Air Vehicle Systems Program Lead

Shieldai; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus

Equity

Benefits

Job summary

Shield AI is seeking an experienced Air Vehicle Systems Technical Program Manager to drive execution across the air vehicle design team. You will partner with Responsible Engineers and leads across subsystems to ensure progress toward flight readiness and vehicle integration.

The role requires hands-on, hardware-centric engineering leadership, strong communication, and the ability to surface risks and drive mitigation plans within a fast-paced development environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related technical field.
• 7+ years of experience in technical program management or engineering leadership in aerospace or complex hardware development environments.
• Experience coordinating cross-functional aircraft subsystem teams and a working technical understanding of requirements, interfaces, design maturation, verification, hardware testing, and system integration.

Responsibilities

• Plan and execute development activities across aircraft subsystems, interfaces, integration, verification, and test.
• Build and maintain integrated air vehicle systems schedules, dependencies, and execution plans aligned with milestones and flight-readiness objectives.
• Coordinate with teams responsible for flight controls, avionics, electrical power, thermal and fluid systems, mechanical systems, structures, landing gear, manufacturing, supply chain, and flight test.
• Understand the technical basis behind system designs, requirements, interfaces, and verification approaches; identify cross-system dependencies, surface risks, and drive mitigation plans.
• Partner with system REs to manage air vehicle systems suppliers and external development partners, including schedule tracking, technical coordination, interface closure, and delivery performance.
• Translate complex technical work into clear status, risks, decisions, actions, and execution plans, and facilitate technical reviews, integration checkpoints, and test-readiness discussions.
• Support aircraft build, ground test, flight test, and development campaigns by coordinating resources, schedules, technical deliverables, and issue resolution.
• Drive accountability and measurable outcomes while maintaining strong working relationships with Responsible Engineers and the broader engineering team.

Skills

Air vehicle systems

Technical program management

Systems engineering

Cross-functional coordination

Hardware development

Export control / ITAR

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering

Tools

JIRA

Smartsheet

Job description

Shield AI is seeking an experienced Air Vehicle Systems Technical Program Manager to drive execution across the air vehicle design team. You will partner with Responsible Engineers and leads across subsystems to ensure progress toward flight readiness and vehicle integration.

The role requires hands-on, hardware-centric engineering leadership, strong communication, and the ability to surface risks and drive mitigation plans within a fast-paced development environment.