Staff Technical Sourcer

Shield AI; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Shield AI in San Diego is seeking a Staff Technical Sourcer who thrives on talent discovery for highly specialized aircraft engineering roles. You will partner with recruiters to define target profiles and build data-informed sourcing strategies across Aerodynamics, Propulsion, Avionics, and related disciplines.

You will map markets, engage passive candidates, and design AI-powered workflows to scale recruiting.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of technical sourcing experience in aerospace or defense.
• Expertise in market intelligence and talent landscapes.
• Experience with AI tools and coding assistants to automate sourcing.

Responsibilities

• Own the top of funnel: partner with recruiters to define target profiles and build data-informed sourcing strategies across Aerodynamics, Aerostructures, Propulsion, Flight Sciences, Avionics, Electrical, Mechanical, Systems, Manufacturing, Test and other aircraft disciplines.
• Map the market: develop talent landscapes by company, skillset, geography, and org structure; identify hidden pools, competitor insights, and trends.
• Generate and engage: use Boolean search, sourcing platforms, and channels (LinkedIn Recruiter, SeekOut, HireEZ, ClearanceJobs, GitHub, engineering communities) to identify and attract top aircraft talent.
• Build pipelines proactively: cultivate long-term relationships with passive, cleared, and specialized talent for just-in-time hiring.
• Leverage AI to scale sourcing: design AI-powered workflows, agents, and automations to boost recruiter productivity and market intelligence.
• Build repeatable sourcing systems: create market maps, talent intelligence reports, outreach content, and scalable processes across Talent Acquisition.
• Be the sourcing SME: advise recruiters and leaders on market insights, strategy, talent availability, and emerging recruiting technologies.
• Partner for impact: collaborate with Talent Acquisition Operations, Employer Brand, University Recruiting, and Aircraft Engineering leaders.
• Track and iterate: measure sourcing effectiveness and iteratively improve outreach and conversion.

Skills

Top of funnel sourcing

Market mapping

Boolean search

AI-enabled sourcing

Candidate engagement

Tools

LinkedIn Recruiter

HireEZ

SeekOut

ClearanceJobs

GitHub

GitHub Copilot

ChatGPT

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-BATaircraft, 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.

We’re looking for a Staff Technical Sourcer who lives and breathes talent discovery - someone who can take a complex, highly specialized aircraft engineering need and translate it into a precision sourcing strategy. You’ll be the go-to expert for talent intelligence, market mapping, proactive candidate generation, and pipeline cultivation across our aircraft and advanced aerospace engineering organizations.

This isn’t just a "find resumes" role - it’s about building intelligence, relationships, and repeatable systems that fuel our aircraft engineering hiring engine. As a Staff Talent Sourcer, you'll serve as a strategic partner to recruiters and hiring leaders while leveraging modern AI tools, market intelligence, and scalable sourcing practices to help us identify and hire world-class aircraft engineering talent.

WHAT YOU’LL DO:

• Own the top of funnel: Partner closely with recruiters and hiring leaders to define target profiles and build deep, data-informed sourcing strategies across Aerodynamics, Aerostructures, Propulsion, Flight Sciences, Avionics, Electrical, Mechanical, Systems, Manufacturing, Test, and other aircraft engineering disciplines.
• Map the market: Develop comprehensive talent landscapes by company, skillset, geography, and organizational structure; identify hidden talent pools, competitor insights, and emerging talent trends to inform recruiting strategy and workforce planning.
• Generate and engage: Use advanced Boolean search techniques, sourcing platforms, and creative sourcing channels (LinkedIn Recruiter, SeekOut, HireEZ, ClearanceJobs, GitHub, engineering communities, niche aerospace and aviation networks, conferences, referrals, and more) to identify, engage, and attract exceptional aircraft engineering talent.
• Build pipelines proactively: Cultivate long‑term relationships with passive, cleared, and highly specialized aircraft engineering talent to enable just‑in‑time hiring across strategic programs.
• Leverage AI to scale sourcing: Design, build, and continuously improve AI‑powered sourcing workflows, research agents, and practical automations that increase recruiter productivity, accelerate candidate discovery, enhance market intelligence, and improve operational efficiency.
• Build repeatable sourcing systems: Use AI tools and workflow automation to create structured market maps, talent intelligence reports, outreach content, sourcing documentation, and scalable recruiting processes that can be leveraged across the Talent Acquisition organization.
• Be the sourcing SME: Serve as the subject matter expert on aircraft technical sourcing by coaching recruiters and hiring managers on market insights, sourcing strategy, talent availability, competitive intelligence, candidate engagement best practices, and emerging recruiting technologies.
• Partner for impact: Collaborate cross‑functionally with Talent Acquisition Operations, Employer Brand, University Recruiting, and Aircraft Engineering leaders to optimize recruiting strategies, outbound messaging, candidate experience, and operational excellence.
• Track and iterate: Use recruiting analytics, experimentation, and storytelling to measure sourcing effectiveness, optimize outreach strategies, improve conversion rates, and continuously evolve sourcing practices.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• 8+ years of technical sourcing experience, ideally in aerospace, defense, aviation, advanced aircraft, or other complex hardware/software industries.
• Proven track record in market mapping, competitive intelligence, and candidate generation for highly specialized aircraft or aerospace technical roles.
• Deep expertise in advanced Boolean search, LinkedIn Recruiter, HireEZ, SeekOut, ClearanceJobs, GitHub, and other modern sourcing platforms.
• Demonstrated ability to operate as a consultative partner to recruiters, hiring managers, and senior aircraft engineering leaders, influencing hiring strategy through market insights and talent intelligence.
• Hands‑on experience building or leveraging AI‑powered sourcing workflows, agentic AI tools, workflow automations, or practical AI solutions that improve recruiting or business processes.
• Direct experience using AI development environments or coding assistants (such as Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, Gemini, or similar tools) to create repeatable sourcing workflows, structured research outputs, market intelligence, process automation, or operational documentation.
• Experience building and maintaining long‑term relationships with passive, cleared, or niche aircraft engineering talent.
• Excellent communication and storytelling skills with the ability to engage highly technical candidates and influence stakeholders.
• Strong judgment, curiosity, and a continuous improvement mindset with the ability to evaluate and adopt emerging AI technologies to improve recruiting outcomes.
• Highly organized, data‑driven, and able to operate autonomously in a fast‑paced, mission‑driven environment.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Prior experience supporting aircraft, aerospace, aviation, advanced vehicle, or defense engineering organizations.
• Experience navigating export control, ITAR, EAR, or security‑cleared recruiting environments.
• Familiarity with Ashby and recruiting analytics, CRM, or talent intelligence platforms.
• Experience supporting high‑growth, venture‑backed technology organizations.
• Demonstrated passion for staying ahead of emerging recruiting technologies, sourcing methodologies, and AI advancements.