Senior Technical Program Manager, UAS Autonomy & Systems

Lever, Inc.; Dallas (TX); On-site; USD 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus

Equity

Benefits

Job summary

Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-tech company leveraging AI-powered autonomous systems to protect service members and civilians. The Technical Program Manager will lead integrated execution of high-profile UAS programs from requirements through deployment, balancing systems-engineering rigor with scaled-Agile leadership to align multiple engineering teams and manage risk.

This role focuses on end-to-end program planning, cross-functional delivery, and customer outcomes, requiring strong

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, Computer Science, Physics, or related STEM.
• 8–12+ years of experience leading cross-functional technical programs in complex environments.
• Experience delivering integrated products, capabilities, or customer solutions.
• Strong systems-engineering, requirements management, and verification/validation experience.
• Program-management capability with integrated planning, scheduling, risk/issue management, and stakeholder communication.
• Experience coordinating multiple Agile teams toward shared releases and milestones.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end execution of complex UAS programs with autonomy, meeting technical, schedule, cost, quality, and customer objectives.
• Own integrated program plans: scope, milestones, schedules, critical path, resources, risks, and change control.
• Collaborate with technical leads to ensure clear requirements, interfaces, verification plans, and acceptance criteria.
• Guide cross-functional system integration and test across hardware, software, autonomy, and cybersecurity teams.
• Drive timely resolution of technical and cross-team issues; conduct trade studies and risk mitigations.
• Establish and lead multi-team delivery cadence with planning reviews, demonstrations, and ready-for-release reviews.

Skills

Systems engineering

Program management

Agile leadership

Communication

Travel readiness

Education

STEM degree

Tools

Jira

Confluence

Jama

Polarion

DOORS

Cameo

Microsoft Project

Smartsheet

Azure DevOps

Job description

Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-tech company leveraging AI-powered autonomous systems to protect service members and civilians. The Technical Program Manager will lead integrated execution of high-profile UAS programs from requirements through deployment, balancing systems-engineering rigor with scaled-Agile leadership to align multiple engineering teams and manage risk.

This role focuses on end-to-end program planning, cross-functional delivery, and customer outcomes, requiring strong