Director, Mission Systems

InvestedintheMission; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 225,000 - 340,000; Full time

Job summary

Shield AI is seeking a mission-driven engineering leader to head a multidisciplinary organization focused on autonomous aircraft capabilities. You will define strategy, prioritize investments, and drive architecture across sensors, avionics, autonomy, and survivability.

Executive-level communication with DoD stakeholders, managing risk, and delivering field-ready solutions through all lifecycle stages are required; U.S. citizenship and clearances are expected.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, science, mathematics, or another technical discipline.
• 10+ years of experience supporting complex military aircraft, autonomous systems, or defense programs.
• Experience leading a multidisciplinary engineering organization with people managers and senior leaders.
• Broad knowledge across multiple disciplines including mission systems, modeling/simulation, survivability, avionics, sensors, or weapons integration.
• Experience establishing organizational and technical strategies while managing risk.
• Proven ability to balance mission performance with cost, schedule and maturity.
• Experience overseeing aircraft capabilities from requirements to sustainment.
• Executive communication skills with customers, operators, leaders, and government stakeholders. U.S. citizenship with active security clearances.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a multidisciplinary organization spanning analysis, survivability, communications, and mission systems.
• Define strategy, roadmaps, and investment priorities aligned with aircraft objectives and customer needs.
• Oversee architecture development for integrated mission systems including sensors, avionics, payloads, and autonomy.
• Direct modeling, simulation, wargaming, and system-of-systems analysis to evaluate mission effectiveness and threats.
• Lead cross-functional trade studies balancing capability, risk, cost, and schedule.
• Ensure disciplined execution from requirements to fielding, including testing and certification.
• Partner with engineering, product, program management, and leadership to deliver capabilities.
• Engage DoD customers and stakeholders to shape requirements and communicate operational value.
• Recruit and develop leaders while building organizational depth and succession.
• Ensure compliance with system-safety, airworthiness, cybersecurity, and certification requirements.

Skills

Leadership

Engineering leadership

Modeling & simulation

Mission systems

Systems engineering

DoD experience

Security clearance

Executive communication

Cross-functional leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering or related

Master's degree or PhD

Tools

SysML

MBSE

Job description

Job Description Are you a mission-driven engineering leader passionate about developing advanced autonomous aircraft? Do you want to help deliver capabilities that provide decisive advantage in contested environments? Shield AI may be the place for you.

What You’ll Do

• Lead and develop a multidisciplinary organization spanning operational analysis, survivability, communications, and integrated mission systems.
• Establish clear priorities, accountability, organizational objectives, and operating rhythms that enable teams to execute effectively.
  Define technical strategy, capability roadmaps, and investment priorities aligned with aircraft program objectives, customer requirements, and broader business goals.
• Oversee the development of integrated mission-system architectures encompassing sensors, payloads, avionics, weapons, secure communications, autonomy, and aircraft survivability.
• Direct modeling, simulation, wargaming, and system-of-systems analysis to evaluate mission effectiveness, operational performance, emerging threats, and aircraft design alternatives.
• Lead cross-functional trade studies that balance mission capability, survivability, technical risk, cost, schedule, manufacturability, and program maturity.
• Ensure disciplined execution from requirements definition and architecture development through hardware-in-the-loop testing, signature validation, flight test, certification, and fielding.
• Partner with engineering, product, program management, business development, and aircraft leadership to deliver integrated and mission-relevant capabilities.
• Engage DoD customers, operators, suppliers, and government stakeholders to shape requirements, refine concepts of operations, support key decisions, and communicate the operational value of Shield AI’s solutions.
• Recruit, coach, and develop people managers and senior technical leaders while building organizational depth and succession capability.
• Ensure compliance with applicable system-safety, airworthiness, cybersecurity, security, and certification requirements.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, science, mathematics, or another relevant technical discipline.
• 10+ years of experience supporting complex military aircraft, autonomous systems, or other aerospace and defense programs.
• Demonstrated experience leading and developing a multidisciplinary engineering organization that includes people managers and senior technical leaders.
• Broad working knowledge across multiple relevant disciplines, including mission systems, operational analysis, modeling and simulation, survivability, secure communications, avionics, sensors, payloads, or weapons integration.
• Experience establishing organizational and technical strategies while managing technical, programmatic, and organizational risk.
• Proven ability to balance mission performance and engineering requirements with cost, schedule, product maturity, and business priorities.
• Experience overseeing complex aircraft capabilities across the product lifecycle—from requirements and architecture through integration, test, certification, fielding, and sustainment.
• Executive-level communication skills with demonstrated success influencing customers, operators, business leaders, engineering teams, and government stakeholders.
  U.S. citizenship with an active Secret security clearance and the ability to obtain and maintain a Top Secret clearance and required SAP/SAR accesses.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree or PhD in aerospace engineering, systems engineering, electrical engineering, or a related technical discipline.
• Leadership experience on military UAS, advanced autonomous aircraft, collaborative combat aircraft, or fifth-generation fighter programs involving integrated mission systems and survivability.
• Demonstrated success advancing a product or major capability from customer shaping and early concept development through acquisition, integration, flight test, validation, and tactical deployment.
• Experience overseeing multi-domain operational analysis, CONOPS development, force-on-force modeling, threat assessment, or survivability analysis in contested environments.
• Working knowledge of model-based systems engineering and SysML, DoD acquisition and JCIDS processes, electronic warfare, low-observable communications, and AI-enabled sensors or payloads.
• Experience developing modular, open-system mission architectures that support rapid capability insertion and third-party payload integration.
• Active Top Secret clearance with SCI eligibility and experience supporting classified DoD or Intelligence Community programs.

225000 - 340000 USD a year