Senior Executive Sourcer

About the role

Shield AI, a venture-backed defense-tech company, is looking for a Senior Executive Sourcer in Dallas. The role turns complex, highly specialized engineering needs into precise sourcing strategies, acting as a strategic partner to recruiters and hiring leaders. It covers talent intelligence, market mapping, proactive candidate generation and pipeline cultivation across aerospace, autonomy, AI and advanced hardware organizations.

Key responsibilities

• Define target profiles and data-informed sourcing strategies with recruiters and hiring leaders across engineering, software, embedded, AI/ML, systems, manufacturing, operations, product, program management and corporate functions.
• Map talent landscapes by company, skillset, geography and organization, identifying hidden pools, competitor insights and emerging trends.
• Use Boolean search, sourcing platforms and creative channels (LinkedIn Recruiter, SeekOut, HireEZ, ClearanceJobs, GitHub, engineering communities, conferences, referrals) to find and engage technical talent.
• Cultivate long-term relationships with passive, cleared and highly specialized engineers for just-in-time hiring.
• Design and improve AI-powered sourcing workflows, research agents and automations that boost recruiter productivity and market intelligence.
• Build reusable sourcing systems such as market maps, talent intelligence reports, outreach content and sourcing documentation.
• Coach recruiters and hiring managers on sourcing strategy, talent availability and candidate engagement, and work with Talent Acquisition Operations, Employer Brand, University Recruiting and Engineering leaders.
• Measure sourcing effectiveness with recruiting analytics and experimentation to improve conversion rates.

Required profile

• 8+ years of technical sourcing experience, ideally in aerospace, defense, autonomy or complex hardware/software industries.
• Proven track record in market mapping, competitive intelligence and candidate generation for specialized technical roles.
• Consultative partner to recruiters, hiring managers and senior engineering leaders, influencing hiring strategy.
• Experience building or using AI-powered sourcing workflows and AI development tools (e.g. Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, Gemini).
• Relationships with passive, cleared or niche engineering talent.
• Excellent communication and storytelling skills, strong judgment and a continuous improvement mindset.

Required skills

• Advanced Boolean search, LinkedIn Recruiter, HireEZ, SeekOut, ClearanceJobs, GitHub
• Preferred: experience in aerospace, robotics, autonomy, AI/ML or advanced vehicle engineering; export control, ITAR, EAR or security-cleared recruiting; Ashby, recruiting analytics, CRM or talent intelligence platforms; venture-backed tech organizations