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:
Shield AI’s mission is to protect the lives of service members and civilians with intelligent systems. The Hardware Test Engineering team designs and deploys complex electrical and mechanical test systems that ensure reliability across V-BAT and next-generation aircraft platforms.
As Manager, Hardware Test, you will lead a multi-disciplinary organization of engineers and technicians spanning software, electrical, mechanical, and test operations functions. You will be accountable for organizational execution, technical quality, delivery timelines, and team development across multiple concurrent programs.
This role is primarily leadership-focused. You will shape team structure, drive execution rigor, and ensure scalable test infrastructure to support aircraft qualification and production. You will remain technically credible and engaged in architectural reviews and high-risk technical decisions, but your primary impact will be organizational performance and strategic alignment.
Your leadership will directly influence aircraft reliability, production readiness, and the long-term scalability of the Aircraft Engineering organization.
Required qualifications:
- B.S. in Engineering or related STEM field.
- Strong mastery of engineering fundamentals across EE, ME, and software systems.
- 5+ years of experience in hardware development, validation, or test engineering.
- 3+ years of people management experience leading multidisciplinary teams.
- Demonstrated experience leading organizations with 15+ direct and indirect reports.
- Proven ability to manage cross-functional execution across complex hardware programs.
- Experience with workforce planning, hiring, performance management, and organizational scaling.
- Demonstrated record of delivering critical-path infrastructure under schedule pressure.
Preferred qualifications:
- Experience leading hardware test organizations in aerospace, robotics, automotive, or defense industries.
- Experience scaling test infrastructure from development into production environments.
- Experience with EE tools (Altium) and ME tools (NX)
- Strong familiarity with automated test architectures (HIL, SIL, production test).
- Proficiency with Python or other automation frameworks.
- Experience managing capital budgets and equipment procurement.
- Demonstrated ability to influence senior cross-functional stakeholders.
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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.
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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.
