Aircraft Production Leader: Scale Prototypes to Production

Shield; Seattle (WA); Hybrid; USD 230,000 - 340,000; Full time

Job summary

Shield AI in Seattle is seeking a hands-on manufacturing leader to scale X-BAT from prototype to production. You will oversee the X-Forge 3 Seattle facility, build the production team, establish the factory operating system, and ensure readiness to deliver safe, reliable aircraft at scale.

You will partner with Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain and Program Management to translate development learnings into repeatable processes, manage safety, cost, and delivery, and drive Lean improvements

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, manufacturing or a related technical field.
• 10+ years in aerospace or advanced manufacturing.
• 5+ years leading production teams.
• Proven experience taking prototypes/NPI to sustained production.

Responsibilities

• Own day-to-day execution of prototype and development builds.
• Establish achievable build schedules and resource plans.
• Work with Engineering through build-test-learn cycles.
• Plan pre-series builds to prove tooling, work instructions, and flow.
• Lead manufacturing setup and readiness for Seattle production.

Skills

Lean manufacturing

Leadership

New product introduction

Production scaling

Cross-functional collaboration

Problem solving

Safety & quality focus

Traceability

Tooling validation

Capacity planning

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering, manufacturing or a related technical field

Job description

Shield AI in Seattle is seeking a hands-on manufacturing leader to scale X-BAT from prototype to production. You will oversee the X-Forge 3 Seattle facility, build the production team, establish the factory operating system, and ensure readiness to deliver safe, reliable aircraft at scale.

You will partner with Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain and Program Management to translate development learnings into repeatable processes, manage safety, cost, and delivery, and drive Lean improvements