Senior Director of Hivemind Finance (R5621)

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. 

As the Senior Director of Hivemind Program Finance, you will lead the Hivemind program finance activities of the team in support of program execution. The optimal executive leader is someone with sharp analytical instincts and a passion for driving business performance to join our high-performing finance team. In this fast-paced, constantly evolving environment, you will enhance the finance team and develop our talent—you’ll influence decisions, uncover opportunities, and partner with leaders across engineering, operations, and product to deliver actionable financial intelligence and insights. Your work will help optimize performance and steer one of our most critical business areas toward sustained growth. 

Supporting our fastest-growing dynamic Hivemind business unit, this is a high-visibility, high-impact role where your insights will directly shape strategy and fuel innovation.  You will lead the engagement with the program management team to support the execution of our projects to forecast and achieve the desired financial outcomes. If you want to shape the work to support a truly impactful international Finance team, come transform and lead with us!

Advise the Hivemind Program Management leadership on all financial matters, build synergist relationships to enable all parties to succeed financially as we execute. 

Be a collaborative thought leader and partner with Hivemind VPGM & Leadership team

Mature the processes, policies, templates, and tools used in program finance 

Establish methods of executing assigned areas that enable sustainable growth (continuous improvement model)

Contribute to the success of the broader finance organization (Accounting, Operations Finance, FP&A) by leading cross-functional improvements that allow Shield AI to become industry leaders

Enhance existing framework to ensure programs achieve Orders, Revenue, EBITDA, Cash goals.

Direct report to the Vice President of Finance, Program Finance Aircraft & Product and a member of the program finance leadership team

Bachelor’s degree with a minimum of 10-15 progressive experience in financial analysis, corporate finance, program business management or FP&A years of related experience.

8 or more years of Aerospace & Defense industry experience 

Experience with some or all these areas: Financial Planning & Analysis, Program Controls, Pricing, Earned Value Management, Budgets & Rates, ERP transformations, Accounting, FAR Compliance

Strong understanding of US GAAP, with practical experience applying accounting principles in a government contracting or manufacturing environment

Familiarity with cost accounting concepts and government contract structures (e.g., T&M, CPFF, FFP)

Advanced proficiency in Excel, financial modeling, AI tool suites, and data analysis

Strong working knowledge of Power BI and comfort with data visualization tools

Solid understanding of financial statements and business metrics

Demonstrated ability to work independently and collaborate cross-functionally in a fast-moving environment 

Excellent communication skills with the ability to present complex financial data to non-financial stakeholders

Located in DC (Crystal City, Arlington, VA).

Experience in a rapidly growing company or with integration post M&A

Provided financial support to a Manufacturing and/or software focused business

Demonstrated skillset in executing non-conventional USG procurements and modeling associated financials

MBA or Master’s degree in a related discipline 

Experience supporting operations or customer-facing teams in a manufacturing, aerospace, or tech domestic and international environments

Exposure to Microsoft Fabric, Power Query, DAX, or other data transformation and modeling tools 

Familiarity with ERP systems (e.g., Costpoint) and planning tools (e.g., Anaplan) and Oracle ERP/EVM/MRP systems 

Track record of being a high performer with a bias for action, intellectual curiosity, and attention to detail 

Passion for using data to tell a story and drive strategic decisions 

Working knowledge of accounting, demonstrated ability to lead projects that blend and bridge the lines between program finance and other financial functions