# Senior Director, Engineering

**Company:** [Shield AI](https://hotfix.jobs/companies/shield-ai)
**Location:** San Diego, CA, Dallas, TX, Washington, DC, Boston, MA, San Francisco, CA
**Role:** Engineering Management
**Salary:** $250k – $380k/yr
**Experience:** 15+ years
**Skills:** aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, avionics, propulsion, flight software, autonomy, flight controls, ground control systems, CI/CD, automated testing, DevOps, configuration management, Systems Engineering
**Posted:** 2026-08-13

> Leads the engineering organization for a deployed Group 3 VTOL UAS program, setting technical strategy, governing architecture and development practices, and scaling multidisciplinary teams. Requires 15+ years of related experience, aerospace or adjacent technical expertise, and a bachelor's degree or equivalent experience.

## Job Description

## Responsibilities

### Leadership & Strategy
- Build and lead the engineering and software team for the Group 3 UAS program across flight software, autonomy, flight controls/GNC, ground systems, flight systems, flight sciences, avionics, payloads, and propulsion.
- Define the engineering vision, technical strategy, and system architecture in alignment with the program roadmap, product-line strategy, and long-term technology investments.
- Serve as the senior technical leader, making architectural decisions, managing technical and program risk, and driving execution across subsystems and suppliers.
- Lead organizational planning, workforce strategy, and capability roadmaps for concurrent development, test, and sustainment efforts.
- Drive collaboration across engineering, flight test, operations, program management, supply chain, quality, and production.

### Technical Governance & Engineering Excellence
- Establish and improve engineering standards, technical governance, configuration management, documentation practices, CI/CD, automated testing, and modern DevOps practices.
- Drive technical reviews, root-cause analysis, lessons learned, and continuous improvement.
- Ensure compliance with applicable aerospace standards, certification or airworthiness expectations, regulatory requirements, and company engineering policies.

### Team Building
- Attract, hire, and retain engineering talent across disciplines.
- Build scalable organizations supporting current and future platforms.
- Foster technical excellence, continuous learning, accountability, and ownership.
- Mentor and develop directors, engineering managers, and technical leads.

### Stakeholder & Executive Engagement
- Report progress, risks, and technical decisions to senior leadership, articulating tradeoffs and investment recommendations.
- Interface with external partners, customers, and government stakeholders.
- Support business development and capture activities by defining technical approaches, architectures, and execution plans.

## Requirements
- Minimum of 15 years of related experience with a bachelor's degree or equivalent experience.
- Strong technical background in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and avionics, propulsion, or a closely related discipline.
- Experience building and leading multidisciplinary engineering teams and organizations, including direct managers and technical leaders, across hardware, software, and systems.
- Strong leadership and interpersonal skills with the ability to manage and inspire cross-functional teams.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Proven track record of shipping products, navigating development cycles, overcoming obstacles, and delivering high-quality solutions on schedule and in line with customer expectations.

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