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. For more information, visit www.shield.ai. Follow Shield AI on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and YouTube.
Job Description:
Our 2026 Summer Internship program is a wonderful opportunity for rising 2027 graduates to immerse themselves in an innovative and mission driven culture. Our 10-week paid internship program will provide you with hands on mentorship, an opportunity to add real contribution to our company via your internship project, and a possible job offer at the end. You will have the chance to make lifelong friendships, expand your network, and learn all about what it's like to work in a high-growth, fast scaling tech unicorn. You'll take part in company sponsored events and enjoy exploring a new city. Read on below to learn more about this unique internship!
Over 10 weeks, the intern will build a Facility Design Readiness packet for XBAT: consolidate inputs across MFG, Test, EHS, Quality, and Supply Chain; map material flow and adjacencies; draft good/better/best layout options with clear assumptions; and create a lightweight capacity model tied to headcount/shift scenarios. They’ll stand up a risk & long-lead tracker (permits, utilities, critical equipment) and a simple readiness dashboard (e.g., layout option maturity, long-lead exposure, decision latency). The output is a concise Gate Pre-Read (charter, options, risks, metrics, and recommended decisions) that informs leadership a few months ahead of the next program gate.
Project Goals & Deliverables:
- Project Objectives:
- De-risk early XBAT facility planning by clarifying requirements, mapping material flow/adjacencies, and quantifying capacity vs. demand/shift scenarios ahead of the next gate.
- Establish a lightweight, repeatable toolkit (templates, capacity model, risk/long-lead tracker, readiness dashboard) that the team can adopt post-internship without changing current deliverables or procurement.
- Project impact on the business/team:
- Improves pre-gate decision quality and reduces iteration cycles by surfacing long-lead exposures and capacity constraints early.
- Creates a single source of truth that aligns MFG, Test, EHS, Quality, and Supply Chain with clear owners, definitions, and cadenced updates.
- How this supports the intern’s specific career path:
- Builds practical skills in facilities planning, capacity modeling, cross-functional stakeholder management, and risk control in a real manufacturing program.
- Produces portfolio-ready artifacts (layout options, metric dictionary, dashboard, readout) and experience presenting to engineering and leadership audiences.
- Project deliverables:
- Intermediate milestones: Wk2—Discovery & Charter v0.5; Wk4—Material-flow map + “good/better/best” layout options v0.5; Wk6—Capacity+takt model v0.8 + risk/long-lead tracker v0.8 + readiness dashboard prototype; Wk8—Integrated v0.9 set after pilot feedback.
- Final (Wk10): Facility Design Readiness Packet & Gate Pre-Read (slides + appendix) including Charter v1.0, three annotated layout options with assumptions/tradeoffs, capacity model with 2–3 demand/shift scenarios, risk & long-lead register with owners/dates, readiness dashboard v1.0, and a handoff README/backlog.
Required qualifications:
- Facility planning fundamentals: material flow mapping, basic layout trade-offs.
- Capacity modeling in spreadsheets: pivots, scenario analysis, goal seek, clear metric definitions & assumptions.
- Risk management basics: building/maintaining a risk & long-lead register with triggers, owners, and mitigations.
- Stakeholder interviewing & synthesis: turning notes into crisp charters, RACIs, and decision logs.
- Data hygiene & documentation: version control of docs, naming conventions, and reproducible calculations.
- Dashboard/prototyping literacy: charts and simple KPIs in Excel/Sheets or Power BI/Tableau (non-production).
- Clear written/visual communication: executive-ready slides, succinct status updates.
- Professional cadence: meeting facilitation, follow-through on action items, and on-time milestone delivery.
KPIs & Milestones:
- Wk 1 – Charter & Plan v0.5 approved: Sponsor sign-off on 1–2 page charter; timeline and access list confirmed (approval recorded).
- Wk 2 – Discovery complete: ≥8 stakeholder interviews across MFG, Test, EHS, Quality, Supply Chain; notes centralized; coverage ≥90% of required roles.
- Wk 4 – Material flow & Layout options v0.5: End-to-end flow map covering ≥90% of known steps; 3 “good/better/best” layouts with assumptions; review held with ≥3 functions; ≤5 open comments.
- Wk 6 – Capacity model v0.8: 2–3 demand/shift scenarios; validation within ±10% vs SME back-of-envelope; metric dictionary v0.8; demo completed.
- Wk 6 – Risk & Long-lead register v0.8: ≥15 items captured; ≥90% with owners/triggers/dates; long-lead visibility (lead time, need-by) for ≥80% identified criticals.
- Wk 7 – Cadence pilot run: 1 full status/reporting cycle executed; meeting adherence ≥90%; action items closed within 3 business days.
- Wk 8 – Integrated set v0.9: Updated layouts, model, and registers incorporating pilot feedback; comment burn-down to ≤3 minor issues.
- Wk 9 – Gate Pre-Read dry run: 15–20 slide narrative tested with sponsor + ≥2 stakeholders; passes 10-point checklist (story, risks, asks, options, metrics).
- Wk 10 – Final Readout & Handoff: Facility Design Readiness Packet v1.0 delivered; all artifacts versioned; README + next-step backlog; usefulness rating ≥4/5 from sponsor and ≥2 stakeholders.
Rising Bachelor's graduate = $34/hour
Rising Master's graduate = $41/hour
Rising PhD graduate = $52/hour
Housing stipend provided, amount based on location
Intern Program Dates:
June 1st - Aug 7th
OR
June 22nd - Aug 28th
*You MUST be available to start on EITHER June 1st or June 22nd.
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Shield AI is proud to offer competitive pay and a housing stipend for qualified hires. While our People Experience team provides resources and assistance, interns are responsible to find their own housing and travel to and from their office location. All offers are contingent on a cleared background and possible reference check.
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Shield AI is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.
