Senior Manager, Sustainment; R5305 Security Clearance

Position: Senior Manager, Sustainment (R5305) with Security Clearance
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 (Use the "Apply for this Job" box below). . Follow Shield AI on Linked In , X , Instagram , and You Tube .

Job Description:

Shield AI is seeking a Senior Manager, Sustainment and Product Health to establish, scale, and lead the aircraft division's sustainment and product health organization. Reporting to the Director, Fleet Sustainment, this leader will build the team structure, operating model, processes, metrics, and execution rhythm needed to support a growing fleet of advanced aircraft systems. This role leads a multidisciplinary team spanning Fleet Sustainment Operations, Reliability Data Engineering, Sustainment Analytics, Configuration and Change Control, Reliability and Maintainability Engineering, Sustainment Project Management, MRB Engineering, Structures Sustainment, and Obsolescence and Lifecycle Management.

The Senior Manager will convert fleet data, maintenance activity, field failures, configuration changes, repair needs, and lifecycle risks into coordinated actions that improve fleet readiness, operational availability, reliability, maintainability, repairability, and long-term supportability. This is a builder-leader role for someone who can create structure, lead technical teams, and drive disciplined execution in a fast-paced fielded aircraft environment. What you'll do:
* Establish and scale the aircraft division sustainment and product health organization, including team structure, roles, operating rhythms, metrics, reporting, and cross-functional governance.
* Lead sustainment execution across fleet operations, product health, reliability analytics, configuration control, obsolescence management, MRB support, repair governance, and fielded-system issue resolution.
* Develop and mature the product health operating model, including fleet health reviews, reliability readouts, top degrader reviews, corrective action reviews, configuration reviews, and sustainment risk reporting.
* Drive cross-functional resolution of customer-impacting and fleet-impacting issues across Fleet Support, Engineering, Product Support, Quality, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Program Management, Operations, and Customer Success.
* Establish scalable processes for failure tracking, root cause coordination, corrective action closure, field retrofit planning, service actions, maintenance release coordination, and issue escalation.
* Lead analysis of fleet operational data, maintenance activity, failure trends, reliability performance, readiness impacts, repair needs, and maintenance burden.
* Ensure reliability and maintainability insights are converted into product improvements, inspection changes, diagnostics, service guidance, maintenance process improvements, and engineering corrective actions.
* Maintain governance over fielded-configuration discipline for aircraft hardware, software, payloads, ground equipment, support equipment, customer-specific configurations, and fielded modifications.
* Oversee obsolescence and lifecycle management activities, including end-of-life risk tracking, supplier risk visibility, last-time-buy coordination, alternate part planning, redesign coordination, and fleet impact assessment.
* Establish governance for MRB activity, repair dispositions, returned material evaluation, nonconforming hardware, production escapes, depot repairs, and field repair processes.
* Develop executive-level product health dashboards covering fleet availability, reliability trends, readiness degraders, recurring failures, configuration status, obsolescence risk, repair status, and corrective action progress.
* Hire, mentor, and develop sustainment leaders, technical contributors, analysts, and engineering partners as the organization scales.
* Build a team culture centered on operational accountability, engineering rigor, data-driven decision making, disciplined execution, customer urgency, and continuous improvement.

Required qualifications:

* 10+ years of experience in aviation sustainment, fleet operations, sustaining engineering, reliability engineering, maintenance operations, product support, technical operations, or related aerospace/defense environments.
* 5+ years of experience leading technical, operational, engineering, sustainment, reliability, product support, maintenance, or fielded-system teams.
* Proven ability to establish, scale, or mature a technical, operational, engineering, sustainment, product support, or fleet support organization.
* Experience supporting fielded aircraft, UAS, defense systems, complex electromechanical systems, robotics, aerospace platforms, or other mission-critical hardware/software…