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Shield AI, a venture-backed defense-tech company, is seeking a Senior Supervisor for Production to lead a team of avionics and electrical assembly technicians supporting advanced autonomous aircraft development programs. This leadership role is responsible for building high-performing teams, establishing disciplined production environments, and managing the transition from prototype development through flight-ready hardware delivery.
You will lead technicians performing avionics and electrical assembly, installation, integration, functional testing, troubleshooting, rework, and production-readiness activities. Responsibilities include work assignment, workload prioritization, coaching, mentoring, training, performance feedback, and cross-training of technicians. You will maintain strict control of manufacturing and integration environments, ensuring adherence to safety standards, ESD/FOD prevention, calibration, tool control, serialized hardware traceability, nonconformance processes, quality requirements, and configuration-management compliance.
You will demonstrate proficiency with electrical and avionics test equipment, guide disciplined troubleshooting and root-cause analysis across electrical, electronic, wiring, sensor, power, and data-interface systems, and read and interpret harness and PCBA schematics, wiring diagrams, engineering drawings, interface-control documents, bills of material, work instructions, and other configuration-controlled documentation.
Using production and test data—including yield, defects, failures, rework, labor utilization, WIP, material availability, and schedule performance—you will identify risks, make operational decisions, drive continuous improvement, and escalate issues appropriately. You will lead production-readiness execution for prototype, developmental, pre-production, and first-article V-BAT hardware/software from engineering release through flight-ready delivery, develop and manage build schedules, production-floor cut-ins, readiness milestones, risks, dependencies, and recovery plans.
You will support first-article and pilot builds, capture technician feedback and lessons learned, and drive updates to documentation, tooling, processes, and training. You will partner with Manufacturing Engineering, Quality Engineering, and Production Planning to ensure production-readiness by confirming materials, tooling, fixtures, test equipment, and technician capacity, closing readiness gaps, and ensuring all work instructions, BOMs, test procedures, inspection criteria, and configuration requirements are complete and executable.
REQUIREMENTS:
- Bachelor's degree in a technical field (Engineering, Technology, Analytics); equivalent technical experience in avionics or aerospace production will be considered.
- 5+ years of hands-on experience leading technicians or teams in aerospace, defense, UAS, or other advanced manufacturing settings.
- Ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced, highly dynamic environment with evolving priorities.
- Excellent analytical, organizational, and communication skills.
- U.S. citizenship and ability to obtain/maintain a security clearance.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:
- Experience leading avionics or electrical assembly and integration teams within aerospace, defense, UAS, or other complex hardware manufacturing environments.
- Proven expertise with electrical and avionics troubleshooting, system-level diagnostics, and root-cause analysis across wiring, electronics, sensors, power systems, and data-interface architectures.
- Strong proficiency reading and interpreting engineering schematics, wiring diagrams, ICDs, bills of material, work instructions, and other configuration-controlled documentation.
- Demonstrated success building technician capabilities, establishing production processes, and supporting early prototype through pre-production and first-article manufacturing.
