Senior Staff Lab Manager (R5090)

Shield AI; Dallas (TX); On-site; USD 170,000 - 250,000; Full time

Job summary

Shield AI seeks an experienced Senior Staff Lab Manager to lead the design, operation, and long-term strategy of engineering laboratories. You will guide a team of engineers and technicians to rapidly develop, integrate, test, and validate complex systems across hardware and software domains.

You will own lab architecture, infrastructure modernization, asset management, and provide engineering support while collaborating with multiple disciplines to ensure readiness and reliability of critical

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a technical discipline is required.
• 10+ years supporting complex engineering laboratories or technical infrastructure.
• 5+ years of technical leadership or people management experience.
• Experience designing and building engineering labs from concept to deployment.
• Strong understanding of lab infrastructure: power distribution, networking, servers/storage, instrumentation, environmental controls, safety.

Responsibilities

• Own the vision, architecture, and roadmap for engineering laboratory infrastructure.
• Design, build, and commission new laboratory spaces for evolving programs.
• Define standards for lab layout, power, networking, cooling, safety and security.
• Develop long-term modernization plans to keep capabilities aligned with needs.
• Evaluate and implement new technologies, tools, and automation to improve efficiency.
• Lead day-to-day lab operations across multiple engineering disciplines.
• Plan and coordinate maintenance, calibration, and lifecycle management.

Skills

Lab management

Technical leadership

Lab architecture

Infrastructure modernization

HIL/SIL expertise

Networking

Equipment lifecycle

Vendor management

Security & safety

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering/Mechanical/CS/Systems

Tools

Python

MATLAB

C/C++

Job description

Founded in 2015, 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 and V‑BAT and X‑BAT aircraft. 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

We are seeking an experienced Senior Staff Lab Manager to lead the design, development, operation, and long‑term strategy of our engineering laboratories. This is a highly technical leadership role responsible for creating world‑class lab environments that enable hardware and software engineering teams to rapidly develop, integrate, test, and validate complex systems.

The ideal candidate combines deep technical expertise with strong operational leadership, driving lab architecture, infrastructure modernization, asset management, and engineering support while leading a team of engineers and technicians.

Lab Strategy & Infrastructure

• Own the overall vision, architecture, and roadmap for engineering laboratory infrastructure.
• Design, build, and commission new laboratory spaces to support evolving engineering programs.
• Define standards for laboratory layout, power distribution, networking, cooling, safety, security, and scalability.
• Develop long‑term modernization plans to ensure laboratory capabilities remain aligned with engineering needs.
• Evaluate and implement new technologies, tools, and automation to improve laboratory efficiency and reliability.

Lab Operations

• Own day‑to‑day laboratory operations across multiple engineering disciplines.
• Develop scheduling processes that maximize lab utilization while minimizing conflicts and downtime.
• Plan and coordinate preventative maintenance, calibration, repairs, and equipment lifecycle management.
• Manage laboratory uptime, availability, and operational readiness.
• Establish operational metrics, KPIs, and reporting for lab performance.

Engineering Systems & Integration

• Support complex hardware‑in‑the‑loop (HIL), software‑in‑the‑loop (SIL), integration, and validation environments.
• Develop laboratory standards for networking, compute infrastructure, storage, instrumentation, and data acquisition.
• Partner with engineering teams to architect robust development and test environments.
• Ensure laboratories support rapid system integration and reproducible testing.

Leadership

• Lead and develop a multidisciplinary team of lab engineers, infrastructure engineers, and technicians.
• Recruit, mentor, and grow high‑performing technical staff.
• Prioritize work across multiple concurrent engineering programs.
• Establish standard operating procedures, documentation, and best practices.
• Foster a culture of safety, ownership, continuous improvement, and technical excellence.

Collaboration

• Work closely with Hardware, Electrical, Mechanical, Software, Systems, Manufacturing, and Test Engineering organizations.
• Partner with IT, Facilities, Security, and EH&S teams to deliver reliable and secure laboratory environments.
• Manage vendor relationships for laboratory equipment, infrastructure, and service providers.

Required qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Systems Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical discipline.
• 10+ years of experience supporting complex engineering laboratories or technical infrastructure.
• 5+ years of technical leadership or people management experience.
• Demonstrated experience designing and building engineering labs from concept through deployment.
• Strong understanding of laboratory infrastructure, including:
• Power distribution
• Network architecture
• Server and storage systems
• Instrumentation
• Environmental controls
• Safety systems
• Experience managing equipment lifecycle, maintenance, calibration, upgrades, and modernization.
• Experience supporting multidisciplinary engineering organizations.
• Laboratory infrastructure design and architecture
• System‑level engineering and integration
• Networking (Ethernet, VLANs, managed switches, routing)
• Hardware‑in‑the‑loop (HIL) and Software‑in‑the‑loop (SIL) systems
• Asset management and inventory systems

Preferred qualifications

• Experience supporting robotics, aerospace, defense, automotive, or autonomous systems development.
• Experience with secure laboratory environments and classified or regulated development environments.
• Knowledge of systems engineering processes and system architecture.
• Experience implementing laboratory automation and infrastructure‑as‑code practices.
• Familiarity with cloud‑connected engineering workflows and hybrid infrastructure.
• Programming and scripting experience:
  • Python, MATLAB, C/C++, etc.

$170,000 - $250,000 a year

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.