Lead strategic technical sourcing for aerospace, autonomy, AI, and hardware engineering roles. Build market maps, talent intelligence, and long-term pipelines using advanced sourcing platforms and AI-powered workflows. Coach recruiters and partners, measure sourcing effectiveness, and scale repeatable sourcing systems to accelerate hiring for cleared and niche engineering talent.
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.
We’re looking for a Senior Staff Technical Sourcer who lives and breathes talent discovery - someone who can take a complex, highly specialized engineering need and translate it into a precision sourcing strategy. You’ll be the go-to expert for talent intelligence, market mapping, proactive candidate generation, and pipeline cultivation across our aerospace, autonomy, AI, and advanced hardware organizations.
This isn’t just a "find resumes" role - it’s about building intelligence, relationships, and repeatable systems that fuel our engineering hiring engine. As a Senior Staff Technical Sourcer, you'll serve as a strategic partner to recruiters and hiring leaders while leveraging modern AI tools, market intelligence, and scalable sourcing practices to help us identify and hire world-class engineering talent.
WHAT YOU’LL DO:
- Own the top of funnel: Partner closely with recruiters and hiring leaders to define target profiles and build deep, data-informed sourcing strategies across Electrical, Mechanical, Software, Embedded, AI/ML, Systems, Manufacturing, and other engineering disciplines.
- Map the market: Develop comprehensive talent landscapes by company, skillset, geography, and organizational structure; identify hidden talent pools, competitor insights, and emerging talent trends to inform recruiting strategy and workforce planning.
- Generate and engage: Use advanced Boolean search techniques, sourcing platforms, and creative sourcing channels (LinkedIn Recruiter, SeekOut, HireEZ, ClearanceJobs, GitHub, engineering communities, niche aerospace networks, conferences, referrals, and more) to identify, engage, and attract exceptional technical talent.
- Build pipelines proactively: Cultivate long-term relationships with passive, cleared, and highly specialized engineering talent to enable just-in-time hiring across strategic programs.
- Leverage AI to scale sourcing: Design, build, and continuously improve AI-powered sourcing workflows, research agents, and practical automations that increase recruiter productivity, accelerate candidate discovery, enhance market intelligence, and improve operational efficiency.
- Build repeatable sourcing systems: Use AI tools and workflow automation to create structured market maps, talent intelligence reports, outreach content, sourcing documentation, and scalable recruiting processes that can be leveraged across the Talent Acquisition organization.
- Be the sourcing SME: Serve as the subject matter expert on technical sourcing by coaching recruiters and hiring managers on market insights, sourcing strategy, talent availability, competitive intelligence, candidate engagement best practices, and emerging recruiting technologies.
- Partner for impact: Collaborate cross-functionally with Talent Acquisition Operations, Employer Brand, University Recruiting, and Engineering leaders to optimize recruiting strategies, outbound messaging, candidate experience, and operational excellence.
- Track and iterate: Use recruiting analytics, experimentation, and storytelling to measure sourcing effectiveness, optimize outreach strategies, improve conversion rates, and continuously evolve sourcing practices.
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:
- 8+ years of technical sourcing experience, ideally in aerospace, defense, autonomy, or other complex hardware/software industries.
- Proven track record in market mapping, competitive intelligence, and candidate generation for highly specialized technical roles.
- Deep expertise in advanced Boolean search, LinkedIn Recruiter, HireEZ, SeekOut, ClearanceJobs, GitHub, and other modern sourcing platforms.
- Demonstrated ability to operate as a consultative partner to recruiters, hiring managers, and senior engineering leaders, influencing hiring strategy through market insights and talent intelligence.
- Hands-on experience building or leveraging AI-powered sourcing workflows, agentic AI tools, workflow automations, or practical AI solutions that improve recruiting or business processes.
- Direct experience using AI development environments or coding assistants (such as Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, Gemini, or similar tools) to create repeatable sourcing workflows, structured research outputs, market intelligence, process automation, or operational documentation.
- Experience building and maintaining long-term relationships with passive, cleared, or niche engineering talent.
- Excellent communication and storytelling skills with the ability to engage highly technical candidates and influence stakeholders.
- Strong judgment, curiosity, and a continuous improvement mindset with the ability to evaluate and adopt emerging AI technologies to improve recruiting outcomes.
- Highly organized, data-driven, and able to operate autonomously in a fast-paced, mission-driven environment.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:
- Prior experience supporting aerospace, robotics, autonomy, AI/ML, or advanced vehicle engineering organizations.
- Experience navigating export control, ITAR, EAR, or security-cleared recruiting environments.
- Familiarity with Ashby and recruiting analytics, CRM, or talent intelligence platforms.
- Experience supporting high-growth, venture-backed technology organizations.
- Demonstrated passion for staying ahead of emerging recruiting technologies, sourcing methodologies, and AI advancements.
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.
###
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.
Shield AI Waltham, Massachusetts, USA Office
500 Totten Pond Road, Waltham, MA, United States, 02451
Similar Jobs at Shield AI
Aerospace • Artificial Intelligence • Machine Learning • Robotics • Software
Research, design, and implement discrete optimization and mission-planning algorithms for multi-agent autonomous systems; improve and maintain C++ mission-planning software; define technical roadmaps; mentor engineers; perform full software and hardware-in-the-loop simulations.
Top Skills:
C++CplexGdbGoogle-Or (Or-Tools)Gurobi
Aerospace • Artificial Intelligence • Machine Learning • Robotics • Software
Provides first-line technical support for Hivemind software customers and field teams. The role collects evidence, analyzes logs and telemetry, triages software, deployment, configuration, API, licensing, and integration issues, routes cases to engineering or support owners, communicates customer updates, validates issues in lab or simulation environments, and creates troubleshooting documentation and knowledge-base content. It also supports releases, onboarding, deployment handoffs, and supportability metrics.
Top Skills:
C++Linux
Aerospace • Artificial Intelligence • Machine Learning • Robotics • Software
Lead and manage software proposals and purchase agreements for domestic and international customers. Own proposal lifecycle, develop compliant win strategies, author technical content (RFIs, abstracts, quad charts), maintain documentation configuration, create compliance matrices, manage cross-functional reviews, support cost proposals, and assist Account Executives to close deals by coordinating BD, engineering, program, product, and marketing teams.
Top Skills:
AIHivemindRoboticsShipleyUnmanned Aircraft Systems (Uas)V-BatX-Bat
What you need to know about the Boston Tech Scene
Boston is a powerhouse for technology innovation thanks to world-class research universities like MIT and Harvard and a robust pipeline of venture capital investment. Host to the first telephone call and one of the first general-purpose computers ever put into use, Boston is now a hub for biotechnology, robotics and artificial intelligence — though it’s also home to several B2B software giants. So it’s no surprise that the city consistently ranks among the greatest startup ecosystems in the world.
Key Facts About Boston Tech
- Number of Tech Workers: 269,000; 9.4% of overall workforce (2024 CompTIA survey)
- Major Tech Employers: Thermo Fisher Scientific, Toast, Klaviyo, HubSpot, DraftKings
- Key Industries: Artificial intelligence, biotechnology, robotics, software, aerospace
- Funding Landscape: $15.7 billion in venture capital funding in 2024 (Pitchbook)
- Notable Investors: Summit Partners, Volition Capital, Bain Capital Ventures, MassVentures, Highland Capital Partners
- Research Centers and Universities: MIT, Harvard University, Boston College, Tufts University, Boston University, Northeastern University, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, National Bureau of Economic Research, Broad Institute, Lowell Center for Space Science & Technology, National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories
