Founded in 2015, Shield AI is a venture-backed deep-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. Its products include the V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, Hivemind Enterprise, and the Hivemind Vision product lines. With offices and facilities across the U. S. , Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific, Shield AI’s technology actively supports operations worldwide. For more information, visit https://shield.ai. Follow Shield AI on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and YouTube.

Job Description:

Shield AI is seeking a Manager of Fleet Maintenance to lead and scale maintenance operations supporting Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) aircraft and associated Ground Support Equipment (GSE). This role is responsible for owning fleet readiness, maintenance execution, and personnel leadership across shop-based operations, while ensuring safety, quality, and scalability as the company grows.

The Fleet Maintenance Manager serves as the central authority for aircraft maintenance status, configuration discipline, and readiness reporting. You will lead a team of technicians, coordinate closely with Flight Operations and Engineering, and drive proactive fleet health management to minimize downtime and enable mission success. This role requires strong technical judgment, disciplined execution, and proven people leadership in a high-tempo aviation environment.

What you’ll do:

• Own fleet maintenance execution, readiness status, and aircraft availability for assigned UAS platforms.
• Serve as the primary authority for maintenance prioritization, including the ability to ground aircraft when required for safety or configuration reasons.
• Assess incoming maintenance requests and discrepancies, prioritizing work based on operational impact, safety risk, and fleet availability.
• Lead, mentor, and develop a team of maintenance technicians, fostering a culture of safety, accountability, and technical excellence.
• Manage technician staffing, scheduling, workload balancing, and performance feedback.
• Recruit, onboard, and train maintenance personnel to support current and future fleet demand.
• Address personnel matters including conflict resolution, performance management, and disciplinary actions when necessary.
• Oversee all shop-based maintenance activities for UAS aircraft and associated GSE, including inspections, repairs, upgrades, and testing.
• Develop and maintain daily and weekly maintenance schedules to optimize technician utilization and minimize aircraft downtime.
• Monitor maintenance execution using workflow or CMMS tools, identifying risks, bottlenecks, and recovery actions.
• Implement contingency plans for unplanned maintenance, parts shortages, or schedule disruptions.
• Maintain configuration control and ensure maintenance actions align with approved engineering baselines and procedures.
• Identify recurring discrepancies, reliability trends, and systemic issues across the fleet and elevate findings to Engineering and Program leadership.
• Support incorporation of engineering changes, modifications, and upgrades into the fleet in a controlled and traceable manner.
• Enforce maintenance safety practices, quality standards, and procedural discipline across all shop activities.
• Conduct internal audits, inspections, and corrective actions to ensure compliance with company maintenance standards.
• Ensure accurate maintenance records, logbooks, and documentation to support traceability and audit readiness.
• Develop strategies to scale maintenance operations in alignment with company growth, including staffing, facilities, tooling, and processes.
• Optimize shop workflows and maintenance processes to reduce turnaround time and increase fleet availability.
• Track and report key performance indicators (KPIs) such as aircraft uptime, maintenance throughput, cost drivers, and technician productivity.

Required qualifications:

• 5+ years of experience in aviation or UAS maintenance environments, including hands-on exposure to aircraft maintenance operations.
• Demonstrated experience leading or supervising maintenance personnel in a high-tempo operational environment.
• Strong technical understanding of aircraft or UAS systems and maintenance workflows.
• Proven ability to prioritize competing maintenance demands while balancing safety, schedule, and operational impact.
• Experience coordinating across engineering, flight operations, and supply chain organizations.
• Strong organizational, planning, and execution skills with the ability to independently manage multiple priorities.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Proficiency with maintenance management, workflow tracking, or scheduling tools.
• Demonstrated leadership qualities including accountability, trustworthiness, high standards, and professionalism.

Preferred qualifications:

• FAA Airframe and Powerplant (A&P) certification.
• Previous leadership experience in a military aviation, MRO, or high-reliability maintenance organization.
• Direct experience supporting Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) or experimental aircraft programs.
• Familiarity with configuration control, discrepancy tracking, or fleet health analytics.
• Experience supporting rapid growth or scaling maintenance organizations.

$110,000 – $170,000 a year

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Full-time regular employee offer package:

Pay within range listed + Bonus + Benefits + Equity

Temporary employee offer package:

Pay within range listed above + temporary benefits package (applicable after 60 days of employment)

Salary compensation is influenced by a wide array of factors including but not limited to skill set, level of experience, licenses and certifications, and specific work location. All offers are contingent on a cleared background and possible reference check. Military fellows and part-time employees are not eligible for benefits. Please speak to your talent acquisition representative for more information.

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Shield AI is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.