Staff Technical Program Manager (R5791)

Job Description:

At Shield AI, we are revolutionizing defense technology with AI-powered autonomous systems. As a Technical Program Manager, you will lead the integrated execution of complex autonomy-enabled UAS programs from requirements through deployment. You will combine systems-engineering rigor with program-management discipline and scaled-Agile leadership to align multiple engineering teams, manage technical and delivery risk, and deliver verified capability to customers.

This role is ideal for a technically credible leader with deep experience in system integration, requirements management, verification and test, integrated planning, and cross-functional execution. You will establish the plans, operating cadence, technical visibility, and decision mechanisms that enable teams to deliver high-impact mission capability predictably.

What you'll do:

• Lead end-to-end execution of complex UAS, autonomy, mission-system, or customer-delivery programs, achieving technical, schedule, cost, quality, and customer objectives.
• Own integrated program plans, including scope, milestones, schedules, critical path, resource needs, dependencies, risks, issues, decisions, and change control.
• Partner with technical leads to ensure requirements, interfaces, verification plans, test readiness, technical baselines, and customer acceptance criteria are clear, measurable, and traceable.
• Lead cross-functional system integration and test execution across hardware, software, autonomy, systems engineering, test, manufacturing, flight operations, cybersecurity, and field/customer teams.
• Drive timely resolution of technical, programmatic, and cross-team issues; facilitate trade studies, risk mitigations, recovery plans, and leadership decisions when needed.
• Establish and lead an effective multi-team delivery cadence, including integrated planning, dependency reviews, program execution reviews, system demonstrations, release-readiness reviews, and continuous-improvement activities.
• Coordinate delivery across multiple engineering teams, releases, and customer commitments; identify and remove systemic blockers that affect integrated capability delivery.
• Communicate technical status, risks, tradeoffs, decisions, and delivery outlook clearly to engineering leadership, executives, customers, and external stakeholders.
• Develop and use program metrics and dashboards to improve execution predictability, integration readiness, requirements-verification status, risk posture, and release performance.
• Mentor project engineers and technical leads in integrated planning, systems-engineering execution, risk management, and cross-functional delivery practices.

Required qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, Computer Science, Physics, or a related STEM discipline.
• Typically 8–12+ years of experience in systems engineering, project engineering, technical program management, aerospace, defense, robotics, autonomy, UAS, or a similarly complex technical environment.
• Demonstrated experience leading cross-functional technical programs involving multiple engineering disciplines and delivering integrated products, capabilities, or customer solutions.
• Strong systems-engineering experience, including requirements management, traceability, interface management, system integration, verification and validation, test planning/execution, and configuration or technical-baseline management.
• Proven program-management capability, including integrated planning and scheduling, scope management, resource coordination, risk and issue management, stakeholder communication, and execution reporting.
• Experience coordinating multiple Agile teams or technical workstreams toward shared releases, demonstrations, system-level milestones, or customer deliveries.
• Strong written, verbal, and executive communication skills, with the ability to explain technical status, risks, and tradeoffs to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a DoD security clearance.
• Willingness to travel up to 25%.

Preferred qualifications:

• Active DoD security clearance.
• PMP certification, INCOSE certification, SAFe Release Train Engineer certification, or equivalent demonstrated experience in technical program, systems-engineering, or scaled-Agile leadership.
• Experience serving as a Technical Program Manager, Release Train Engineer, Integrated Product Team lead, Project Engineer, systems-integration lead, or comparable cross-functional technical leadership role.
• Experience facilitating multi-team planning, dependency management, program execution reviews, system demonstrations, release-readiness reviews, and continuous-improvement activities.
• Experience with Jira, Confluence, Jira Align, Microsoft Project, Smartsheet, Azure DevOps, Jama, Polarion, DOORS, Cameo, or comparable planning, requirements, and systems-engineering tools.
• Experience with UAS, autonomy, robotics, AI-enabled systems, mission systems, sensors, payloads, communications/datalinks, SATCOM, navigation, flight test, or fielded defense systems.
• Experience supporting DoD, intelligence-community, aviation, maritime, international-defense, or other mission-critical customer programs.
• Experience with manufacturing, production readiness, supplier coordination, cybersecurity, airworthiness/clearance-to-fly, configuration management, export compliance, or field deployment.