Shield AI

Technical Program Manager, Manufacturing (R4741)

Shield AI$110K — $130K *
Aerospace & Defense
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in mechanical/aerospace Engineering or related field.
  • 5+ years of program leadership experience in aerospace or advanced manufacturing.
  • Experience in facility or production program setup, ideally in a startup or high-growth setting.
  • Strong operational planning and program execution background across engineering and manufacturing.

Responsibilities

  • Own manufacturing program outcomes end-to-end, managing integrated plans and milestones.
  • Lead day-to-day coordination across multiple functions to align priorities and resolve issues.
  • Identify and mitigate bottlenecks early, driving solutions proactively and collaboratively.
  • Translate engineering plans into actionable manufacturing strategies and readiness gates.
  • Ensure comprehensive manufacturing readiness through coordination of tooling, equipment, and workforce.
  • Manage change impacts through effective coordination of engineering change requests and production flow.
  • Lead regular cross-functional reviews and maintain thorough risk management practices.

Benefits

  • Bonus opportunities
  • Equity options
  • Comprehensive health benefits package
  • Support for professional development and training
Full Job Description
Lead the execution of complex manufacturing programs that bring advanced products from concept to production. In this role, you will drive cross-functional alignment across engineering, supply chain, and operations, ensuring plans, resources, and readiness come together to meet critical milestones. Youll play a key role in turning strategy into reality-removing obstacles, maintaining momentum, and enabling teams to deliver at scale.

What youll do:
  • Own manufacturing program outcomes end-to-end. Build and drive the integrated manufacturing program plan (WBS/IMS), manage critical path and cross-functional dependencies, and take full accountability for hitting build and ramp milestones-not just reporting status.
  • Operate as the execution engine across functions. Lead day-to-day coordination across Production, Manufacturing Engineering, MP&L, Supply Chain, Quality, Test, Facilities, Construction, and Engineering aligning priorities, resolving friction, and ensuring no workstream drifts.
  • Move fast to unblock reality. Identify bottlenecks early (design maturity, supplier lead times, tooling delays, facility readiness, material constraints) and aggressively drive mitigation plans to closure. Escalate when necessary but default to solving laterally and decisively.
  • Translate engineering intent into manufacturing action. Turn evolving product development plans and engineering releases into structured readiness gates, executable build plans, and clearly defined entry/exit criteria from prototype through pilot and production ramp.
  • Drive manufacturing readiness with urgency. Ensure tooling, equipment, routings, work instructions, materials, inspection/test capability, facilities, and workforce readiness are aligned ahead of builds closing gaps before they impact the floor.
  • Own change impact management. Coordinate ECR/ECO cut-ins, retrofit strategies, and configuration alignment to protect schedule, build integrity, and production flow.
  • Run a disciplined operating cadence. Lead weekly cross-functional reviews, maintain risk and issue registers, drive action tracking with clear owners and deadlines, and provide crisp executive updates that highlight tradeoffs and required decisions.
  • Integrate facilities and equipment milestones. Embed construction, utilities, equipment installation, and commissioning into the program plan ensuring space and infrastructure readiness never become the critical path surprise.
  • Stay close to the floor. Be present where execution happens rapidly translating real-world constraints into plan updates and actionable cross-functional decisions.
  • Continuously raise the bar. Improve program management standards, tools, readiness frameworks, and execution rhythms to make future manufacturing programs faster, more predictable, and more scalable.

Required qualifications:
  • Bachelors degree in mechanical / aerospace Engineering, or related field.
  • Significant experience in aerospace or advanced manufacturing, with 5+ years in program leadership roles.
  • Proven success in facility or production program setup, especially in a startup or high-growth environment.
  • Strong background in program execution and operational planning across engineering and manufacturing domains.

Preferred qualifications:
  • Masters degree in Engineering, Industrial Systems, or Operations Management.
  • Experience leading cross-functional teams in aerospace or defense industries.
  • Demonstrated ability to deliver production facilities and new program manufacturing readiness on aggressive timelines.
  • Familiarity with new product introduction (NPI) and manufacturing systems planning at scale.
  • Greenfield facility development experience.

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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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