Senior Executive Recruiter - G&A (R6520)

Shield AI is seeking a Senior Executive Recruiter to identify and attract exceptional leaders who will help shape its future. As a fast-growing defense technology company, the hiring priorities evolve quickly, requiring adaptability, sound judgment, and the ability to navigate ambiguity while delivering results.

Responsibilities

• Independently manage complex executive and senior leadership searches from intake and position scoping through market mapping, assessment, offer negotiation, and acceptance.
• Partner with senior leaders to define role requirements, success profiles, assessment criteria, search strategies, and hiring milestones.
• Identify, engage, and cultivate relationships with high-caliber passive executive talent across aerospace and defense, AI, autonomy, software, enterprise technology, and other relevant markets.
• Build targeted executive talent pipelines supporting immediate and anticipated leadership hiring needs.
• Anticipate search challenges, adjust strategies, and maintain accountability for hiring outcomes.

Executive Stakeholder Partnership

• Serve as a trusted advisor to senior business leaders, hiring managers, and PX Business Partners across assigned functions.
• Provide consultative guidance on talent availability, market dynamics, compensation expectations, and competitive positioning.
• Establish consistent communication and reporting cadences to maintain stakeholder alignment, transparency, and accountability.
• Influence hiring decisions through market intelligence, candidate insights, and evidence-based recommendations.

Executive Assessment & Candidate Experience

• Conduct comprehensive executive assessments evaluating functional expertise, leadership capabilities, business impact, and alignment with Shield AI's mission and values.
• Apply structured interviews, competency frameworks, and assessment tools to support informed hiring decisions.
• Deliver clear, balanced candidate evaluations highlighting strengths, development areas, and potential risks.

Market Intelligence & Talent Mapping

• Develop deep knowledge of executive talent markets across G&A functions and relevant industries.
• Partner with Global Talent Sourcing to execute targeted market mapping, competitive research, and candidate identification strategies.
• Provide actionable insights on talent availability, organizational structures, compensation trends, and competitive hiring practices.

Operational Excellence & Continuous Improvement

• Execute searches using established executive recruiting processes, assessment methodologies, tools, and templates.
• Maintain accurate, timely candidate and pipeline information in applicant tracking and recruiting systems.
• Track and communicate search metrics, including pipeline health, candidate conversion, search velocity, and hiring outcomes.

Leverage AI to Raise the Bar

• Integrate AI and automation into recruiting workflows to improve speed, quality, and effectiveness throughout the executive search lifecycle.
• Apply AI to talent research, market mapping, sourcing strategy, intake preparation, candidate engagement, interview preparation, and recruiting analytics.

Teamwork & Collaboration

• Build trusted, collaborative relationships across Talent Acquisition, People Experience, Total Rewards, and business leadership.
• Share market intelligence, candidate insights, and executive search best practices to strengthen team effectiveness.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent relevant professional experience.
• 8+ years of progressive executive recruiting or search experience, including independently managing complex senior leadership searches.
• Demonstrated experience recruiting VP+ executives across G&A functions.
• Experience recruiting senior leaders within aerospace, defense, artificial intelligence, autonomy, or related technology industries.
• Strong executive sourcing, market mapping, passive candidate engagement, and assessment capabilities.