Senior Director, FP&A (R4670)

Shield AI • San Francisco, California • 9h ago

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.

Job Description:

We’re building advanced autonomous systems for defense and commercial markets. Scaling this kind of company requires financial precision, strong operating systems, and fast, informed decision‑making.

We’re hiring a Senior Director of Corporate Finance to be the VP of FP&A’s right hand—a strategic operator who builds the forecasting engine, liquidity framework, and planning infrastructure that power the business.

This is a high‑ownership, high‑impact role. You’ll work across hardware production, autonomous software, and multi‑year government programs where clarity on cash, cost, and scale is mission‑critical. If you love building systems, simplifying complexity, and enabling speed, you’ll thrive here.

What you'll do:

Build the Financial Backbone:
--Co‑run forecasting, planning, and executive reporting with the VP of FP&A
--Lead monthly forecasts, annual planning, and multi‑scenario modeling
--Build integrated three‑statement models tied to real operational drivers
--Turn engineering plans, production ramps, and contract structures into financial clarity
--Establish a simple, disciplined financial operating cadence

Own Liquidity Strategy:
--Lead cash flow forecasting and liquidity planning
--Build rolling cash forecasts across working capital, inventory, supplier terms, milestone billing, and CapEx
--Model program‑level cash curves and scale scenarios to flag risks early
--Partner with Operations and Supply Chain on long‑lead procurement and capital deployment
--Ensure every major decision reflects its cash impact

Build Systems That Scale:
--Own Anaplan, ERP, CRM, BI, and financial data pipelines
--Lead end‑to‑end Anaplan implementation and optimization
--Replace manual work with automated workflows
--Partner with Engineering and Data teams to build a unified, accurate financial data layer

Partner Across the Company:
--Support Product, Engineering, Programs, and Operations on costs, investments, headcount, and program economics
--Build program models aligned with hardware development and milestone-based revenue
--Provide insights that drive action—not just reports

Lead the Team:
--Build and mentor a high‑performance finance team
--Set standards for modeling, analysis, and cross‑functional partnership
--Foster clarity, ownership, and bias for action

Who you are:

Mission‑driven, motivated by real impact
A systems thinker who builds for durability and scale
Calm, clear, and decisive under pressure
Direct communicator who elevates decisions
Automation‑oriented and relentlessly improving
High integrity and comfortable with hard tradeoffs

Required qualifications:

12+ years in FP&A, Corporate or Strategic Finance
Experience in high‑growth, complex environments (hardware + software or dual‑use a plus)
Proven success building scalable forecasting and planning systems
Hands‑on Anaplan implementation and ownership
Deep experience in three‑statement modeling and linking operational drivers to financial outcomes
Strong cash forecasting and liquidity planning skills
Experience with working capital, inventory, government/milestone cash timing, and CapEx
Systems mindset: automation > manual work
Experience writing business requirements for technical teams
Comfortable operating in dynamic, fast‑moving environments

Preferred qualifications:

Experience in defense, aerospace, robotics, or deep‑tech
Familiarity with government contract structures and program accounting
Experience with hardware production ramps and manufacturing scale
Strong data fluency (dashboards, data models, integrations)

#LI-AA2

#LG

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.

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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.