Shield AI · 3 hours ago
Intern Summer 2026 - Program Planning Engineering Intern (R4106)
Dallas, TX
Internship
Onsite
Intern
$34/hr - $52/hr
Start in 2026 SummerShield AI is a venture-backed deep-tech company dedicated to protecting service members and civilians through intelligent systems. The 2026 Summer Internship program offers rising graduates a chance to contribute to facility planning for the XBAT project, focusing on capacity modeling, risk management, and stakeholder engagement.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)Autonomous VehiclesDronesMachine LearningNational Security
Responsibilities
Over 10 weeks, the intern will build a Facility Design Readiness packet for XBAT: consolidate inputs across MFG, Test, EHS, Quality, and Supply Chain; map material flow and adjacencies; draft good/better/best layout options with clear assumptions; and create a lightweight capacity model tied to headcount/shift scenarios
They’ll stand up a risk & long-lead tracker (permits, utilities, critical equipment) and a simple readiness dashboard (e.g., layout option maturity, long-lead exposure, decision latency)
The output is a concise Gate Pre-Read (charter, options, risks, metrics, and recommended decisions) that informs leadership a few months ahead of the next program gate
Project Objectives: De-risk early XBAT facility planning by clarifying requirements, mapping material flow/adjacencies, and quantifying capacity vs. demand/shift scenarios ahead of the next gate
Establish a lightweight, repeatable toolkit (templates, capacity model, risk/long-lead tracker, readiness dashboard) that the team can adopt post-internship without changing current deliverables or procurement
Project impact on the business/team: Improves pre-gate decision quality and reduces iteration cycles by surfacing long-lead exposures and capacity constraints early
Creates a single source of truth that aligns MFG, Test, EHS, Quality, and Supply Chain with clear owners, definitions, and cadenced updates
How this supports the intern’s specific career path: Builds practical skills in facilities planning, capacity modeling, cross-functional stakeholder management, and risk control in a real manufacturing program
Produces portfolio-ready artifacts (layout options, metric dictionary, dashboard, readout) and experience presenting to engineering and leadership audiences
Project deliverables: Intermediate milestones: Wk2—Discovery & Charter v0.5; Wk4—Material-flow map + “good/better/best” layout options v0.5; Wk6—Capacity+takt model v0.8 + risk/long-lead tracker v0.8 + readiness dashboard prototype; Wk8—Integrated v0.9 set after pilot feedback
Final (Wk10): Facility Design Readiness Packet & Gate Pre-Read (slides + appendix) including Charter v1.0, three annotated layout options with assumptions/tradeoffs, capacity model with 2–3 demand/shift scenarios, risk & long-lead register with owners/dates, readiness dashboard v1.0, and a handoff README/backlog
Wk 1 – Charter & Plan v0.5 approved: Sponsor sign-off on 1–2 page charter; timeline and access list confirmed (approval recorded)
Wk 2 – Discovery complete: ≥8 stakeholder interviews across MFG, Test, EHS, Quality, Supply Chain; notes centralized; coverage ≥90% of required roles
Wk 4 – Material flow & Layout options v0.5: End-to-end flow map covering ≥90% of known steps; 3 “good/better/best” layouts with assumptions; review held with ≥3 functions; ≤5 open comments
Wk 6 – Capacity model v0.8: 2–3 demand/shift scenarios; validation within ±10% vs SME back-of-envelope; metric dictionary v0.8; demo completed
Wk 6 – Risk & Long-lead register v0.8: ≥15 items captured; ≥90% with owners/triggers/dates; long-lead visibility (lead time, need-by) for ≥80% identified criticals
Wk 7 – Cadence pilot run: 1 full status/reporting cycle executed; meeting adherence ≥90%; action items closed within 3 business days
Wk 8 – Integrated set v0.9: Updated layouts, model, and registers incorporating pilot feedback; comment burn-down to ≤3 minor issues
Wk 9 – Gate Pre-Read dry run: 15–20 slide narrative tested with sponsor + ≥2 stakeholders; passes 10-point checklist (story, risks, asks, options, metrics)
Wk 10 – Final Readout & Handoff: Facility Design Readiness Packet v1.0 delivered; all artifacts versioned; README + next-step backlog; usefulness rating ≥4/5 from sponsor and ≥2 stakeholders
Qualification
Required
Facility planning fundamentals: material flow mapping, basic layout trade-offs
Capacity modeling in spreadsheets: pivots, scenario analysis, goal seek, clear metric definitions & assumptions
Risk management basics: building/maintaining a risk & long-lead register with triggers, owners, and mitigations
Stakeholder interviewing & synthesis: turning notes into crisp charters, RACIs, and decision logs
Data hygiene & documentation: version control of docs, naming conventions, and reproducible calculations
Dashboard/prototyping literacy: charts and simple KPIs in Excel/Sheets or Power BI/Tableau (non-production)
Clear written/visual communication: executive-ready slides, succinct status updates
Professional cadence: meeting facilitation, follow-through on action items, and on-time milestone delivery
Benefits
Housing stipend provided, amount based on location
Company
Shield AI
Shield AI is a deep-tech company that focuses on developing AI-powered systems to enhance the safety of service members and civilians.
Founded in 2015
1001-5000 employees
H1B Sponsorship
Shield AI has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your
reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2025 (3)
2024 (3)
2021 (1)
Funding
Current Stage
Late StageTotal Funding
$1.31BKey Investors
Hercules CapitalUS Innovative Technology FundSnowpoint Ventures
2025-03-06Series F· $240M
2023-12-29Debt Financing· $200M
2023-10-31Series F· $300M
Leadership Team
Gary Steele
Chief Executive Officer
Brandon Tseng
Co-Founder
Recent News
2025-12-11
Company data provided by crunchbase