---
title: 'Staff Technical Sourcer - Aircraft Engineering at Shield AI'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/staff-technical-sourcer-aircraft-engineering-shield-ai-dallas-tdzm6j65jv0h'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-07'
---

# Staff Technical Sourcer - Aircraft Engineering at Shield AI

- **Company:** Shield AI
- **Location:** Dallas, TX
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** hybrid
- **Posted:** 2026-08-27
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-07
- **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/shieldai/36eee857-3f87-4b68-a25f-3a56d54f409b

## 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. We’re looking for a Staff Technical Sourcer who lives and breathes talent discovery - someone who can take a complex, highly specialized aircraft engineering need and translate it into a precision sourcing strategy. You’ll be the go-to expert for talent intelligence, market mapping, proactive candidate generation, and pipeline cultivation across our aircraft and advanced aerospace engineering organizations. This isn’t just a "find resumes" role - it’s about building intelligence, relationships, and repeatable systems that fuel our aircraft engineering hiring engine. As a Staff Talent Sourcer, you'll serve as a strategic partner to recruiters and hiring leaders while leveraging modern AI tools, market intelligence, and scalable sourcing practices to help us identify and hire world-class aircraft engineering talent.

## WHAT YOU’LL DO:

- Own the top of funnel: Partner closely with recruiters and hiring leaders to define target profiles and build deep, data-informed sourcing strategies across Aerodynamics, Aerostructures, Propulsion, Flight Sciences, Avionics, Electrical, Mechanical, Systems, Manufacturing, Test, and other aircraft engineering disciplines.
- Map the market: Develop comprehensive talent landscapes by company, skillset, geography, and organizational structure; identify hidden talent pools, competitor insights, and emerging talent trends to inform recruiting strategy and workforce planning.
- Generate and engage: Use advanced Boolean search techniques, sourcing platforms, and creative sourcing channels (LinkedIn Recruiter, SeekOut, HireEZ, ClearanceJobs, GitHub, engineering communities, niche aerospace and aviation networks, conferences, referrals, and more) to identify, engage, and attract exceptional aircraft engineering talent.
- Build pipelines proactively: Cultivate long-term relationships with passive, cleared, and highly specialized aircraft engineering talent to enable just-in-time hiring across strategic programs.
- Leverage AI to scale sourcing: Design, build, and continuously improve AI-powered sourcing workflows, research agents, and practical automations that increase recruiter productivity, accelerate candidate discovery, enhance market intelligence, and improve operational efficiency.
- Build repeatable sourcing systems: Use AI tools and workflow automation to create structured market maps, talent intelligence reports, outreach content, sourcing documentation, and scalable recruiting processes that can be leveraged across the Talent Acquisition organization.
- Be the sourcing SME: Serve as the subject matter expert on aircraft technical sourcing by coaching recruiters and hiring managers on market insights, sourcing strategy, talent availability, competitive intelligence, candidate engagement best practices, and emerging recruiting technologies.
- Partner for impact: Collaborate cross-functionally with Talent Acquisition Operations, Employer Brand, University Recruiting, and Aircraft Engineering leaders to optimize recruiting strategies, outbound messaging, candidate experience, and operational excellence.
- Track and iterate: Use recruiting analytics, experimentation, and storytelling to measure sourcing effectiveness, optimize outreach strategies, improve conversion rates, and continuously evolve sourcing practices.

## REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

- 8+ years of technical sourcing experience, ideally in aerospace, defense, aviation, advanced aircraft, or other complex hardware/software industries.
- Proven track record in market mapping, competitive intelligence, and candidate generation for highly specialized aircraft or aerospace technical roles.
- Deep expertise in advanced Boolean search, LinkedIn Recruiter, HireEZ, SeekOut, ClearanceJobs, GitHub, and other modern sourcing platforms.
- Demonstrated ability to operate as a consultative partner to recruiters, hiring managers, and senior aircraft engineering leaders, influencing hiring strategy through market insights and talent intelligence.
- Hands-on experience building or leveraging AI-powered sourcing workflows, agentic AI tools, workflow automations, or practical AI solutions that improve recruiting or business processes.
- Direct experience using AI development environments or coding assistants (such as Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, Gemini, or similar tools) to create repeatable sourcing workflows, structured research outputs, market intelligence, process automation, or operational documentation.
- Experience building and maintaining long-term relationships with passive, cleared, or niche aircraft engineering talent.
- Excellent communication and storytelling skills with the ability to engage highly technical candidates and influence stakeholders.
- Strong judgment, curiosity, and a continuous improvement mindset with the ability to evaluate and adopt emerging AI technologies to improve recruiting outcomes.
- Highly organized, data-driven, and able to operate autonomously in a fast-paced, mission-driven environment.

## PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

- Prior experience supporting aircraft, aerospace, aviation, advanced vehicle, or defense engineering organizations.
- Experience navigating export control, ITAR, EAR, or security-cleared recruiting environments.
- Familiarity with Ashby and recruiting analytics, CRM, or talent intelligence platforms.
- Experience supporting high-growth, venture-backed technology organizations.
- Demonstrated passion for staying ahead of emerging recruiting technologies, sourcing methodologies, and AI advancements.

## 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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