Job Description:
Shield AI is seeking a highly organized and mission-focused Maintenance Expediter to support the VBAT Depot Maintenance team. This role is responsible for keeping maintenance operations flowing by coordinating work priorities, planning upcoming maintenance, ordering and tracking parts, positioning required support equipment, and eliminating roadblocks that prevent technicians from returning aircraft to service efficiently.
The ideal candidate has prior military aviation maintenance experience, understands the tempo and urgency of aircraft maintenance operations, and knows how to bridge the gap between technicians, supply chain, production leadership, and support equipment teams.
What you'll do:
Coordinate daily maintenance flow for VBAT aircraft in depot maintenance, ensuring technicians have the parts, tools, ground support equipment, and information needed to complete work efficiently.
Plan, prioritize, and track scheduled and unscheduled maintenance actions to support aircraft return-to-service timelines.
Monitor aircraft status, maintenance drivers, estimated time in commission/return to service, open discrepancies, part shortages, and work center constraints.
Order required parts with the appropriate priority, track document/order numbers, and communicate status updates to technicians, production leadership, supply chain, and other stakeholders.
Identify and remove roadblocks affecting maintenance execution, including parts delays, support equipment availability, technical coordination, staffing constraints, and external support requirements.
Coordinate with supply chain, logistics, and material support teams to resolve backorders, due-outs, part substitutions, repair cycle issues, and turn-in requirements.
Ensure ground support equipment is available, serviceable, and positioned where needed to support maintenance operations.
Maintain accurate maintenance status trackers, production boards, shift pass-downs, and other reporting tools used to manage aircraft flow through depot maintenance.
Support maintenance planning meetings and provide clear updates on aircraft status, constraints, priorities, and recovery plans.
Work closely with technicians, leads, quality, engineering, supply chain, and production leadership to ensure maintenance is completed safely, accurately, and efficiently.
Reinforce maintenance discipline, documentation accuracy, tool control, safety, and compliance with applicable technical data and local procedures.
Required qualifications:
Prior military aviation maintenance experience.
Experience coordinating aircraft maintenance operations in a flightline, depot, phase, back shop, or production environment.
Strong understanding of aircraft maintenance flow, maintenance priorities, aircraft status tracking, and return-to-service requirements.
Experience ordering, tracking, and expediting aircraft parts or maintenance materials.
Familiarity with supply chain, logistics, backorders, due-outs, repairable parts, consumables, bench stock, or similar aviation material control processes.
Experience working with ground support equipment, aerospace ground equipment, or aircraft support equipment.
High level of organizational skill with the ability to manage multiple aircraft, work orders, parts issues, and technician priorities at the same time.
Strong communication skills and ability to provide concise status updates to technicians, supervisors, and cross-functional teams.
Ability to work in a fast-paced maintenance environment and make sound prioritization decisions under schedule pressure.
Preferred qualifications:
Prior experience as a military maintenance expediter, production superintendent, crew chief, dock chief, section lead, or maintenance controller.
Experience with depot-level maintenance, phase/isochronal inspections, modification lines, or aircraft heavy maintenance.
Experience with unmanned aircraft systems, Group 3/4/5 UAS, or VBAT operations.
Experience using maintenance information systems, aircraft status dashboards, ERP systems, inventory systems, or production tracking tools.
Familiarity with ETIC/return-to-service tracking, aircraft forms/documentation, deferred discrepancies, awaiting parts status, and maintenance production meetings.
Strong working knowledge of aviation safety, tool control, FOD prevention, technical data compliance, and maintenance documentation standards.