Senior Lead, Enterprise Strategy and Operations (R5624)

Shield; San Diego (TX); On-site; USD 160,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus

Benefits

Equity

Job summary

Shield AI is seeking a Strategy & Operations Lead to shape enterprise strategy and drive operational execution across aerospace, AI software, and manufacturing domains. You’ll turn priorities into measurable actions, mentor teams, and grow into future leadership roles.

Expect high performance, rigorous analysis, and strong learning opportunities, with a clear path toward broader strategy and general management responsibilities. US citizenship and security clearance readiness required.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of experience with a Bachelor's degree.
• 8+ years with a Master's degree or 5+ with a PhD.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.
• Ability to structure ambiguous problems and derive insights.
• Financial modeling and scenario analysis experience.
• Experience in complex, regulated industries (aerospace/defense/AI).
• Ability to influence senior stakeholders across teams.
• U.S. citizenship and ability to obtain security clearance.

Responsibilities

• Develop and oversee multi-year enterprise strategy cycles.
• Model investments across platforms, manufacturing, and expansion.
• Translate priorities into cross-functional execution plans with KPIs.
• Lead market sizing, competitive analyses, and scenario modeling.
• Review progress in monthly and quarterly performance cadences.

Skills

Analytical thinking

Problem solving

Financial modeling

Strategic planning

Stakeholder influence

Cross-functional teamwork

Education

Bachelor's degree

Master's degree

PhD

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 .

Job Description:

Shield AI is seeking a Strategy & Operations Lead to help define enterprise strategy and ensure its operational execution. This role offers immersive exposure to the company’s most critical decisions — spanning aircraft systems, AI software (Hivemind), autonomy hardware, and international growth.

As a core member of the Strategy & Operations team, you’ll apply structured problem‑solving, financial rigor, and operational discipline to turn strategic priorities into actionable, measurable outcomes. The role combines high‑performance expectations with a strong learning and development environment — ideal for professionals seeking to grow into future strategy, operations, or general management leaders.

What you'll do:

Enterprise Strategy Development

• Support the multi‑year strategic planning and annual operating strategy cycles.
• Evaluate portfolio tradeoffs across platforms, software, hardware, and emerging growth vectors.
• Conduct market sizing, competitive analysis, and scenario modeling across U.S. and allied defense markets.

Capital Allocation & Business Case Rigor

• Build financial models and analytic frameworks for investment decisions (new platforms, manufacturing, international expansion).
• Assess TAM, margin structure, capital intensity, payback, and risk‑adjusted returns.
• Contribute to the development of enterprise‑wide capital allocation frameworks and governance processes.

Operationalization of Strategy

• Translate strategic priorities into cross‑functional execution plans with defined KPIs and milestones.
• Track and report on progress through structured operating cadences (monthly and quarterly performance reviews).
• Identify bottlenecks, analyze root causes, and recommend actionable solutions to sustain execution velocity.

Required qualifications:

• Min 12+ years of experience with Bachelors, 8+ with Masters, and 5+ with PhD.
• Min 4+ years’ experience in a strategy consulting, corporate strategy or other high‑rigor roles.
• Strong analytical and conceptual problem‑solving abilities.
• Demonstrated ability to structure ambiguous problems and drive insight through analysis.
• Financial modeling and analytical capability (unit economics, forecasting, scenario analysis).
• Experience or strong interest in complex, technical, or regulated industries (aerospace, defense, AI, or advanced manufacturing preferred).
• Ability to work collaboratively across teams and influence senior stakeholders.
• U.S. citizenship required (ability to obtain and maintain a security clearance).

$160,000 - $240,000 a year

#LE

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.

Equal Opportunity Employment:

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.