Principal Technical Program Manager, Ranger

The role

Lead the execution of aircraft development for the U.S. Air Force's Ranger program. Turn customer goals into an integrated plan covering concept, integration, prototype demonstration, flight test and production readiness.

What you will do

• Own integrated program execution, including the program baseline, engineering deliverables, hardware availability, supplier commitments, test events and customer milestones
• Translate customer needs into executable plans with systems engineering and technical leadership
• Drive coordination across air vehicle, propulsion, avionics, flight controls, autonomy, mission systems and ground systems teams
• Keep affordability and production central, including unit-cost targets, component availability, manufacturing complexity and sustainment
• Manage customer and partner commitments, lead program reviews with government stakeholders and industry partners, and coordinate contractual deliverables
• Identify critical-path risks, immature technologies, supplier constraints and resource gaps early, and drive mitigation to resolution
• Align development schedules with tooling, long-lead procurement, manufacturing readiness, configuration control and quality requirements
• Present concise assessments of milestone confidence, financial performance, technical progress and decisions needing leadership action

Required qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in engineering or a related technical discipline, or equivalent relevant experience
• 10+ years of progressive experience in aerospace engineering, technical program management, or complex hardware and software development
• Experience leading a major aircraft, spacecraft, unmanned system, or similarly integrated aerospace program through significant development and test milestones
• Technical breadth to evaluate integration dependencies, understand engineering tradeoffs, and challenge execution assumptions across disciplines
• Demonstrated ownership of integrated schedules, budgets, program risks, and cross-functional delivery
• Experience working directly with government customers or major aerospace partners on requirements, reviews, and delivery commitments
• Ability to lead through influence, establish accountability, and make sound decisions with incomplete information
• Clear written and verbal communication, including executive briefings and customer-facing technical discussions
• Has lived and experienced a demo-build cycle
• Active U.S. security clearance

Nice to have

• Experience with Group 5 unmanned aircraft, clean-sheet aircraft development, or rapid aerospace prototyping
• Familiarity with Air Force acquisition programs and competitive prototype-to-production efforts
• Experience integrating autonomy, mission payloads, avionics, or ground control systems into aircraft
• Understanding of modular open systems approaches and their implications for integration, supplier coordination, and future upgrades
• Experience preparing for flight-test campaigns and coordinating airworthiness and safety-review activities
• Demonstrated success applying design-to-cost principles and transitioning development hardware into repeatable production

About the company

Shield AI develops intelligent systems, including autonomy software and advanced aircraft, to protect service members and civilians. Its work supports U.S. and allied forces in challenging environments.