Supplier Development Engineer - Mechanical

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 www.shield.ai . Follow Shield AI on LinkedIn , X , Instagram , and YouTube .

Job Description:

We are seeking a highly skilled and motivated Supplier Development Engineer to join Shield AI, focusing on machined parts. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in supplier development, quality engineering, production process improvement, and supply chain management within the aerospace industry. This role is critical in enhancing supplier performance by solving supplier challenges that impact quality/on-time delivery/scaling, supporting the onboarding of suppliers to new designs, and delivering on our mission to deliver affordable and autonomous mass at scale.

What you'll do:

• Process Improvement: Audit and embed into core supplier processes to understand improvement opportunities to cost, lead-times, and quality
• Quality Assurance: Conduct on-site audits to root cause supplier quality issues or performance challenges
• Supplier Development: Assess and improve supplier capabilities, ensuring alignment with engineering and operational priorities.
• Engineering Technical Support: Provide technical guidance to suppliers on part specifications, manufacturing processes and standards, and quality measures
• Supplier Performance Monitoring: Track and analyze supplier performance metrics, including delivery, quality, and cost. Implement corrective actions and continuous improvement plans as necessary.
• Risk Management: Identify and mitigate risks within the supply chain to ensure uninterrupted production and delivery of components
• New Product Introduction (NPI): Support the introduction of new products by ensuring suppliers meet all quality and delivery requirements during the development phase

Required qualifications:

• 7 plus years of supply chain, manufacturing engineering, process engineering,
• CAD (SolidWorks, NX, CATIA, etc.)
• Excel / data analysis
• PLM or ERP systems
• Travel up to 50%
• Can read drawings + GD&T confidently
• Understand machining/welding/forming processes
• Led root cause investigations (8D, 5 Whys)
• Worked with suppliers or production lines

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