The Senior Manager, FP&A leads financial modeling, analyzes business operations, and collaborates on strategic financial insights and company-wide forecasting.
Founded in 2015, Shield AI is a venture-backed deep-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. Its products include the V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, Hivemind Enterprise, and the Hivemind Vision product lines. With offices and facilities across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and the 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’re building advanced autonomous systems for defense and commercial markets. Scaling a business like this requires world‑class financial modeling, a deep understanding of how complex hardware + software companies create value, and the ability to turn complexity into clarity.
We’re hiring a Senior Manager, Strategic Finance to be the VP of FP&A’s analytical right hand and the architect of our long‑range financial model. You excel at building dynamic, accurate, scalable 3‑statement models grounded in unit economics and operational drivers. You’ve lived in Excel—investment banking, PE, hedge funds, equity research—and you bring a forward‑looking mindset around leveraging cloud tools, automation, and analytics to elevate what modeling can do.
This is the analytical engine of Strategic Finance, with a natural path to Investor Relations as the company scales.
If you’re a top‑tier modeler who loves understanding what drives a business and telling its story through numbers, you’ll thrive here.
What you'll do:
- Build the Company’s Strategic Financial Model
- --Own and build the fully integrated 3‑statement model based on unit economics, KPIs, and industry benchmarks
- --Lead the long‑range plan (LRP) and multi‑scenario modeling
- --Tie operational drivers—production ramps, R&D, contract timing, GTM—to financial outcomes
- --Build valuation frameworks, sensitivities, and investor‑grade outputs
- --Maintain a forward‑looking view on risks, opportunities, and strategic drivers
- Digitize & Scale the Modeling Infrastructure:
- --Partner with data engineering and systems teams to evolve models from Excel to modern cloud-based planning tools
- --Build modular, scalable structures where Excel is used only for high‑value analysis
- --Use analytics and automation to reduce manual modeling and increase clarity
- Analyze the Business Like an Investor:
- --Benchmark peers in defense, autonomy, robotics, aerospace, and industrial tech
- --Build competitor profiles, KPI benchmarks, and market analyses
- --Develop a POV on unit economics, efficiency, scale, and profitability
- --Support M&A modeling, valuation, and diligence
- --Provide clear, strategic insights—not just numbers
- Lead Cash Flow & Liquidity Modeling (with Corporate Finance):
- --Build rolling cash forecasts across working capital, inventory, milestone payments, and CapEx
- --Model hardware cycles, government payment timing, and program cash curves
- --Identify liquidity risks early and shape capital allocation decisions
- Partner Across the Company:
- --Work directly with the VP FP&A, CFO, and CEO on forward-looking financial questions
- --Translate engineering, program, and operations plans into financial impacts
- --Connect short-term forecasting to the LRP
- --Present insights that drive decisions and accelerate execution
Who you are:
- Analytical athlete with elite attention to detail
- Clear, structured thinker with strong modeling intuition
- Fast, accurate, and comfortable under pressure
- Curious and forward-looking—always asking “why?”
- Strong communicator who elevates decision quality
- Mission-driven and energized by complex, meaningful problems
Required qualifications:
- 8+ years in investment banking, private equity, hedge funds, equity research, or elite financial services
- Best‑in‑class Excel modeler: integrated 3‑statement models, valuations, sensitivities, unit economics, scenario analysis
- Experience analyzing defense, aerospace, autonomy, robotics, industrial tech, or HW/SW companies
- Strong command of unit economics and driver-based forecasting
- Experience building LRPs and enterprise valuation frameworks
- Deep cash flow and liquidity modeling expertise
- High proficiency with financial statements and GAAP mechanics
- Systems mindset—comfortable partnering with data/systems teams
- Thrives in fast-moving, high-growth environments
Preferred qualifications:
- Familiarity with government contract economics and milestone-based revenue
- M&A experience: modeling, valuation, diligence
- Exposure to manufacturing scale, supply chain, and hardware production cycles
- Data fluency: dashboards, financial databases, or BI tools
#LI-TF1
#LE
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.
Top Skills
Analytics
Bi Tools
Cloud-Based Planning Tools
Excel
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