teams.
- Strong expertise in composite manufacturing, injection molding, and/or precision mechanical fabrication.
- Proven ability to interpret 2D drawings, GD&T, and critical mechanical features at a high level.
- Willingness and ability to travel domestically and internationally (~50%+ as required).
Preferred Qualifications:
- Proficiency in CAD tools (SolidWorks, CATIA) with ability to engage technically in DFM discussions.
- M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or equivalent technical discipline.
- Deep experience in root cause analysis, failure investigation, and structured corrective action frameworks.
- Demonstrated success leading cross-functional initiatives across Engineering, Supply Chain, Production, and Quality.
- Experience building and scaling supplier networks in aerospace or high-growth hardware environments.
Skills Required
- 10+ years of experience in mechanical hardware manufacturing, manufacturing engineering, or supplier development leadership roles.
- Demonstrated leadership of supplier development or manufacturing teams.
- Strong expertise in composite manufacturing, injection molding, and/or precision mechanical fabrication.
- Proven ability to interpret 2D drawings and GD&T and assess critical mechanical features.
- Willingness and ability to travel domestically and internationally (~50%+ as required).
- Proficiency in CAD tools (SolidWorks, CATIA) with ability to engage technically in DFM discussions.
- M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or equivalent technical discipline.
- Deep experience in root cause analysis, failure investigation, and structured corrective action frameworks.
- Demonstrated success leading cross-functional initiatives across Engineering, Supply Chain, Production, and Quality.
- Experience building and scaling supplier networks in aerospace or high-growth hardware environments.
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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Shield AI Teams
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Shield AI Offices
Hybrid Workspace
Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.
