Principal Technical Program Manager, Ranger Aircraft

About the role

Shield AI develops autonomy software and advanced aircraft to support U.S. and allied forces in challenging environments. It is seeking a Principal Technical Program Manager to lead the execution of its aircraft development efforts for the U.S. Air Force's Ranger program. The role translates customer objectives into an integrated plan covering concept development, aircraft and mission systems integration, prototype demonstration, flight test and production readiness, and works closely with the program leader, Chief Engineer, engineering teams, manufacturing, supply chain and government stakeholders.

Key responsibilities

• Own integrated program execution: set and maintain the program baseline linking engineering deliverables, hardware availability, supplier commitments, integration activities, test events and customer milestones.
• Translate customer needs into executable plans with systems engineering and technical leadership, defining scope, success criteria, requirements priorities and verification milestones.
• Coordinate air vehicle, propulsion, avionics, flight controls, autonomy, mission systems and ground systems teams around dependencies and interfaces.
• Incorporate unit-cost targets, component availability, manufacturing complexity and sustainment into planning and decisions.
• Lead program reviews with government stakeholders and industry partners, and coordinate contractual deliverables.
• Identify critical-path threats, immature technologies, supplier constraints and resource gaps early, assign mitigation owners and drive resolution.
• Align development schedules with tooling, long-lead procurement, manufacturing readiness, configuration control and quality requirements.
• Present concise assessments of milestone confidence, financial performance, technical progress and decisions needing leadership action.

Required profile

• Bachelor's degree in engineering or a related technical discipline, or equivalent relevant experience.
• 10+ years of progressive experience in aerospace engineering, technical program management or complex hardware and software development.
• Experience leading a major aircraft, spacecraft, unmanned system or similar integrated aerospace program through development and test milestones.
• Experience working directly with government customers or major aerospace partners on requirements, reviews and delivery commitments.
• Active U.S. security clearance.

Preferred qualifications

• Experience with Group 5 unmanned aircraft, clean-sheet aircraft development or rapid aerospace prototyping.
• Familiarity with Air Force acquisition programs and competitive prototype-to-production efforts.
• Experience integrating autonomy, mission payloads, avionics or ground control systems into aircraft.
• Understanding of modular open systems approaches and preparation for flight-test campaigns and airworthiness reviews.
• Demonstrated success applying design-to-cost principles and moving development hardware into production.