Senior Manager, Mechanisms Engineering (R4858)

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: Shield AI is seeking a Senior Manager, Mechanisms Engineering to support the development of mechanisms for our next-generation autonomous aircraft program. As a contributor on the Launch and Recovery Vehicle team you will lead the design and development of high-performance mechanisms from concept through production release. In this role, you’ll lead and contribute to the development of complex, mission-critical technologies while guiding a talented team to deliver at a high level. Blending hands-on technical work with leadership, you’ll help drive innovation, solve challenging problems, and bring cutting-edge systems from concept to reality.

What you'll do:: Functional Excellence: Directly contribute to the design, analysis, and integration of mechanical systems and subsystems for X-BAT Launch and Recovery Vehicle. Establish and improve pragmatic mechanical engineering standards, templates, specifications, and best practices that increase design quality, reduce rework, and enable faster iteration. Own mechanical engineering deliverables across the product lifecycle—from early concept and prototyping through test, production, and field support—with a bias toward execution and delivery. Own failure mode analysis and reliability modeling for mechanical systems, establish lightweight, repeatable practices (e.g., FMEA, fault trees) that proactively identify risks, reduce field failures, and inform design tradeoffs. Partner closely with Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Quality, Program Management, and Flight Operations to ensure designs are buildable, testable, and reliable in real-world environments. Provide hands-on technical support during ground and flight testing, demos, and field operations; rapidly troubleshoot and implement design fixes under tight timelines. Team Leadership and Development: Lead, mentor, and develop a team of mechanical engineers, providing technical guidance, regular feedback, and clear expectations for ownership and execution. Recruit and hire experienced mechanical engineers to strengthen team capability, elevate technical standards, and improve mentorship depth. Act as a player-coach: balance meaningful individual technical contribution with team leadership, design reviews, and day-to-day unblock of engineers. Establish team norms around accountability, decision-making speed, and engineering rigor—ensuring high-quality output without slowing momentum. Set clear priorities aligned with program goals; actively manage team bandwidth, identify risks early, and communicate tradeoffs to leadership. Drive clear and concise technical communication, ensuring design decisions, ass