Shield AI

Senior Staff Lab Manager (R5090)

Shield AI$130K — $155K *
Aerospace & Defense
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in a related technical field (e.g., Electrical or Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science)
  • 10+ years of experience in engineering labs or technical infrastructure
  • 5+ years in technical leadership or management roles
  • Proven experience designing and building engineering labs from start to finish
  • Strong knowledge of lab infrastructure and equipment lifecycle management
  • Experience with hardware and software integration systems, specifically HIL and SIL
  • US citizenship with active Secret clearance required.

Responsibilities

  • Own the vision and roadmap for lab infrastructure and strategy
  • Design and commission new laboratory spaces for evolving engineering needs
  • Define operational standards for lab layout and safety
  • Maintain laboratory operations, maximizing utilization and minimizing downtime
  • Plan and coordinate maintenance and lifecycle management of lab equipment
  • Support engineering teams in developing robust test and integration environments
  • Lead and mentor a multidisciplinary team of engineers and technicians.

Benefits

  • Bonus opportunities based on performance
  • Equity participation
  • Comprehensive health benefits package
  • Flexible work schedule options
  • Professional development opportunities
  • Retirement savings plan with company match
Full Job Description
Job Description:

We are seeking an experienced Senior Staff Lab Manager to lead the design, development, operation, and long-term strategy of our engineering laboratories. This is a highly technical leadership role responsible for creating world-class lab environments that enable hardware and software engineering teams to rapidly develop, integrate, test, and validate complex systems.

The ideal candidate combines deep technical expertise with strong operational leadership, driving lab architecture, infrastructure modernization, asset management, and engineering support while leading a team of engineers and technicians.

What you'll do:
  • Lab Strategy & Infrastructure
    • Own the overall vision, architecture, and roadmap for engineering laboratory infrastructure.
    • Design, build, and commission new laboratory spaces to support evolving engineering programs.
    • Define standards for laboratory layout, power distribution, networking, cooling, safety, security, and scalability.
    • Develop long-term modernization plans to ensure laboratory capabilities remain aligned with engineering needs.
    • Evaluate and implement new technologies, tools, and automation to improve laboratory efficiency and reliability.

    Lab Operations
    • Own day-to-day laboratory operations across multiple engineering disciplines.
    • Develop scheduling processes that maximize lab utilization while minimizing conflicts and downtime.
    • Plan and coordinate preventative maintenance, calibration, repairs, and equipment lifecycle management.
    • Manage laboratory uptime, availability, and operational readiness.
    • Establish operational metrics, KPIs, and reporting for lab performance.

    Engineering Systems & Integration
    • Support complex hardware-in-the-loop (HIL), software-in-the-loop (SIL), integration, and validation environments.
    • Develop laboratory standards for networking, compute infrastructure, storage, instrumentation, and data acquisition.
    • Partner with engineering teams to architect robust development and test environments.
    • Ensure laboratories support rapid system integration and reproducible testing.

    Leadership
    • Lead and develop a multidisciplinary team of lab engineers, infrastructure engineers, and technicians.
    • Recruit, mentor, and grow high-performing technical staff.
    • Prioritize work across multiple concurrent engineering programs.
    • Establish standard operating procedures, documentation, and best practices.
    • Foster a culture of safety, ownership, continuous improvement, and technical excellence.

    Collaboration
    • Work closely with Hardware, Electrical, Mechanical, Software, Systems, Manufacturing, and Test Engineering organizations.
    • Partner with IT, Facilities, Security, and EH&S teams to deliver reliable and secure laboratory environments.
    • Manage vendor relationships for laboratory equipment, infrastructure, and service providers.

Required qualifications:
  • Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Systems Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical discipline.
  • 10+ years of experience supporting complex engineering laboratories or technical infrastructure.
  • 5+ years of technical leadership or people management experience.
  • Demonstrated experience designing and building engineering labs from concept through deployment.
  • Strong understanding of laboratory infrastructure, including:
    • Power distribution
    • Network architecture
    • Server and storage systems
    • Instrumentation
    • Environmental controls
    • Safety systems
  • Experience managing equipment lifecycle, maintenance, calibration, upgrades, and modernization.
  • Experience supporting multidisciplinary engineering organizations.
  • Laboratory infrastructure design and architecture
  • System-level engineering and integration
  • Networking (Ethernet, VLANs, managed switches, routing)
  • Hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) and Software-in-the-loop (SIL) systems
  • Asset management and inventory systems
  • US Citizenship required due to security clearance requirements.
    Active Secret clearance.

Preferred qualifications:
  • Experience supporting robotics, aerospace, defense, automotive, or autonomous systems development.
  • Experience with secure laboratory environments and classified or regulated development environments.
  • Knowledge of systems engineering processes and system architecture.
  • Experience implementing laboratory automation and infrastructure-as-code practices.
  • Familiarity with cloud-connected engineering workflows and hybrid infrastructure.
  • Programming and scripting experience:
    • Python, MATLAB, C/C++, etc.
  • Active Top Secret clearance or eligible to achieve

#LI-AD6

#LE

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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