---
title: 'Director, Mission Systems at Shield AI'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/director-mission-systems-shield-ai-washington-96nmd081cj08'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-12'
---

# Director, Mission Systems at Shield AI

- **Company:** Shield AI
- **Location:** Washington, DC
- **Compensation:** $225k–$340k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-09-11
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-12
- **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/shieldai/86435780-023c-4e55-9e82-86f97157aeac

## Job description

Job Description Are you a mission-driven engineering leader passionate about developing advanced autonomous aircraft? Do you want to help deliver capabilities that provide decisive advantage in contested environments? Shield AI may be the place for you.

Shield AI is seeking a Director of Mission Systems to lead multidisciplinary teams spanning operational analysis, aircraft survivability, communications, and integrated mission systems for our next-generation autonomous aircraft. This leader will establish the organization’s technical and business strategy, align investments and priorities with product and program objectives, and oversee execution from early concept development through integration, flight test, and fielding.

The ideal candidate has led a multidisciplinary organization supporting complex military aircraft or autonomous systems and brings strong business acumen alongside sound technical judgment. This individual need not be a subject-matter expert in every discipline but must understand how operational analysis, survivability, communications, payloads, avionics, autonomy, and weapons integration combine to drive mission effectiveness.

## What You’ll Do

- Lead and develop a multidisciplinary organization spanning operational analysis, survivability, communications, and integrated mission systems.
- Establish clear priorities, accountability, organizational objectives, and operating rhythms that enable teams to execute effectively. Define technical strategy, capability roadmaps, and investment priorities aligned with aircraft program objectives, customer requirements, and broader business goals.
- Oversee the development of integrated mission-system architectures encompassing sensors, payloads, avionics, weapons, secure communications, autonomy, and aircraft survivability.
- Direct modeling, simulation, wargaming, and system-of-systems analysis to evaluate mission effectiveness, operational performance, emerging threats, and aircraft design alternatives.
- Lead cross-functional trade studies that balance mission capability, survivability, technical risk, cost, schedule, manufacturability, and program maturity.
- Ensure disciplined execution from requirements definition and architecture development through hardware-in-the-loop testing, signature validation, flight test, certification, and fielding.
- Partner with engineering, product, program management, business development, and aircraft leadership to deliver integrated and mission-relevant capabilities.
- Engage DoD customers, operators, suppliers, and government stakeholders to shape requirements, refine concepts of operations, support key decisions, and communicate the operational value of Shield AI’s solutions.
- Recruit, coach, and develop people managers and senior technical leaders while building organizational depth and succession capability.
- Ensure compliance with applicable system-safety, airworthiness, cybersecurity, security, and certification requirements.

Required Qualifications

- Bachelor’s degree in engineering, science, mathematics, or another relevant technical discipline.
- 10+ years of experience supporting complex military aircraft, autonomous systems, or other aerospace and defense programs.
- Demonstrated experience leading and developing a multidisciplinary engineering organization that includes people managers and senior technical leaders.
- Broad working knowledge across multiple relevant disciplines, including mission systems, operational analysis, modeling and simulation, survivability, secure communications, avionics, sensors, payloads, or weapons integration.
- Experience establishing organizational and technical strategies while managing technical, programmatic, and organizational risk.
- Proven ability to balance mission performance and engineering requirements with cost, schedule, product maturity, and business priorities.
- Experience overseeing complex aircraft capabilities across the product lifecycle—from requirements and architecture through integration, test, certification, fielding, and sustainment.
- Executive-level communication skills with demonstrated success influencing customers, operators, business leaders, engineering teams, and government stakeholders. U.S. citizenship with an active Secret security clearance and the ability to obtain and maintain a Top Secret clearance and required SAP/SAR accesses.

## Preferred Qualifications

- Master’s degree or PhD in aerospace engineering, systems engineering, electrical engineering, or a related technical discipline.
- Leadership experience on military UAS, advanced autonomous aircraft, collaborative combat aircraft, or fifth-generation fighter programs involving integrated mission systems and survivability.
- Demonstrated success advancing a product or major capability from customer shaping and early concept development through acquisition, integration, flight test, validation, and tactical deployment.
- Experience overseeing multi-domain operational analysis, CONOPS development, force-on-force modeling, threat assessment, or survivability analysis in contested environments.
- Working knowledge of model-based systems engineering and SysML, DoD acquisition and JCIDS processes, electronic warfare, low-observable communications, and AI-enabled sensors or payloads.
- Experience developing modular, open-system mission architectures that support rapid capability insertion and third-party payload integration.
- Active Top Secret clearance with SCI eligibility and experience supporting classified DoD or Intelligence Community programs.

#LG

## #LI-KK1

## About Shield AI

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Shield AI builds AI pilots and autonomous systems for military aircraft to protect service members and civilians.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series G, venture-backed)
- **Headquarters**: San Diego, California, United States
- **Founded**: 2015
- **Founders**: Brandon Tseng, Ryan Tseng, Andrew Reiter

## Core Business
- Primary industry/industries: Defense technology, artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, aerospace
- Target customers: U.S. Department of Defense, allied nations’ military forces (B2G / Government)
- Mission or purpose statement: “Protect service members and civilians with intelligent systems.”

## Products & Services
- **Hivemind**: A combat‑tested, modular autonomy stack for aircraft – self‑driving technology for drones, jets, and helicopters. Includes path‑planning, mapping, state‑estimation, computer vision, and reinforcement learning. Type: Software (AI/autonomy).
- **V‑BAT**: A vertical take‑off and landing (VTOL) unmanned aerial system (UAS) designed for persistent ISR and strike missions. Type: Hardware (drone).
- **X‑BAT**: An advanced unmanned aircraft system with extended endurance and payload capacity, built for multi‑domain operations. Type: Hardware (drone).
- **Hivemind Vision Systems**: Computer‑vision and sensor‑fusion capabilities integrated into Hivemind for GPS‑denied environments. Type: Software + sensors.
- **Hivemind Enterprise**: A deployable version of Hivemind for third‑party platforms and commercial applications. Type: Software.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed (private company). Total funding raised: $3.6B (as of Series G in March 2026).
- **Key Metric**: Annual Revenue ~$21.7M (estimated, private) | Total Funding $3.6B (including $2B Series G led by JP Morgan Chase and Advent International, March 2026).
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: JP Morgan Chase, Advent International, Blackstone, Riot Ventures, SnowPoint Ventures, Disruptive (55+ investors total). Strategic partners include U.S. DoD and allied defense forces.
- **Growth Signals**: Headcount grew 68.3% YoY to 1,283 employees; 338 active job postings (+57.2% YoY); operates in 5 countries (U.S., Australia, UAE, Norway, Ukraine); recent acquisitions of Sentient Vision Systems (2024), Heron Systems, MARTIN UAV.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Combat‑proven autonomy**: Hivemind has been tested in live military operations, providing a first‑mover advantage in contested, GPS‑denied environments.
- **Full‑stack integration**: Combines software (AI pilot), hardware (V‑BAT, X‑BAT), and sensor systems, creating a tightly integrated product ecosystem.
- **Cross‑functional engineering culture**: Engineers work across AI, robotics, aerospace, and defense – not siloed – enabling rapid iteration and field deployment.
- **Top talent pipeline**: Employees drawn from Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Amazon, Anduril, and other leading defense/tech firms.

## Strategic Focus
- **Scale AI pilots across all domains**: Extend Hivemind from aircraft to ships, satellites, and ground vehicles (“every military asset”).
- **International expansion**: Growing presence in Australia, Europe, and Middle East via mission autonomy centers and partnerships.
- **Deepen autonomy stack**: Continued investment in reinforcement learning, simulation, and computer vision to maintain leadership in contested‑environment autonomy.

## Why Work Here
- **Mission‑driven work**: Directly contribute to protecting service members and civilians with cutting‑edge AI and robotics.
- **Cross‑functional teams**: Engineers collaborate across disciplines (AI, hardware, software, systems) on real‑world defense challenges.
- **Benefits**: Excellent medical coverage, mental health EAP, paid parental leave, pet insurance, flexible work hours, gym discounts (SD) / on‑site gym (DC), free parking, competitive compensation, 401k with match, stock benefits.
- **Work policy**: Flexible work hours; some offices (e.g., San Diego HQ, Arlington, DC) have on‑site facilities. Remote/hybrid options available depending on role.
- **Growth trajectory**: Rapidly scaling (68% headcount growth) with hundreds of open roles across engineering, operations, and program management.

## Sources
1. [shield.ai/about](https://shield.ai/about/)
2. [shield.ai/careers](https://shield.ai/careers/)
3. [LinkedIn – Shield AI](https://www.linkedin.com/company/shield-ai)
4. [CBInsights – Shield AI](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/shield-ai)
5. [Lever – Shield AI Jobs](https://jobs.lever.co/shieldai)

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- [Staff Platform Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-platform-engineer-shield-ai-san-diego-t739q0cnehtg) — San Diego, CA
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- [Mission Systems Software Engineer (R5888)](https://feeny.ai/job/mission-systems-software-engineer-r5888-shield-ai-seattle-yw43sjwwgsn0) — Seattle, WA
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- [Staff Engineer, Aircraft Configuration Design (R5830)](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-engineer-aircraft-configuration-design-r5830-shield-ai-san-diego-5vtjqd85pzqb) — San Diego, CA