Lead Financial Analyst (R3450)

Lead Program Financial Analyst

Founded in 2015, Shield AI is a venture-backed defense technology company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent, autonomous systems. Its products include Hivemind EnterpriseEdgeOS, Pilot, Commander, and Forgeas well as V-BAT and Sentient Vision Systems (wide-area motion imaging software). With offices in San Diego, Dallas, Washington, D.C., Abu Dhabi (UAE), Kyiv (Ukraine), and Melbourne (Australia), Shield AI's technology actively supports U.S. and allied operations worldwide.

We are seeking a highly motivated Lead Financial Analyst to join our dynamic finance team supporting the Customer Success and Aircraft Operations business areas. This is a high-impact role designed for an analytical and results-driven individual who thrives in a fast-paced, ever-evolving environment. You will play a critical part in driving operational insights, optimizing performance, and shaping the financial strategy of one of our fastest-growing business units.

As a strategic partner to cross-functional teams, you'll leverage your analytical skills, business acumen, and financial expertise to drive clarity and decision-making. The ideal candidate will have a strong foundation in financial modeling, data analysis, and operational finance, along with an understanding of US GAAP as it relates to government contracting and hardware-centric business.

What You'll Do :

• Build, maintain, and scale financial models used for forecasting, budgeting, and long-term planning
• Analyze data trends to develop business insights and deliver actionable recommendations to leadership
• Partner closely with Customer Success and Aircraft Ops teams to provide financial support on program health, spend trends, and headcount planning
• Develop reporting cadences and dashboards to track KPIs and business performance using tools like Power BI and Excel
• Participate in the month-end and quarter-end close process, including variance analysis and executive reporting
• Assist with operational planning cycles, business reviews, and investment decision-making processes
• Support data transformation initiatives and basic modeling efforts in collaboration with analytics or data engineering teams
• Drive continuous process improvement by identifying automation and efficiency opportunities within financial reporting and analysis
• Partner with inventory and supply chain teams to monitor material movement, usage, and cost trends
• Track and report on operational metrics such as throughput, utilization, and on-time delivery, linking them to financial outcomes
• Provide analysis and financial support for capacity planning, production schedules, and cost optimization efforts
• Collaborate with program managers to monitor actuals vs. plan, flag risks / opportunities, and support EAC (Estimate at Completion) updates
• Ensure financial alignment of day-to-day operations with long-term strategic goals through regular operational reviews and ad hoc analysis

Required Qualifications :

Preferred Qualifications :

$107,000 - $155,000 a year

Full-time regular employee offer package :

Temporary employee offer package :

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.

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.