Shield AI

Director, Engineering Excellence & Enablement (R5467)

Shield AI$210K — $320K *
Technical Services
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 10+ years in engineering leadership or related fields
  • Proven track record of leading cross-functional initiatives in tech
  • Expertise in establishing engineering operating models and processes
  • Strong grasp of Agile, DevOps, and engineering metrics, especially in Aerospace & Defense
  • Ability to influence executives without direct authority
  • Outstanding communication and organizational skills
  • Analytical mindset with experience in data-driven improvements

Responsibilities

  • Partner with VP of Engineering on translating strategy into capabilities
  • Evolve the engineering operating system including planning and governance
  • Identify capability gaps and recommend strategic investments
  • Drive engineering excellence initiatives focused on productivity and quality
  • Establish metrics and dashboards for engineering effectiveness
  • Facilitate consistent engineering operating cadences and retrospectives
  • Lead cross-functional initiatives and manage stakeholder communications

Benefits

  • Bonus opportunities
  • Equity participation
  • Comprehensive benefits package
  • Flexible work environment
  • Professional development opportunities
Full Job Description
Job Description:

The Director of Engineering Excellence & Enablement is a strategic leader responsible for improving the effectiveness, efficiency, and execution maturity of the engineering organization. Reporting to the VP of Engineering, this leader partners closely with Engineering, Product, Program Management, and other cross-functional leaders to translate company and product strategy into scalable engineering capabilities, operational rhythms, and enterprise-wide initiatives.

This role is equal parts strategy, execution, organizational design, and operational excellence. Success is measured by enabling engineering teams to deliver predictably, operate efficiently, and continuously improve while maintaining alignment across the broader organization.

What you'll do:

Engineering Strategy & Organizational Enablement
  • Partner with the VP of Engineering to translate business and product strategy into engineering capabilities, operating models, and execution plans.
  • Develop and evolve the engineering operating system, including planning processes, governance, decision-making frameworks, and organizational rhythms.
  • Identify capability gaps and recommend investments in people, processes, tooling, and organizational structure.

Engineering Excellence
  • Define and drive engineering excellence initiatives focused on developer productivity, quality, reliability, operational maturity, and continuous improvement.
  • Establish engineering effectiveness metrics and dashboards that provide visibility into organizational health, delivery performance, and engineering productivity.
  • Champion adoption of modern engineering practices, standards, and continuous improvement methodologies.

Operational Cadence & Execution
  • Establish and facilitate consistent engineering operating cadences including strategic planning, quarterly planning, roadmap reviews, engineering leadership meetings, business reviews, and operational retrospectives/after-action reviews.
  • Drive accountability for execution across engineering leadership while identifying and resolving organizational bottlenecks.
  • Improve planning accuracy, prioritization, dependency management, and execution predictability.

Enterprise Engineering Initiatives
  • Lead complex, cross-functional engineering initiatives that span multiple teams and organizations.
  • Drive strategic programs such as AI enablement, developer experience improvements, technical governance, and organizational scaling initiatives.
  • Coordinate executive communications, status reporting, risk management, and stakeholder engagement for enterprise programs.

Organizational Effectiveness
  • Partner with engineering leaders to improve organizational health, team effectiveness, and leadership maturity.
  • Standardize engineering processes where appropriate while preserving team autonomy.
  • Foster a culture of operational excellence, continuous learning, and data-informed decision making.


Required qualifications:

  • 10+ years of engineering leadership, technical program management, engineering operations, or related experience.
  • Demonstrated success leading large-scale cross-functional initiatives in complex technology organizations.
  • Experience establishing engineering operating models, governance, planning processes, and execution frameworks.
  • Strong understanding of modern software engineering organizations, Agile development, DevOps, and engineering metrics in the Aerospace & Defense industry.
  • Proven ability to influence senior leaders without relying on direct authority.
  • Exceptional communication, facilitation, organizational, and executive presentation skills.
  • Strong analytical mindset with experience using data to drive organizational improvements.


Preferred qualifications:

  • Experience partnering directly with VP or C-level technology executives.
  • Experience scaling engineering organizations through periods of rapid growth or transformation.
  • Familiarity with developer productivity and organizational effectiveness measurement.


$210,000 - $320,000 a year

#LF

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.

About Shield AI

Shield AI is a defense technology company that develops artificially intelligent systems for military applications. The company was founded in 2015 by Brandon Tseng, Ryan Tseng, and Andrew Reiter, and is headquartered in San Diego, California. Shield AI's products include autonomous drones and software that can be used for reconnaissance, surveillance, and other military operations. The company's mission is to reduce the number of military casualties by providing soldiers with better intelligence and situational awareness. Shield AI has received funding from a number of investors, including Andreessen Horowitz and Founders Fund.
Learn more about Shield AI
Size
200 employees
Industry
Founded
2015

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