---
title: 'Senior Director of Hivemind Finance (R5621) at Shield AI'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/senior-director-of-hivemind-finance-r5621-shield-ai-washington-fz8366exz5zx'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-12'
---

# Senior Director of Hivemind Finance (R5621) at Shield AI

- **Company:** Shield AI
- **Location:** Washington, DC
- **Compensation:** $200k–$300k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-08-12
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-12
- **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/shieldai/50f5fe16-1a52-4051-8fc8-bff685e0f6b8

## 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.

Job Description: As the Senior Director of Hivemind Program Finance, you will lead the Hivemind program finance activities of the team in support of program execution. The optimal executive leader is someone with sharp analytical instincts and a passion for driving business performance to join our high-performing finance team. In this fast-paced, constantly evolving environment, you will enhance the finance team and develop our talent—you’ll influence decisions, uncover opportunities, and partner with leaders across engineering, operations, and product to deliver actionable financial intelligence and insights. Your work will help optimize performance and steer one of our most critical business areas toward sustained growth. Supporting our fastest-growing dynamic Hivemind business unit, this is a high-visibility, high-impact role where your insights will directly shape strategy and fuel innovation.  You will lead the engagement with the program management team to support the execution of our projects to forecast and achieve the desired financial outcomes. If you want to shape the work to support a truly impactful international Finance team, come transform and lead with us!

Expectations of Leadership Position:

- Advise the Hivemind Program Management leadership on all financial matters, build synergist relationships to enable all parties to succeed financially as we execute.
- Be a collaborative thought leader and partner with Hivemind VPGM & Leadership team
- Mature the processes, policies, templates, and tools used in program finance
- Establish methods of executing assigned areas that enable sustainable growth (continuous improvement model)
- Contribute to the success of the broader finance organization (Accounting, Operations Finance, FP&A) by leading cross-functional improvements that allow Shield AI to become industry leaders
- Enhance existing framework to ensure programs achieve Orders, Revenue, EBITDA, Cash goals.
- Direct report to the Vice President of Finance, Program Finance Aircraft & Product and a member of the program finance leadership team

Required qualifications:

- Bachelor’s degree with a minimum of 10-15 progressive experience in financial analysis, corporate finance, program business management or FP&A years of related experience.
- 8 or more years of Aerospace & Defense industry experience
- Experience with some or all these areas: Financial Planning & Analysis, Program Controls, Pricing, Earned Value Management, Budgets & Rates, ERP transformations, Accounting, FAR Compliance
- Strong understanding of US GAAP, with practical experience applying accounting principles in a government contracting or manufacturing environment
- Familiarity with cost accounting concepts and government contract structures (e.g., T&M, CPFF, FFP)
- Advanced proficiency in Excel, financial modeling, AI tool suites, and data analysis
- Strong working knowledge of Power BI and comfort with data visualization tools
- Solid understanding of financial statements and business metrics
- Demonstrated ability to work independently and collaborate cross-functionally in a fast-moving environment
- Excellent communication skills with the ability to present complex financial data to non-financial stakeholders
- Located in DC (Crystal City, Arlington, VA).

Preferred qualifications:

- Experience in a rapidly growing company or with integration post M&A
- Provided financial support to a Manufacturing and/or software focused business
- Demonstrated skillset in executing non-conventional USG procurements and modeling associated financials
- MBA or Master’s degree in a related discipline
- Experience supporting operations or customer-facing teams in a manufacturing, aerospace, or tech domestic and international environments
- Exposure to Microsoft Fabric, Power Query, DAX, or other data transformation and modeling tools
- Familiarity with ERP systems (e.g., Costpoint) and planning tools (e.g., Anaplan) and Oracle ERP/EVM/MRP systems
- Track record of being a high performer with a bias for action, intellectual curiosity, and attention to detail
- Passion for using data to tell a story and drive strategic decisions
- Working knowledge of accounting, demonstrated ability to lead projects that blend and bridge the lines between program finance and other financial functions

## #LI-AA2

#LG

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

- [Senior V-BAT Air Vehicle Operator, Field Integration and Test (R5130)](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-v-bat-air-vehicle-operator-field-integration-and-test-r5130-shield-ai-8ychv8kkv7qh) — Dallas, TX
- [Staff Platform Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-platform-engineer-shield-ai-san-diego-t739q0cnehtg) — San Diego, CA
- [Principal Engineer, Fluid & Thermal Systems (R5620)](https://feeny.ai/job/principal-engineer-fluid-thermal-systems-r5620-shield-ai-seattle-jzpbwfsaek36) — Seattle, WA
- [Director, Mission Systems](https://feeny.ai/job/director-mission-systems-shield-ai-washington-96nmd081cj08) — Washington, DC
- [Staff Engineer, Safety - X-BAT (R5844)](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-engineer-safety-x-bat-r5844-shield-ai-seattle-qmh74thwt7xs) — Seattle, WA
- [Senior Production Planner, Development Programs (R5277)](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-production-planner-development-programs-r5277-shield-ai-seattle-nj57x3fgq8b7) — Seattle, WA
- [Mission Systems Software Engineer (R5888)](https://feeny.ai/job/mission-systems-software-engineer-r5888-shield-ai-seattle-yw43sjwwgsn0) — Seattle, WA
- [Field Marketing Manager, India](https://feeny.ai/job/field-marketing-manager-india-shield-ai-delhi-4y6c5baq31qg) — Delhi, India
- [Senior Staff Engineer, Mission Architect (R5876)](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-staff-engineer-mission-architect-r5876-shield-ai-washington-5ftkg2h8j234) — Washington, DC
- [Engineer II, Future Concepts (R5910)](https://feeny.ai/job/engineer-ii-future-concepts-r5910-shield-ai-washington-p66bm4ktv41m) — Washington, DC