Head of Operational Excellence

The role

Lead operational excellence across Shield AI's manufacturing sites in Frisco and Seattle. Set and track KPIs, budgets and standards, and coach teams to improve quality, delivery, cost and productivity.

What you will do

• Create and manage manufacturing KPIs and performance dashboards across both sites.
• Define, train and improve operational standards, including 5S, root cause analysis and visual management.
• Develop and run the manufacturing budget process, including forecasting, controls and performance tracking.
• Set financial targets with operations and finance teams and drive budget and cost adherence.
• Lead cross-functional improvement initiatives across both sites.
• Prepare senior and executive-level reporting packages for Manufacturing leadership reviews.
• Deploy Lean and continuous improvement practices with production, quality and engineering teams.
• Own business office functions for Manufacturing, including goal tracking, KPI dashboards and process governance.
• Coach and train teams and leaders to sustain operational discipline and improvements.

Required qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Business, Operations Management or a related field.
• Experience leading operational excellence, Lean or business office programs in a manufacturing environment.
• 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.

Nice to have

• Master's degree or formal Lean Six Sigma certification.
• Experience in aerospace, defense or complex hardware manufacturing.
• 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.

Benefits

• Full-time regular employees: bonus, benefits and equity, with pay within the listed range.
• Temporary employees: a temporary benefits package that applies after 60 days of employment.

Before you apply

• All offers are contingent on a cleared background check and possible reference check.
• Military fellows and part-time employees are not eligible for benefits.
• Salary depends on factors such as skill set, experience, licences and certifications, and work location.

About the company

Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-tech company that builds intelligent systems to protect service members and civilians. Its products include Hivemind autonomy software, V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, and Aechelon simulation technologies.