Technical Program Director (R3982)

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 nine offices and facilities across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia‑Pacific, Shield AI’s technology actively supports operations worldwide.

Shield AI is seeking a Technical Program Director to drive the development, integration, and deployment of the World’s Best AI Pilots onto various transformative unmanned vehicles.

What you’ll do:

• Ensure all program elements are flawlessly executed.
• Deliver exceptional, proven, and reliable performance in support of customer and end‑user’s needs through execution of each phase (Initiation, Planning, Execution, Monitoring, Closure) of Shield AI’s programs.
• Support internal team and customer relationships.
• Facilitate execution and address or escalate issues for programs, projects, and operational performance.
• Own development and ongoing execution of project plans, scope, schedule, and management, astutely evaluating the balance and rebalance the often‑shifting customer cost, schedule, and technical parameters/priorities of each program as it progresses during the overall life cycle.
• Develop and maintain effective relationships with a broad range of stakeholders including managers, customers, key partners and suppliers, both locally and internationally.
• Be able to operate and make decisions that reflect cultural nuances and overarching political and/or military factors.
• Drive the accurate and timely tracking and reporting of internal budget, resource, and project management standard metrics.
• Drive the accurate and timely tracking and reporting of all customer or end user contractually required deliverables.
• Drive a consistent cadence of well‑organized, well‑facilitated, and effective meetings, including preparation and follow‑up activities.
• Complete critical path analyses including the evaluation of potential means to accelerate the pace or mitigate identified risks.
• Identify potential bottlenecks or delays in programs and drive efforts to achieve schedule milestones.
• Support business development efforts as they develop & evolve from current programs and related opportunities, including requests for tender, proposal, or information, expressions of interest, and unsolicited offers.

Required qualifications:

• Ideally 15+ years of experience as a technical decision‑maker with a bachelor’s degree in Engineering or similar; or 8 years and a master’s degree in Engineering or similar.
• Exceptional interpersonal skills (verbal and written) and ability to lead by influence and collaboration.
• Proven experience driving complex program execution and ability to focus on long‑term business objectives.
• Experience with Earned Value and managing Gate Reviews, Estimates at Completion (EACs) and Program Management Reviews (PMRs).
• Experience in technical program management and ability to run multiple projects.
• Significant experience and excellent skills with Microsoft Office Suite and experience with scheduling tools such as Microsoft Project or similar.
• Superb skills in leadership, time management, organization, team management.
• Expert understanding of complex project financials.
• Demonstrated record of working hard, being a trustworthy teammate, holding yourself and others to high standards, and being kind to others.

Preferred qualifications:

• Project Management Professional (PMP) certification.
• Certified Scrum Master (CSM).
• Experience in software development.
• Experience in autonomy development.
• DOD Contracting Experience.

Our international team members are employed through our Employer of Record (EOR) and receive a comprehensive international benefits package on top of base salary. For full details on compensation and benefits, please consult your talent acquisition partner.