Description
Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems.
The Head of Operational Excellence will lead operational excellence across Shield AI's Group 3 UAV manufacturing in Frisco, TX (V-BAT) and Group 5 UAV manufacturing in Seattle, WA (X-BAT).
Responsibilities:
- Create, deploy, and actively manage consistent manufacturing KPIs and performance dashboards across both sites to drive visibility and accountability for safety, quality, delivery, cost, and productivity.
- Define, train, deploy, and continually improve operational standards across V-BAT manufacturing in Frisco and X-BAT manufacturing in Seattle, including 5S, root cause analysis, and visual management.
- Develop and institutionalize the manufacturing budget process across both sites, including forecasting, controls, and performance tracking.
- Set financial targets in collaboration with operations and finance teams and drive adherence to budget and cost goals.
- Lead high-impact cross-functional improvement initiatives across both sites to improve quality, delivery, efficiency, productivity, and cost performance.
- Prepare and coordinate senior and executive-level reporting packages for Manufacturing leadership reviews.
- Partner with production, quality, and engineering teams to deploy Lean and continuous improvement practices, adapting execution to the needs of established production and prototype-to-rate manufacturing.
- Own business office functions for Manufacturing across both sites, including goal tracking, KPI dashboards, and process governance.
- Coach and train teams and leaders across both sites to elevate operational discipline, share effective practices, and sustain improvements.
Requirements:
- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Business, Operations Management, or related field.
- Experience leading operational excellence, Lean, or business office programs within a manufacturing environment, with the ability to lead improvement across multiple sites.
- Demonstrated ability to design, roll out, and sustain structured operational standards and improvement systems.
- Strong background in budgeting, reporting, and performance management at a senior level.
- Excellent communication skills and experience preparing executive-level summaries and presentations.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Master's degree or formal Lean Six Sigma certification.
- Experience in aerospace, defense, or complex hardware manufacturing environments.
- Proficiency with digital tools for KPI visualization, reporting automation, and business process tracking.
- Track record of influencing change across large, cross-functional manufacturing organizations and multiple sites.