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Senior Director, Hivemind Operations & Sustainment (R5855)

Shield AI· Hivemind Solutions Division – Applications Engineering
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Washington, DC$250k - $370kFull Time EmployeePosted 1mo ago

About the role

Senior Director of Operations & Sustainment responsible for deploying, operating, maintaining, and evolving Shield AI’s Hivemind software and VIDAR hardware products post-development, bridging Product Engineering, Customer Success, and Field Operations, and building the O&S organization from the ground up.

Responsibilities

  • Establish the organization, practices, tools, and ways of working for Product Deployment & Integration, Training, Documentation & Knowledge Enablement, Sustaining Engineering, Test & Evaluation, Customer Support Engineering, Operational Excellence & Engineering Enablement, and Cross-Functional Leadership.
  • Product Deployment & Integration: Lead teams for installation, integration, and deployment of HME Software within customer environments; develop repeatable deployment methodologies and tools; support direct HME customers and HMS/HMV deployments.
  • Training, Documentation & Knowledge Enablement: Own strategy and execution for customer education and knowledge management; maintain and improve training curriculum, technical publications, installation guides, troubleshooting documentation, and manuals; develop knowledge transfer materials; produce technical content and playbooks for field personnel.
  • Sustaining Engineering: Lead engineering efforts for products in customer environments; track configurations and upgrades; provide technical expertise for deployment support, issue resolution, and operational readiness; document, reproduce, prioritize, and communicate issues; drive root cause analysis and corrective actions.
  • Test & Evaluation: Drive rapid validation and verification for hardware repairs, bug fixes, and software updates; develop lightweight yet rigorous test methodologies; coordinate with Engineering to accelerate releases.
  • Customer Support Engineering: Own the technical support engineering organization; establish triage processes; provide proficient support beyond traditional call-center; define SLAs and operational metrics; ensure customer feedback informs product planning.
  • Operational Excellence & Engineering Enablement: Establish systems engineering discipline, workflows, governance, and best practices; develop operational metrics and dashboards; drive continuous improvement for efficiency and scalability.
  • Cross-Functional Leadership: Interface between Engineering, Program Management, Customer Success, Forward Deployed Engineering, and Customer Support; translate operational insights into product improvements; balance responsiveness with product quality.

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or related technical field
  • 15 years of experience leading software operations, sustaining engineering, technical support, or product lifecycle organizations
  • Experience with government, defense, or mission-critical software systems
  • Experience supporting sustainment or ILS organizations for integrated hardware and software products
  • Demonstrated success building operational organizations from the ground up
  • Strong systems engineering mindset with scalable operational processes
  • Experience leading cross-functional technical teams through complex customer issues and product improvements
  • Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills

Skills

Required:Product Deployment & IntegrationTechnical Training & DocumentationSustaining EngineeringCross-Functional Leadership

Benefits

  • Pay within range listed + Bonus + Benefits + Equity
  • Temporary benefits package after 60 days of employment
  • Salary compensation influenced by location, experience, licenses/certifications; background/reference checks; equal opportunity and accommodation policies.
Last updated Oct 23, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.

About Shield AI

Autonomy for the world.

Our mission is to protect service members and civilians with intelligent systems.

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