Founded in 2015, Shield AI is a venture-backed deep-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. Its products include the V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, Hivemind Enterprise, and the Hivemind Vision product lines. With offices and facilities across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and the 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. 

Location: Frisco, TX

Compensation: Salary: $183,600-250,000, plus bonus/benefits/equity.

What You'll Do:

Strategic Supplier Transformation & Process Excellence

• Define and lead the supplier development strategy across key commodities, driving systemic improvements in cost, lead time, quality, and scalability.
• Establish and institutionalize supplier process audit frameworks and continuous improvement roadmaps aligned to company growth objectives.
• Partner with executive leadership to prioritize supplier investments, consolidations, and capability expansion.

Quality & Operational Governance

• Own the supplier quality strategy, including audit standards, escalation frameworks, and corrective action governance.
• Lead root cause investigations for systemic supplier performance issues and ensure cross-functional resolution.
• Develop standardized quality and performance review mechanisms (QBRs, scorecards, KPI dashboards).

Supplier Capability & Capacity Development

• Assess supplier technical maturity, manufacturing readiness, and operational scalability.
• Drive supplier capability upgrades in partnership with Engineering and Operations to meet future product and rate requirements.
• Lead make vs. buy strategy alignment for new and existing programs.

Engineering & Technical Leadership

• Establish technical standards and expectations for supplier manufacturing processes, drawing interpretation, GD&T adherence, and quality controls.
• Ensure supplier alignment with evolving product designs, material specifications, and manufacturing complexity (composites, injection molding, mechanical hardware).
• Influence early design decisions to ensure manufacturability and supply chain scalability.

Performance & Risk Management

• Build and oversee supplier performance monitoring systems covering delivery, quality, cost, and risk indicators.
• Proactively identify supply chain risks (capacity, geopolitical, technical, financial) and implement mitigation strategies at the portfolio level.
• Lead executive-level supplier escalations and recovery plans when required.

New Product Introduction (NPI) Leadership

• Own supplier readiness strategy for NPI programs, ensuring manufacturability, quality validation (FAI/PPAP), and capacity planning are completed prior to production ramp.
• Partner with Engineering to align release timelines with supplier capability and risk mitigation plans.

Required Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in mechanical hardware manufacturing, manufacturing engineering, or supplier development leadership roles.
• Demonstrated leadership of supplier development or manufacturing teams.
• Strong expertise in composite manufacturing, injection molding, and/or precision mechanical fabrication.
• Proven ability to interpret 2D drawings, GD&T, and critical mechanical features at a high level.
• Willingness and ability to travel domestically and internationally (~50%+ as required).

Preferred Qualifications:

• Proficiency in CAD tools (SolidWorks, CATIA) with ability to engage technically in DFM discussions.
• M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or equivalent technical discipline.
• Deep experience in root cause analysis, failure investigation, and structured corrective action frameworks.
• Demonstrated success leading cross-functional initiatives across Engineering, Supply Chain, Production, and Quality.
• Experience building and scaling supplier networks in aerospace or high-growth hardware environments.

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