Sr. Staff Engineer, Supply Chain - Mechanical Commodities (R6524)

F7d8749a; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Shield AI is seeking a skilled Supplier Development Engineer to lead the technical development, industrialization, and performance improvement of suppliers for critical mechanical commodities.

You will be the main technical interface among Engineering, Quality, Manufacturing, and Supply Chain, driving supplier qualification and ramp-up for precision-machined components, airframe structures, and propulsion hardware.

Qualifications

• Experience in supplier development for mechanical hardware in aerospace or defense programs.
• Strong root-cause analysis and problem-solving skills.
• Familiarity with lean manufacturing, process controls, and production ramp-up.

Responsibilities

• Lead supplier development and capability assessments for precision machining, airframe structures, landing gear, and propulsion hardware.
• Collaborate with Engineering, Quality, Manufacturing, and Sourcing to select suppliers meeting technical and delivery requirements.
• Perform capability assessments, MRBs, PFMEAs, and process validation for new or ramping suppliers.
• Coordinate First Article Inspections under AS9102 and resolve discrepancies with suppliers.
• Drive design-for-manufacturability discussions to improve producibility and reduce lead times.
• Identify and qualify new suppliers in Europe to grow the regional supply base.

Skills

Supplier development

Root-cause analysis

Lean manufacturing

Industrialization

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 https://shield.ai/. Follow Shield AI on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/shield-ai, X https://x.com/shieldaitech, Instagram https://www.instagram.com/shield_ai, and YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@Shield_AI.

About the role

Shield AI is looking for a highly skilled, motivated Supplier Development Engineer to lead the technical development, industrialization, and performance improvement of suppliers for critical mechanical commodities. These include precision-machined components, airframe structures, landing gear, composites and propulsion/engine hardware. You'll be the main technical interface between suppliers and Shield AI's Engineering, Quality, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, and Program teams. You'll solve supplier problems that affect quality, on-time delivery, and scaling. You'll onboard suppliers to new designs and lead them through qualification and production ramp-up. This work is central to our mission of delivering affordable, autonomous mass at scale. The role involves a lot of travel, up to 50%, including regular trips internationally to develop and build the supply base there.

What You'll Do:

• Supplier development and capability assessment
• Lead technical development and performance improvement for precision machining, airframe structures, landing gear, composites and propulsion/engine hardware.
• Assess supplier technical capabilities, manufacturing processes, capacity, quality systems, tooling, workforce, and readiness for prototype, development, qualification, and production programs.
• Run capability assessments, manufacturing readiness reviews, process audits, capacity analyses, and onsite evaluations.
• Work with Strategic Sourcing and Engineering to select suppliers that meet technical, quality, cost, schedule, and production-rate requirements.
• Identify, develop, and qualify new suppliers in Europe to grow the regional supply base.
• Industrialization and new product introduction - Lead industrialization: manufacturing planning, tooling readiness, process validation, capacity planning, qualification, and production ramp-up.
• Support new product introductions, prototype builds, engineering changes, and rate increases, making sure suppliers meet all quality and delivery requirements during development.
• Review drawings, specifications, GD&T, bills of material, special-process requirements, and statements of work with suppliers.
• Lead design-for-manufacturability and design-for-assembly discussions to improve producibility, lower cost, and shorten lead times.
• Review and approve process flows, manufacturing and inspection plans, control plans, PFMEAs, work instructions, and qualification documentation.
• Coordinate First Article Inspection under AS9102 and resolve FAI discrepancies and manufacturing nonconformances.
• Audit and embed in core supplier processes to find opportunities to improve cost, lead time, and quality.
• Lead onsite root-cause investigations into defects, dimensional nonconformances, process variation, tooling issues, material shortages, and production constraints.
• Use structured root-cause and corrective-action methods, including 8D, 5-Why, fishbone, and fault-tree analysis.
• Apply lean manufacturing, process controls, mistake-proofing, yield improvement, cycle-time reduction, and production-flow improvements.
• Give suppliers technical guidance on part specifications, manufacturing processes and standards, and quality measures.
• Ensure compliance with AS9100, AS9102, engineering, configuration-control, special-process, and customer requirements.
• Track and analyze supplier delivery, quality, and cost metrics, and put corrective action and continuous improvement plans in place as needed.
• Evaluate capacity against current and future demand using cycle times, yield, equipment availability, staffing, tooling, and material flow.
• Create and manage measurable plans for technical development, production readiness, capacity recovery, and corrective action.
• Lead onsite supplier recovery and report progress, risks, and corrective actions to program and executive leadership.
• Watch performance trends to spot recurring issues, systemic risks, and improvement opportunities.
• Identify and reduce supply chain risk, including developing alternate sources for sole-source, long-lead, and flight-critical components.

Leadership

• Mentor Supplier Development, Supplier Quality, and Supply Chain team members.
• Lead cross-functional technical teams and improvement initiatives with limited oversight.

Preferred Qualifications:

• - Active U.S. government SECRET clearance at hire.
• Experience with aircraft, unmanned aircraft systems, advanced aerospace platforms, or defense programs.
• Direct supplier development for airframe structures, landing gear, turbine engines, propulsion, or other flight-critical mechanical hardware.
• Experience developing or managing suppliers in Europe.
• Industrialization and production ramp-up of newly designed aerospace components and systems.
• Complex machining, tight tolerances, special processes, and aerospace materials.
• Metallic and composite airframe experience, including tooling, layup, curing, bonding, machining, drilling, trimming, assembly, and inspection.
• Landing gear manufacturing knowledge: forgings, machining, heat treatment, surface finishing, hydraulics, and assembly.
• Engine and propulsion manufacturing knowledge: castings, forging, rotating compone