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 https://shield.ai/. Follow Shield AI on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/shield-ai, X https://x.com/shieldaitech, Instagram https://www.instagram.com/shield_ai, and YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@Shield_AI.
Job Description:
What you'll do:
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- Lead the technical development and performance improvement of suppliers supporting welded assemblies, large metallic structures, sheet metal components, and complex structural assemblies.
- Assess supplier capabilities across welding, sheet metal forming, structural fabrication, machining, assembly, tooling, inspection, and special processes.
- Conduct supplier capability assessments, manufacturing readiness reviews, process audits, capacity analyses, and onsite technical evaluations.
- Partner with Strategic Sourcing and Engineering to evaluate and select suppliers capable of meeting technical, quality, cost, schedule, and production-rate requirements.
- Serve as the primary technical interface between suppliers and internal Engineering, Quality, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, and Program teams.
- Lead supplier industrialization activities, including manufacturing planning, tooling and fixture readiness, process validation, capacity planning, qualification, and production ramp-up.
- Review engineering drawings, specifications, GD&T, bills of material, weld symbols, material requirements, special-process requirements, and statements of work.
- Evaluate supplier welding capabilities, including welding equipment, personnel qualifications, weld procedures, process controls, inspection methods, and compliance with applicable aerospace welding standards.
- Review welding procedure specifications, procedure qualification records, welder certifications, and nondestructive inspection requirements.
- Work with suppliers to control weld distortion, residual stress, dimensional variation, heat-affected zones, joint fit-up, and other risks associated with large welded structures.
- Evaluate sheet metal forming processes such as brake forming, roll forming, stretch forming, hydroforming, stamping, and complex contour forming.
- Assess supplier tooling strategies for large structures and sheet metal components, including weld fixtures, assembly jigs, forming tools, trim tools, and inspection fixtures.
- Drive design-for-manufacturability and design-for-assembly discussions to improve joint design, tooling access, weld accessibility, dimensional control, producibility, cost, and lead time.
- Lead technical problem-solving involving weld defects, forming defects, springback, distortion, dimensional nonconformances, tooling issues, material variability, and assembly fit-up.
- Develop and manage supplier technical development plans, production readiness plans, capacity recovery plans, and corrective-action plans.
- Apply structured root-cause and corrective-action methods, including 8D, 5-Why, fishbone analysis, fault-tree analysis, and other appropriate problem-solving tools.
- Review and approve supplier manufacturing documentation, including process flow diagrams, manufacturing plans, weld plans, inspection plans, control plans, PFMEAs, work instructions, and qualification documentation.
- Coordinate First Article Inspection activities in accordance with AS9102 and support the resolution of FAI discrepancies and manufacturing nonconformances.
- Evaluate supplier production capacity using cycle times, yield, equipment availability, skilled labor, tooling, floor space, material flow, and inspection capacity.
- Support suppliers through engineering changes, new product introductions, prototype builds, qualification activities, and production-rate increases.
- Develop measurable improvement plans for suppliers experiencing delivery, quality, capacity, or technical performance issues.
- Lead onsite supplier recovery efforts and communicate progress, technical risks, and corrective actions to program and executive leadership.
- Monitor supplier performance trends to identify recurring issues, systemic risks, and opportunities for continuous improvement.
- Support alternate-source development and risk-mitigation strategies for sole-source, long-lead, and flight-critical structural components.
- Work with suppliers to implement lean manufacturing, process controls, mistake-proofing, yield improvement, cycle-time reduction, and production-flow improvements.
- Ensure suppliers comply with applicable AS9100, AS9102, engineering, configuration-control, special-process, and customer requirements.
- Provide technical guidance and mentorship to less-experienced Supplier Development, Supplier Quality, Manufacturing, and Supply Chain team members.
- Travel regularly to supplier locations to conduct assessments, resolve technical issues, and support production readiness and recovery activities.
Required qualifications:
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- Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Welding Engineering, Industrial Engineering, or a related technical field.
- 7+ years of experience in supplier development, manufacturing engineering, welding engineering, supplier quality engineering, or a related technical role within aerospace, defense, or another highly regulated manufacturing environment.
- Demonstrated experience developing suppliers and resolving complex manufacturing, quality, capacity, or delivery issues.
- Technical experience with one or more of the following commodity or process areas:
- Large metallic airframe structures
- Welded str