Senior Director, Flight Operations (V-BAT) (R5797)

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 [](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). Shield AI is seeking an experienced and visionary Senior Director of Flight Operations to lead the execution and employment of V-BAT globally. This role provides leadership for Flight Test, Deployed Operations, Mission Control, and Training, ensuring aircraft, personnel, and operational resources are employed safely, efficiently, and in alignment with enterprise priorities. As the senior operational leader for aircraft employment, you will oversee the planning, execution, and governance of all flight activities supporting product testing, customer operations, training, demonstrations, and operational growth. You will balance competing demands across developmental testing, deployed operations, customer commitments, and strategic initiatives while maintaining the highest standards of safety, readiness, and operational excellence. The Senior Director will establish operational strategy, standardize execution across globally distributed teams, and develop scalable operational capabilities that support Shield AI's continued growth. This role partners closely with Engineering, Aviation Sustainment, Program Management, Business Development, and executive leadership to ensure operational execution aligns with technology development, customer success, and enterprise objectives. ### What You'll Do: **Enterprise Flight Operations Leadership** - Lead and scale the Flight Operations organization consisting of Directors, Senior Managers, Managers, Supervisors, and technical professionals across Flight Test, Deployed Operations, Mission Control, and Training. - Establish enterprise governance, decision frameworks, and operating standards for all V-BAT operations across the Aircraft Division. - Develop organizational strategies that enable safe, scalable, and efficient V-BAT flight operations worldwide. - Foster a culture of operational excellence, disciplined execution, accountability, and continuous improvement. **Flight Operations & Mission Execution** - Oversee the execution of developmental V-BAT flight testing, contractor-owned/contractor-operated missions, customer demonstrations, deployed operations, and internal and customer training events. - Ensure operational activities are conducted safely, efficiently, and in accordance with regulatory, contractual, and company requirements. - Establish operational readiness standards for aircraft, personnel, support equipment, and operational sites. - Provide oversight of operational risk management, flight scheduling, and mission execution across all operational organizations. **Mission Control & Fleet Employment** - Provide executive oversight of Mission Control, ensuring enterprise aircraft allocation, configuration posture, and mission prioritization support strategic business objectives. - Balance competing operational demands across flight test, customer operations, training, demonstrations, and internal flight operations activities. - Ensure V-BAT employment decisions appropriately consider customer commitments, revenue recognition, technology roadmap priorities, operational readiness, and long-term fleet health. - Review and adjudicate high-impact operational conflicts requiring executive prioritization. **Training & Operational Readiness** - Lead internal and customer training organizations responsible for developing qualified operators, maintainers, and instructors. - Ensure training programs, curricula, simulators, and qualification standards evolve with product capabilities and operational requirements. - Supervise operational qualification, currency, standardization, and evaluation programs across all Flight Operations personnel. - Oversee Standardization & Evaluation leadership to ensure procedures, technical publications, and training products remain synchronized with operational execution. **Strategic Leadership & Cross-Functional Integration** - Partner with Engineering to mature next-generation aircraft capabilities, operational concepts, and flight test strategies. - Validate software and hardware updates for customer readiness. - Collaborate with Aviation Sustainment to align fleet availability, maintenance capacity, logistics readiness, and customer support with operational demand. - Support Business Development through customer demonstrations, operational evaluations, strategic capture efforts, and international engagements. - Represent Flight Operations during executive planning, customer engagements, operational reviews, and strategic decision-making forums. **Operational Performance & Continuous Improvement** - Establish operational performance metrics including mission success, fleet utilization, aircraft availability, training throughput, schedule adherence, and operational safety. - Ensure operational lessons learned are captured, analyzed, and incorporated into procedures, training, engineering improvements, and organizational processes. - Develop scalable operational capabilities that support future V-BAT programs, international expansion, and enterprise growth. - Champion a culture of learning, innovation, and disciplined execution across all Flight Operations organizations. ### Required Qualifications: - Bachelor's degree in Aviation Management, Aerospace Engineering, Business, Operations Management, Military Science, or a related field. - 15+ years of progressive leadership experience in military aviation, commercial aerospace, defense, or advanced aviation operations. - Demonstrated experience leading large multidisciplinary aviation organizations consisting of multiple operational functions and senior leaders. - Strong understanding of aircraft operations, operational risk management, mission planning, aviation safety, and operational governance. - Demonstrated ability to balance competing enterprise priorities involving customer commitments, engineering schedules, operational readiness, and business objectives. - Experience developing operational strategy, organizational governance, and scalable operational processes. - Exceptional leadership, organizational development, communication, and executive decision-making skills. ### Preferred Qualifications: - Master's degree in Business Administration (MBA), Aviation Management, Engineering Management, or related discipline. - Former military aviation leader (Operations Group Commander, Squadron Commander, or equivalent senior aviation leadership position). - Proven success managing complex flight operations involving developmental testing, deployed operations, operational training, or globally distributed aviation organizations. - Experience leading developmental flight test, operational test, or advanced autonomous aircraft programs. - Familiarity with FAA, DoD, DCMA, and international aviation regulatory frameworks. - Experience leading globally distributed aviation operations supporting government and international customers. - FAA Commercial Pilot, ATP, Military Aviator, or equivalent aviation qualifications. - Experience integrating enterprise fleet management, operational planning, and resource prioritization across multiple product lines. - Experience supporting rapid organizational growth and scaling operational organizations in aerospace or defense industries.