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Shield AI, a venture-backed defense-tech company, is seeking a Senior Manager of Supplier Quality to lead and develop a supplier quality team responsible for qualification, surveillance, performance management, and corrective actions across the company's global aerospace and defense supply base.
In this role, you will establish supplier-quality priorities, allocate resources, and translate functional objectives into staffing and execution plans that support product, program, and organizational needs. You will develop Supplier Quality leaders and engineering personnel through coaching, performance management, succession planning, and technical mentorship. Key responsibilities include overseeing supplier qualification, risk assessments, periodic performance reviews, supplier audits, source inspections, and approved-supplier status across complex aerospace hardware, commodities, and manufacturing processes.
You will ensure supplier requirements are effectively flowed down and that suppliers comply with applicable quality management systems, engineering, customer, contractual, regulatory, and statutory requirements. You will escalate significant supplier-quality risks, direct SCARs (Supplier Corrective Action Requests), supplier recovery efforts, and capability-improvement plans that could affect product quality, delivery, mission readiness, or program execution.
Collaboration is central to this role. You will partner with Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations, Supply Chain, and Program teams to address supplier producibility, design-for-manufacturability, process capability, technical execution, and quality risks. You will advance supplier-quality processes, business systems, data analytics, and continuous-improvement practices that strengthen supplier capability, product quality, delivery performance, and supply-base resilience.
Shield AI's products include Hivemind autonomy software, V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, and Aechelon simulation and synthetic reality technologies, with operations worldwide across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific. Travel to Shield AI manufacturing locations and supplier sites domestically and internationally is required, up to approximately 20% of the time.
REQUIREMENTS:
- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Quality, Manufacturing, or another related technical discipline
- At least 7 years of relevant experience, including 2–5 years of leadership or people-management experience with direct responsibility for Quality Engineering and/or Supplier Quality Engineering personnel
- Strong working knowledge of AS9100 and/or ISO 9001 quality-management systems, as well as aerospace and defense supplier-quality requirements
- Demonstrated proficiency in root-cause analysis and structured problem-solving methods, including 8D, 5 Whys, and fishbone analysis
- Experience with supplier qualification, supplier development, PPAP, and First Article Inspection processes, including AS9102 requirements
- Understanding of ITAR, EAR, DFARS, and other requirements applicable to aerospace and defense suppliers
- Demonstrated people-leadership capability, including coaching, performance management, organizational development, and building high-performing technical teams
- Strong cross-functional collaboration, executive communication, and supplier relationship-management skills
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications, including Excel, PowerPoint, Word, and Outlook
- Experience using ERP/MRP systems
- Ability to travel to Shield AI manufacturing locations and supplier sites domestically and internationally, up to approximately 20% of the time
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:
- ASQ Certified Quality Engineer (CQE), Certified Quality Manager (CQM), or equivalent quality certification
- Six Sigma Green Belt or Black Belt certification
- Experience leading supplier-quality functions in a high-growth aerospace, defense, autonomy, robotics, or advanced-manufacturing environment
- Experience supporting the production and qualification of complex electromechanical, electronic, precision-machined, composite, or avionics hardware
