Head of Aircraft Quality & Production Readiness

Shield; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 260,000 - 390,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus

Equity

Benefits

Job summary

Shield AI seeks a hands-on quality leader to take X-BAT from prototype to production. You will build the quality organization for the Seattle production site, owning QMS, quality engineering, inspection, nonconformance, and audit readiness for X-BAT manufacturing.

You’ll partner with Engineering, Manufacturing, Production, and Supply Chain to prevent defects and ensure aircraft meet technical, customer, and regulatory requirements. Strong leadership and practical systems are essential.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering or quality related field.
• 10+ years of leadership in aerospace quality, product assurance or reliability.
• Proven track record leading quality through prototype and into production.
• Ability to build and scale quality teams and systems in fast-paced environments.
• Deep expertise in containment, root cause analysis, MRB, CAPA and continuous improvement.
• Strong knowledge of AS9100 and ISO 9001 with audit leadership experience.
• Experience with complex assembly, inspection, configuration control and traceability.

Responsibilities

• Lead quality planning and execution for X-BAT prototype and development builds.
• Identify product and process risks and define critical controls.
• Establish configuration and traceability controls across Engineering and Production.
• Capture lessons from issues and drive design and process improvements.
• Define readiness criteria for pre-series and production launch.
• Recruit and lead the quality team for the Seattle operation.
• Maintain a lean QMS aligned with AS9100/ISO 9001 and customer requirements.
• Lead audits and closure of corrective actions.
• Set up inspection capabilities and ensure quality records.

Skills

Leadership

Quality leadership

Containment

Root cause analysis

MRB

Continuous improvement

Traceability

Cross-functional collaboration

Production quality

Digital quality tools

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering or quality field

Tools

Digital quality systems

Job description

Shield AI seeks a hands-on quality leader to take X-BAT from prototype to production. You will build the quality organization for the Seattle production site, owning QMS, quality engineering, inspection, nonconformance, and audit readiness for X-BAT manufacturing.

You’ll partner with Engineering, Manufacturing, Production, and Supply Chain to prevent defects and ensure aircraft meet technical, customer, and regulatory requirements. Strong leadership and practical systems are essential.