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Shield AI, a venture-backed defense-tech company, is seeking a Mission Assurance Lead to provide independent, engineering-informed oversight of maintenance, configuration, documentation, and field operations across its aircraft operations. The role ensures Shield AI maintains continuous, objective insight into aircraft readiness, system integrity, and process conformance.
This position combines maintenance process assurance, operational safety, configuration control, and early risk detection. The Mission Assurance Lead will validate requirements, verify execution, identify nonconformances early, and drive corrective actions that prevent risks from reaching the aircraft, mission, or customer.
Key responsibilities include:
- Building and operating a Mission Assurance model for Shield AI aircraft operations, covering maintenance procedures, documentation, configuration control, support equipment, and field execution
- Defining inspection strategy, audit cadence, evidence requirements, data standards, and reporting rhythms
- Conducting independent inspections of maintenance tasks, logbooks, technical data use, service bulletin compliance, configuration accuracy, release practices, tool/FOD control, ground handling, and field operations
- Verifying maintenance quality, data integrity, critical-step completion, serial/time-tracked item accuracy, deferred discrepancy management, and in-process inspection discipline
- Developing and executing standardized evaluation programs, including sampling plans, audits, acceptance criteria, and documented finding categories
- Maintaining dashboards and indicators such as maintenance quality, data error rates, open findings, CAPA status, repeat discrepancies, tool/FOD events, and potential readiness blockers
- Partnering with Maintenance, Field Operations, Engineering, and Airworthiness to standardize processes across locations while maintaining independent oversight
- Escalating safety-of-flight, compliance, or data integrity risks; recommending stop-work, restrictions, additional inspections, or impounds when warranted
- Supporting investigations of mishaps, near misses, maintenance errors, and field failures, ensuring accurate reconstruction of maintenance, configuration, and operational timelines
- Performing follow-up inspections to ensure findings are sufficiently resolved
- Maintaining the evidence trail required for customer confidence, safety assurance, governance, and quality expectations in a scaling UAS operation
The ideal candidate is comfortable working in hangars, test events, field sites, and deployed environments; recognizes disciplined maintenance and operational practices; and converts observations into actionable, scalable assurance data.
REQUIREMENTS:
- 7+ years of experience in aviation maintenance, maintenance QA, maintenance control, field service leadership, or equivalent mission-critical operational roles
- Demonstrated ability to build or mature maintenance QA or mission assurance programs
- Practical expertise with maintenance procedures, logbooks, MIS/work orders, discrepancies, configuration control, service bulletin compliance, tool/FOD control, and aircraft release discipline
- Hands-on experience in operational environments (hangars, flightlines, test ranges, customer sites, or deployed locations)
- Strong data discipline and ability to generate accurate, actionable reports and dashboards
- Working knowledge of audit practices, root-cause methods, CAPA, and safety/quality systems
- High ownership and independence; able to ask difficult questions, build trust, and drive corrective actions without unnecessary bureaucracy
- Strong written and verbal communication skills
- Ability to travel and support non-standard operational tempos
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:
- Experience with military aviation maintenance/QA
- Experience with NASA-style mission assurance, DoD QA, AS9100, ICAO safety assurance, or similar frameworks
- Experience supporting developmental flight test programs or rapidly evolving aircraft platforms
- Training in auditing, root-cause analysis, CAPA, HFACS, TapRooT, Six Sigma, human factors, or maintenance evaluation
- Experience with autonomous systems, configuration management, telemetry-based maintenance, or digital maintenance systems
- Familiarity with aviation safety assurance, risk management, and continuous monitoring
- Active or eligible security clearance
