Staff Technical Program Manager (R6183)

Posted Yesterday
Be an Early Applicant
3 Locations
In-Office
150K-230K Annually
Senior level
Aerospace • Artificial Intelligence • Machine Learning • Robotics • Software • Defense Technology
Our mission is to protect service members and civilians with intelligent systems.
The Role
Owns complex, multi-workstream enterprise technology programs from strategy through delivery and adoption. Leads platform implementations, ERP rollouts, cloud migrations, security programs, and integrations; manages governance, budgets, risks, vendors, technical delivery, go-live readiness, and executive reporting. The role also improves PMO standards, mentors project managers, and drives cross-functional alignment across engineering, IT, business, and vendor teams.
Summary Generated by Built In
Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. Its products include Hivemind autonomy software, V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, and Aechelon simulation and synthetic reality technologies. With offices and facilities across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific, Shield AI’s technology actively supports operations worldwide. For more information, visit www.shield.ai. Follow Shield AI on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and YouTube. 

Job Description:

The Staff Technical Program Manager – Enterprise Technology & Systems Delivery is a senior program leader within the PMO who owns complex, multi-project technology programs and enterprise transformation initiatives from strategy through delivery and sustained adoption. This role goes beyond managing schedules. It shapes how programs are structured, governed, and resourced, and it is accountable for program outcomes, not just execution.

The role requires enough technical depth to challenge assumptions, pressure-test architecture and integration approaches, identify delivery risks before technical teams do, and hold engineering, vendors, and systems integrators accountable. While not the solution architect, this person is expected to be a credible technical peer to engineering and IT leaders. Success is defined by predictable delivery of high-impact programs, executive confidence, strong cross-functional alignment, and raising the PMO's overall delivery maturity.

What you'll do:

  • Own end-to-end delivery of large, multi-workstream technology programs, including enterprise platform implementations, ERP and business system rollouts, cloud and infrastructure migrations, identity and security programs, and system integrations.
  • Define program structure, roadmap, phasing, and delivery strategy in partnership with business and technology leadership, including shaping scope and sequencing before execution begins.
  • Lead and coordinate multiple project managers, workstream leads, and vendor teams under a single integrated program plan.
  • Drive technical delivery conversations across architecture, integrations, data migration, environments, security, testing, and cutover, and challenge technical plans and estimates when risks aren't adequately addressed.
  • Establish and run program governance, including steering committees, executive reporting, decision forums, and escalation paths, and present directly to senior leadership.
  • Own program-level risk management and proactively identify systemic risks, cross-program dependencies, and resource conflicts across the portfolio.
  • Manage program budgets, forecasts, and resource plans, and own variance explanations and tradeoff recommendations.
  • Lead vendor and systems integrator management, including SOW scoping, performance management, milestone acceptance, and escalation of delivery gaps.
  • Own go-live readiness decisions, including readiness criteria, cutover strategy, rollback planning, and hypercare exit.
  • Partner with OCM to ensure change, communications, training, and adoption are built into program plans from the start.
  • Define and improve PMO standards, templates, tooling, and delivery practices, and raise the bar for program management across the organization.
  • Mentor and coach IC2/IC3 project managers and act as a senior escalation point for delivery challenges.
  • Translate complex technical status into clear, decision-oriented narratives for executives.

Required qualifications:

  • 8+ years of project or program management experience, including 5+ years leading complex technology programs with multiple workstreams and cross-functional teams.
  • Proven track record of delivering large-scale enterprise technology programs (e.g., ERP, cloud migration, identity/security, platform consolidation, or major system integrations) through go-live and stabilization.
  • Strong technical fluency across enterprise architecture, integrations and APIs, data migration, infrastructure and cloud, security controls, and SDLC/testing practices, with enough depth to challenge technical teams and vendors credibly.
  • Experience owning program governance and presenting directly to executive stakeholders and steering committees.
  • Demonstrated experience managing vendors and systems integrators, including SOW oversight and delivery accountability.
  • Experience managing program budgets, forecasts, and resource plans.
  • Ability to lead through influence across engineering, IT, business, and vendor organizations without direct authority.
  • Exceptional communication and executive presence, with the ability to simplify complexity and drive decisions.
  • PMP, PgMP, or equivalent certification is a plus.

Preferred qualifications:

  • Experience delivering technology programs in defense, aerospace, or other highly regulated environments, including familiarity with compliance and security frameworks such as CMMC, NIST 800-171, ITAR, DFARS, or FedRAMP, and how they affect program scope, timelines, and system design.
  • Experience building or maturing PMO practices, standards, or tooling.
  • Experience leading programs across IT, Enterprise Operations, and Cybersecurity simultaneously.
  • Background as an engineer, solutions architect, systems administrator, or technical lead before moving into program management.
  • Familiarity with Agile at scale, hybrid delivery models, and tools such as Jira, Smartsheet, or ServiceNow SPM.
  • Experience partnering with OCM functions on enterprise adoption.

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Full-time regular employee offer package:
Pay within range listed + Bonus + Benefits + Equity
 
Temporary employee offer package:
Pay within range listed above + temporary benefits package (applicable after 60 days of employment)
 
Salary compensation is influenced by a wide array of factors including but not limited to skill set, level of experience, licenses and certifications, and specific work location. All offers are contingent on a cleared background and possible reference check. Military fellows and part-time employees are not eligible for benefits. Please speak to your talent acquisition representative for more information.
 
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Shield AI is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know. 

Skills Required

  • 8+ years of project or program management experience
  • 5+ years leading complex technology programs with multiple workstreams and cross-functional teams
  • Experience delivering large-scale enterprise technology programs through go-live and stabilization
  • Technical fluency across enterprise architecture, integrations and APIs, data migration, infrastructure and cloud, security controls, and SDLC/testing practices
  • Experience owning program governance and presenting to executive stakeholders and steering committees
  • Experience managing vendors and systems integrators, including SOW oversight and delivery accountability
  • Experience managing program budgets, forecasts, and resource plans
  • Ability to lead through influence across engineering, IT, business, and vendor organizations
  • Exceptional communication and executive presence
  • PMP, PgMP, or equivalent certification
  • Experience delivering technology programs in defense, aerospace, or highly regulated environments
  • Familiarity with CMMC, NIST 800-171, ITAR, DFARS, or FedRAMP
  • Experience building or maturing PMO practices, standards, or tooling
  • Experience leading programs across IT, Enterprise Operations, and Cybersecurity
  • Background as an engineer, solutions architect, systems administrator, or technical lead
  • Familiarity with Agile at scale, hybrid delivery models, Jira, Smartsheet, or ServiceNow SPM
  • Experience partnering with organizational change management functions on enterprise adoption

What the Team is Saying

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Shield AI Compensation & Benefits Highlights

  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.

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The Company
HQ: San Diego, CA
Year Founded: 2015

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 Offices

Hybrid Workspace

Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.

Typical time on-site: Flexible
HQSan Diego, CA
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