Lead and build the product support organization for a fielded UAS program, owning sustainment strategy, maintenance operations, spares/repair flows, technical data, reliability analytics, and cross-functional processes to scale global fleet sustainment and improve availability and readiness.
Founded in 2015, Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. Its products include Hivemind autonomy software and V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft. With offices and facilities across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and 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.
Shield AI is seeking a Sr Staff Technical Product Manager, Product Support to establish and lead the product support organization for an existing UAS aircraft program. This role will own the strategy, operations, fleet sustainment, and cross-functional execution required to transition the program from fielded aircraft support into a scalable, data-driven sustainment enterprise.
This leader will define how Shield AI drives aircraft availability, maintenance execution, reliability improvement, technical data, spares, repairs, field support, and customer sustainment outcomes. The role will partner closely with all support departments to ensure product support is operationally effective, financially sustainable, and ready to scale across domestic and international customers.
What you'll do:
- Stand up and lead the product support operating model for an existing UAS aircraft program, including sustainment processes, governance, roles, metrics, and execution rhythms.
- Define the integrated product support strategy across maintenance, reliability, technical data, spares, repairs, support equipment, training, field support, and customer support operations.
- Own sustainment performance metrics including aircraft availability, mission readiness, maintenance burden, MTTR, MTBF, fault recurrence, turnaround time, material consumption, repair cycle time, and operating margin.
- Develop scalable product support processes for Contractor Logistics Support, Performance-Based Logistics, spares provisioning, repair flow, depot/vendor support, field support, and global sustainment operations.
- Drive maintenance concept development across preventive, corrective, condition-based, and reliability-centered maintenance approaches.
- Lead sustainment analytics and readiness improvement efforts by identifying key drivers of downtime, repeat failures, maintenance burden, supply constraints, and readiness degradation.
- Own the technical data and maintenance information ecosystem, including accuracy, usability, configuration alignment, field feedback, IETM/IPB inputs, and digital workflow integration.
- Establish engineering feedback loops that translate field issues, maintenance findings, reliability trends, and customer support needs into dispositions, corrective actions, product improvements, and system-level design changes.
Required qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in engineering, aviation, business, finance, logistics, or a related field.
- 10+ years of experience in aerospace and defense sustainment, aviation product support, aircraft maintenance, logistics, reliability, or fleet operations.
- Experience leading or building sustainment, logistics, maintenance, repair, spares, technical data, or product support functions for fielded aircraft or complex aerospace systems.
- Strong understanding of aircraft sustainment drivers, including maintenance operations, readiness, reliability, failure modes, forecasting, supply chain, lifecycle support, and customer support performance.
- Demonstrated ability to translate operational, maintenance, reliability, logistics, and financial data into actionable product support decisions.
- Experience working cross-functionally across engineering, operations, supply chain, finance, program management, and customer-facing organizations.
- Experience supporting proposal development, pricing inputs, Basis of Estimate development, contract execution, or customer sustainment planning.
- Ability to operate in ambiguous, fast-moving environments and build scalable systems from early or immature support concepts.
- U.S. Citizenship required.
- Active Secret clearance required.
Preferred qualifications:
- Experience supporting UAS, autonomous aircraft, advanced aerospace systems, or defense aviation programs.
- Experience with Integrated Product Support, Contractor Logistics Support, Performance-Based Logistics, or lifecycle sustainment planning.
- Background in aircraft maintenance management, reliability engineering, maintainability analysis, fleet sustainment, or technical data systems.
- Experience with technical publications, IETM, IPB, configuration-driven maintenance, or digital maintenance workflows.
- Experience with MRO, ERP, logistics, fleet management, reliability analytics, or maintenance management systems.
- Experience improving sustainment cost structure, spares planning, repair flow, vendor performance, or operational efficiency.
- Prior experience leading cross-functional teams or standing up new support organizations for fielded aircraft programs.
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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.
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