Staff Organizational Change Management Specialist (R6184)
Full-time,
San Diego, CA, USA
USD 130k-190k / year + Equity
Posted on Oct 3, 2026
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:
Shield is scaling fast, and our internal systems, security posture, and ways of working are changing with it. We're looking for a hands-on change management lead to build our OCM function from the ground up for IT, Enterprise Operations, and Cybersecurity. This person is not a generic change practitioner. They understand the technology well enough to earn credibility with engineers, anticipate where a rollout will break, and translate technical change into something every employee can act on.
What you'll do:
- Build Shield's OCM program for technical functions: frameworks, templates, playbooks, intake process, and success metrics.
- Own change strategy and execution for major initiatives, such as identity and access changes, endpoint and device management, security controls and compliance requirements (e.g., CMMC/NIST 800-171), ERP and business system rollouts, collaboration tool migrations, and new IT service models.
- Partner with IT, EntOps, and Cyber leaders early in project planning to assess impact, readiness, and risk, rather than joining at launch.
- Run stakeholder analysis and change impact assessments across engineering, manufacturing, flight ops, and corporate teams.
- Create communications, training, and enablement: announcements, FAQs, how-to guides, short videos, office hours, and change champion networks.
- Measure adoption with real data (ticket volume, usage telemetry, compliance rates, surveys) and adjust course.
- Coordinate release and change calendars so employees don't get hit with five disruptions in one week.
- Act as the voice of the end user in technical decisions, and push back when a rollout plan isn't ready for humans.
Required qualifications:
- 8+ years in organizational change management, with at least 3 years supporting IT, security, or enterprise technology programs.
- Real technical fluency. You can hold your own in conversations about SSO/MFA, identity providers (Okta, Entra ID), MDM (Intune, Jamf), ITSM (ServiceNow, Jira Service Management), SaaS migrations, and security controls. You don't need to configure them, but you need to understand them.
- A track record of building a change function or program, not just executing someone else's.
- Strong writing skills. You can turn a dense technical spec into a clear two-paragraph announcement.
- Comfort operating with ambiguity in a fast-moving, high-growth environment.
- Familiarity with a change methodology (Prosci/ADKAR, Kotter, or similar), applied pragmatically rather than dogmatically.
Preferred qualifications:
- Experience in defense, aerospace, or other regulated environments (CMMC, ITAR, FedRAMP, NIST).
- Prosci or CCMP certification.
- Background in IT project management, service delivery, or technical training.
- Experience supporting security awareness or compliance programs.
How we measure success in year one:
- An OCM framework and intake process adopted by IT, EntOps, and Cyber.
- Measurable adoption and reduced support tickets on major rollouts.
- Leaders across these functions pulling you in by default at project kickoff.
#LI-KE1
#LD
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.
130000 - 190000 USD a year