Director of Contingent Workforce Programs

Shield; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 174,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Shield AI seeks a Director of Contingent Workforce Programs to lead strategy, governance, and operations for our contingent workforce, including agency workers, independent contractors, and SOW engagements. You will build processes, controls, and partnerships across PX, Legal, Finance, IT, and Security to strengthen program performance. This hands-on role may supervise one coordinator.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of experience in contingent workforce management, including program governance.
• Experience leading cross-functional initiatives with PX, Legal, Finance, IT, Security.
• Ability to establish policies, processes, decision rights, and service expectations.

Responsibilities

• Define and own contingent workforce program strategy, operating model, and roadmaps.
• Oversee vendor performance, risk, and supplier accountability; drive improvements.
• Lead program changes from planning through implementation, communications, training, and adoption.

Skills

Contingent workforce management

Vendor negotiations

Vendor management systems (VMS)

MSP models

SOW engagements

Tools

Vendor Management Systems (VMS)

MSP platforms

HR systems

Procurement systems

Workforce analytics platforms

Job description

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. Shield AI is seeking a Director of Contingent Workforce Programs to lead the strategy, governance, operations, and continuous improvement of our contingent workforce program, supporting agency workers, independent contractors, and statement-of-work (SOW) engagements. In this role, you will independently assess business needs, establish program priorities, recommend decisions, and drive execution across functions. You will build and improve the processes, controls, and partnerships that enable an effective, scalable program. You will partner closely with business leaders, P e o p l e E x p e r i e n c e (P X), E O R v e n d o r s, L e g a l, F i n a n c e, I T, and S e c u r i t y to strengthen the program performance, manage risk, improve supplier accountability, and deliver consistent stakeholder experience. This is a hands‑on role for someone who can set direction and follow through on the operational details that make a program successful. The role may super‑vise one employee responsible for program coordination and administration.

What You’ll Do:

Program Strategy & Governance

• O w n t h e c o n t i n g e n t w o r k f o r c e p r o g r a m s t r a t e g y , o p e r a t i n g m o d e l , a n d r o a d m a p ; i n d e p e n d e n t l y a s s e s g a p s , r e c o m m e n d s o l u t i o n s , a n d d r i v e i m p r o v e m e n t s .
• E s t a b l i s h p o l i c i e s , p r o c e s s e s , d e c i s i o n r i g h t s , a p p r o v a l r e q u i r e m e n t s , a n d s e r v i c e e x p e c t a t i o n s w i t h c r o s s - f u n c t i o n a l p a r t n e r s .
• L e a d p r o g r a m c h a n g e s f r o m p l a n n i n g t h r o u g h i m p l e m e n t a t i o n , c o m m u n i c a t i o n s , t r a i n i n g , a n d a d o p t i o n .

Program Operations

• O v e r s e e t h e e n g a g e m e n t l i f e c y c l e , f r o m i n t a k e a n d r e v i e w t h r o u g h o n b o a r d i n g , e x t e n s i o n s , a n d o f f b o a r d i n g .
• M o n i t o r s e r v i c e p e r f o r m a n c e , r e s o l v e b o t t l e n e c k s , a n d l e a d r e s o l u t i o n o f c o m p l e x o r s e n s i t i v e i s s u e s .
• A d d r e s s r e c u r r i n g p r o b l e m s a n d d e v e l o p p r a c t i c a l g u i d a n c e t h a t i m p r o v e s e x e c u t i o n a n d t h e m a n a g e r e x p e r i e n c e .
• P a r t n e r w i t h b u s i n e s s l e a d e r s a n d F i n a n c e o n w o r k f o r c e n e e d s , e n g a g e m e n t o p t i o n s , a n d b u d g e t c o n s i d e r a t i o n s .
• S e r v e a s t h e p r o g r a m ' s s u b j e c t - m a t t e r e x p e r t a n d c o o r d i n a t e c l a s s i f i c a t i o n r e v i e w s w i t h L e g a l , P X , a n d P r o c u r e m e n t .
• A l i g n s t a k e h o l d e r s , d r i v e a c c o u n t a b i l i t y , a n d p r e s e n t p r o g r a m p e r f o r m a n c e , r i s k s , a n d r e c o m m e n d a t i o n s t o l e a d e r s h i p .

Vendors, Data, & Systems Management

• O w n s u p p l i e r r e l a t i o n s h i p s a n d p e r f o r m a n c e , i n c l u d i n g s c o r e c a r d s , r e v i e w s , a n d c o r r e c t i v e a c t i o n s .
• P a r t n e r w i t h b u s i n e s s l e a d e r s a n d o t h e r s t a k e h o l d e r s o n s u p p l i e r s t r a t e g y , s e l e c t i o n , c o n t r a c t s , r a t e s , a n d c o s t o p t i m i z a t i o n .
• M a i n t a i n p r o g r a m c o n t r o l s w i t h L e g a l , P X , P r o c u r e m e n t , a n d S e c u r i t y , e n s u r i n g r e q u i r e d r e v i e w s , a p p r o v a l s , d o c u m e n t a t i o n , a n d e x c e p t i o n s a r e m a n a g e d .
• D e f i n e m e t r i c s a n d r e p o r t i n g t o m o n i t o r w o r k f o r c e p o p u l a t i o n , s p e n d , s u p p l i e r p e r f o r m a n c e , s e r v i c e l e v e l s , a n d r i s k .
• U s e d a t a t o g u i d e i m p r o v e m e n t s a n d p a r t n e r w i t h v e n d o r s t o s t r e n g t h e n w o r k f l o a w s , d a t a q u a l i t y , a n d s u p p o r t i n g s y s t e m s .

Required Qualifications

• 12 + y e a r s o f r e l e v a n t e x p e r i e n c e i n c o n t i n g e n t w o r k f o r c e m a n a g e m e n t , w o r k f o r c e p r o g r a m s , H R / P X o p e r a t i o n s , p r o c u r e m e n t , o r s u p p l i e r m a n a g e m e n t , i n c l u d i n g d i r e c t o w n e r s h i p o f a c o n t i n g e n t w o r k f o r c e p r o g r a m .
• D e m o n s t r a t e d e x p e r i e c e b u i l d i n g , s c a l i n g , o r t r a n s f o r m i n g a n e n t e r p r i s e c o n t i n g e n t w o r k f o r c e p r o g r a m , w i t h m e a s u r a b l e i m p r o v e m e n t s i n o p e r a t i o n s , g o v e r n a n c e , s u p p l i e r p e r f o r m a n c e , o r c o s t .
• E x p e r i e n c e i n d e p e n d e n t l y l e a d i n g c o m p l e x , c r o s s - f u n c t i o n a l i n i t i a t i v e s f r o m p r o b l e m d e f i n i t i o n t h r o u g h i m p l e m e n t a t i o n a n d o n g o i n g i m p r o v e m e n t .
• S t r o n g w o r k i n g k n o w l e d g e o f a g e n c y w o r k e r , i n d e p e n d e n t c o n t r a c t o r , a n d S O W e n g a g e m e n t m o d e l s .
• E x p e r i e n c e e s t a b l i s h i n g p r o g r a m g o v e r n a n c e , p r o c e s s e s , c o n t r o l s , s e r v i c e s t a n d a r d s , a n d p e r f o r m a n c e m e a s u r e s .
• E x p e r i e n c e m a n a g i n g s u p p l i e r s a n d r e s o l v i n g c o m p l e x o p e r a t i o n a l o r s t a k e h o l d e r i s s u e s .
• A b i l i t y t o a n a l y z e w o r k f o r c e , s u p p l i e r , o r s p e n d d a t a a n d t u r n f i n d i n g s i n t o a c t i o n a b l e r e c o m m e n d a t i o n s .
• S t r o n g c o m m u n i c a t i o n a n d i n f l u e n c i n g s k i l l s , w i t h t h e a b i l i t y t o a d v i s e l e a d e r s a n d d r i v e a c c o u n t a b i l i t y a c r o s s t e a m s .
• A b i l i t y t o w o r k i n d e p e n d e n t l y w i t h b r o a d d i r e c t i o n , n a v i g a t e a m b i g u i t y , a n d b a l a n c e s t r a t e g i c p r i o r i t i e s w i t h h a n d s - o n e x e c u t i o n .

Preferred Qualifications

• E x p e r i e n c e s u p p o r t i n g c o n t i n g e n t w o r k f o r c e p r o g r a m s a c r o s s m u l t i p l e c o u n t r i e s o r b u s i n e s s u n i t s .
• P r e v i o u s p e o p l e - m a n a g e m e n t o r t e a m - l e a d e r s h i p e x p e r i e n c e .
• E x p e r i e n c e w i t h v e n d o r m a n a g e m e n t s y s t e m s ( V M S ) , m a n a g e d s e r v i c e p r o v i d e r ( M S P ) m o d e l s , a n d H R , p r o c u r e m e n t , o r w o r k f o r c e a n a l y t i c s p l a t f o r m s .
• E x p e r i e n c e w i t h s u p p l i e r n e g o t i a t i o n s , r a t e m a n a g e m e n t , a n d w o r k f o r c e c o s t o p t i m i z a t i o n .
• E x p e r i e n c e i n a h i g h - g r o w t h , t e c h n i c a l , e n g i n e e r i n g , a e r o s p a c e , d e f e n s e , o r m a n u f a c t u r i n g e n v i r o n m e n t .

$174,000 - $300,000 a year

Seattle and San Mateo Locations: $205,000 -$300,000

All other locations: $174,000 - $260,000

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.

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.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.