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 build advanced autonomous systems for defense markets—complex hardware and software products that demand world-class financial modeling, rigorous planning, and the ability to turn complexity into clarity. We seek a Senior Corporate FP&A Lead with deep 3 statement modeling experience, a strong corporate FP&A background in a publicly traded company, and a proven track record architecting and owning financial models and planning processes.
You will serve as the analytical engine of Corporate FP&A: designing and owning the company’s fully integrated three statement and consolidated plan, leading the Annual Operating Plan (AOP), owning the company cash model, and producing Board- and Executive-ready outputs that shape decisions at the C-suite and Board level. Candidates must bring elite modeling expertise, mastery of complex HW/SW planning and unit economics, end-to-end ownership of the full planning cycle (AOP, forecast, long-range plan), and comfort operating in a fast-paced, high growth environment.
This role has a natural path to FP&A and finance leadership as the company scales. What you'll do: Own and Build the Financial Model & Consolidated Plan Architect and maintain a fully integrated, scalable, three statement model grounded in operational drivers, unit economics, and industry benchmarks. Own consolidated planning and end-to-end line-item ownership across the P&L, balance sheet, and cash flow—including equity planning (stock-based comp, share count, dilution, and equity roll-forward). Lead the Annual Operating Plan (AOP), including scenario modeling, sensitivities, and driver-based forecasting. Translate production ramps, R&D investments, contract timing, government milestones, and GTM strategy directly into financial outcomes. Maintain a forward-looking view of risks, opportunities, capital needs, and strategic inflection points. Lead the Annual Operating Plan (AOP) & Forecasting Own the AOP process end to end—calendar, templates, driver frameworks, consolidation, and executive review. Partner with functional and business leaders to build bottoms-up budgets that reconcile to top-down targets. Run the recurring forecast cycle, connecting short-term forecasting with the long-range plan. Take full accountability for forecast accuracy, improving results with each actualized quarter. Own the Company Cash Model Build and own rolling cash flow forecasts across working capital, inventory, milestone payments, production cycles, and CapEx. Model government contract payment timing, production curves, and program cash profiles. Identify liquidity risks early and support capital allocation and financing strategies. Drive Board & Executive Reporting Own the creation of Board of Directors and eStaff QBR materials—narratives, financial packages, and KPI dashboards. Translate complex financial and operational results into clear, executive-ready insights. Deliver Board-ready outputs including plan-vs-actual analysis, variance drivers, and strategic context. Digitize & Scale Planning Infrastructure Partner with data engineering/systems teams to evolve planning from Excel into modern cloud-based planning tools. Design modular, scalable model architectures; use Excel only where it