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:
Shield AI is seeking an FAA Regulatory Operations & Program Coordinator to establish and manage the administrative processes that support FAA authorizations across the company. This full-time individual contributor will create enterprise visibility into aircraft registrations, authorizations, applications, operating limitations, renewals, and future regulatory needs while coordinating work across V-BAT, Hivemind, X-BAT, and supporting teams.
You will work closely with Airworthiness, Safety, Flight Operations, Engineering, Legal, Government Relations, and program teams to organize submission schedules, maintain regulatory records, and keep actions moving to closure. This is a regulatory operations and program coordination role; designated subject matter experts will retain responsibility for technical analyses, compliance determinations, and approval of technical content. The ideal candidate can build structure across multiple programs, work accurately with regulated records, and communicate effectively with internal teams, test sites, and government stakeholders.
What you'll do:
- Establish and manage an enterprise FAA regulatory operations process covering FAA DroneZone, aircraft registrations and N-numbers, COA and airspace authorization activities, waiver submissions, and other applicable FAA systems.
- Maintain a single authoritative tracker for active authorizations, pending applications, operating limitations, account ownership, expiration and renewal dates, dependencies, decisions, and anticipated needs.
- Coordinate the intake, prioritization, schedule, development, review, submission, and follow-up of FAA-related packages across V-BAT, Hivemind, X-BAT, and supporting organizations; collect subject matter expert inputs and confirm completeness, version control, and approval status before authorized submission.
- Manage procedural correspondence, submission status, records, and administrative coordination with the FAA, UAS test sites, and other authorization stakeholders; route technical questions to the appropriate experts.
- Lead recurring cross-program regulatory status and planning reviews, document decisions and actions, and escalate schedule risks, unresolved dependencies, and approaching expirations.
- Support current and emerging authorization pathways, including Section 927 waivers, experimental certification, BVLOS, higher-altitude, and one-to-many operations, under the direction of the responsible technical and regulatory leads.
- Develop standardized submission workflows, templates, checklists, records controls, and role definitions; identify opportunities to automate routine tracking, reminders, and reporting while preserving program-specific account and submission responsibilities.
- Develop dashboards and concise status reports covering application volume, cycle time, aging actions, renewals, approval risks, and regulatory dependencies.
- Maintain a forward-looking FAA authorization roadmap aligned with planned tests, demonstrations, customer activities, new aircraft, missions, operating environments, and airspace needs; monitor relevant FAA process and system changes and coordinate impact reviews with designated experts.
- Perform other duties as assigned.
Required qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree in aviation management, business, public administration, regulatory affairs, project or program management, engineering, or a related discipline; equivalent relevant experience may be considered.
- 3-5+ years of experience in aviation regulatory operations, project or program coordination, flight operations administration, airworthiness or certification program support, UAS operations, or a related regulated environment.
- Demonstrated experience coordinating regulatory applications, authorizations, certifications, or comparable controlled-submission processes.
- Experience managing multiple concurrent workstreams using integrated schedules, action and decision logs, dependency tracking, controlled records, and concise status reporting.
- Working knowledge of FAA aviation or UAS authorization processes and the judgment to distinguish administrative coordination from technical and regulatory decision authority.
- Strong professional and technical writing skills, with the ability to organize complex subject matter expert inputs into accurate, review-ready packages.
- Strong cross-functional communication, organization, attention to detail, and follow-through, with proficiency in Microsoft Office, Teams, SharePoint, and project-tracking or document-management tools.
Preferred qualifications:
- Direct experience with FAA DroneZone, FAA aircraft registration, COAs or airspace authorizations, Part 107 waivers, or experimental certification support.
- Experience supporting UAS, autonomous aircraft, defense aviation, or developmental flight-test programs.
- Previous administrative or programmatic interaction with the FAA, UAS test sites, Department of Defense organizations, or other aviation authorities.
- Familiarity with Section 927, 44807 and SAC-EC waivers, BVLOS, higher-altitude, one-to-many, or large-UAS approval pathways.[D(1]
- FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate, CAPM or PMP certification, or comparable regulatory or project-management training.
- Experience building scalable workflows, dashboards, and automated tracking for a growing organization in a regulated environment.
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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.