---
title: 'Head of Operational Excellence at Shield AI'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/head-of-operational-excellence-shield-ai-dallas-eszepz095z65'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-11-07'
---

# Head of Operational Excellence at Shield AI

- **Company:** Shield AI
- **Location:** Dallas, TX
- **Compensation:** $174k–$261k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-11-03
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-11-07
- **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/shieldai/1cd23ede-77b3-4981-8ba6-7d0a373e985c

## Job description

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, V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, and Aechelon simulation and synthetic reality technologies. 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.

What You'll Do:

- Create, deploy, and actively manage consistent manufacturing KPIs and performance dashboards across both sites to drive visibility and accountability for safety, quality, delivery, cost, and productivity.

- Define, train, deploy, and continually improve operational standards across V-BAT manufacturing in Frisco and X-BAT manufacturing in Seattle, including 5S, root cause analysis, and visual management.

- Develop and institutionalize the manufacturing budget process across both sites, including forecasting, controls, and performance tracking.

- Set financial targets in collaboration with operations and finance teams and drive adherence to budget and cost goals.

- Lead high-impact cross-functional improvement initiatives across both sites to improve quality, delivery, efficiency, productivity, and cost performance.

- Prepare and coordinate senior and executive-level reporting packages for Manufacturing leadership reviews.

- Partner with production, quality, and engineering teams to deploy Lean and continuous improvement practices, adapting execution to the needs of established production and prototype-to-rate manufacturing.

- Own business office functions for Manufacturing across both sites, including goal tracking, KPI dashboards, and process governance.

- Coach and train teams and leaders across both sites to elevate operational discipline, share effective practices, and sustain improvements.

Required Qualifications:

- Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Business, Operations Management, or related field.

- Experience leading operational excellence, Lean, or business office programs within a manufacturing environment, with the ability to lead improvement across multiple sites.

- Demonstrated ability to design, roll out, and sustain structured operational standards and improvement systems.

- Strong background in budgeting, reporting, and performance management at a senior level.

- Excellent communication skills and experience preparing executive-level summaries and presentations.

Preferred Qualifications:

- Master’s degree or formal Lean Six Sigma certification.

- Experience in aerospace, defense, or complex hardware manufacturing environments.

- Proficiency with digital tools for KPI visualization, reporting automation, and business process tracking.

- Track record of influencing change across large, cross-functional manufacturing organizations and multiple sites.

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.

###

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.

## 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)

## Other roles at Shield AI

- [2027 Summer Intern - Supplier Development Engineer - 6463](https://feeny.ai/job/2027-summer-intern-supplier-development-engineer-6463-shield-ai-dallas-pptfvv19dqkf) — Dallas, TX
- [2027 Summer Intern - Supply Chain Materials Planner - 6434](https://feeny.ai/job/2027-summer-intern-supply-chain-materials-planner-6434-shield-ai-seattle-4djy6m09a4cj) — Seattle, WA
- [Autonomy Engineer, Technical Documentation](https://feeny.ai/job/autonomy-engineer-technical-documentation-shield-ai-san-diego-97g67v4ys3n9) — San Diego, CA
- [Director, Systems Engineering & Architecture - Hivemind Enterprise](https://feeny.ai/job/director-systems-engineering-architecture-hivemind-enterprise-shield-ai-san-z1zb7g7vsm3y) — San Diego, CA
- [Supplier Quality Specialist - PCBA Rework (R6420)](https://feeny.ai/job/supplier-quality-specialist-pcba-rework-r6420-shield-ai-dallas-dz062p41425m) — Dallas, TX
- [Supplier Quality Specialist (R6419)](https://feeny.ai/job/supplier-quality-specialist-r6419-shield-ai-dallas-q154qa8r2wc9) — Dallas, TX
- [Senior Executive Recruiter - G&A (R6520)](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-executive-recruiter-g-a-r6520-shield-ai-remote-snsx3nvzjs9y)
- [Senior Executive Recruiter - Hivemind (R6523)](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-executive-recruiter-hivemind-r6523-shield-ai-remote-mmd5bjrh5ehm)
- [Senior Executive Recruiter - Aircraft (R6521)](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-executive-recruiter-aircraft-r6521-shield-ai-remote-w5x8jyftv460)
- [Sr. Director, Global People Operations](https://feeny.ai/job/sr-director-global-people-operations-shield-ai-seattle-6xtw6kzm9trf) — Seattle, WA