Senior Operational Analysis / Operations Research Analyst

Ironclad Defense Works; Norfolk (VA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 145,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical and dental insurance

Retirement benefits

Paid leave and professional develop.

Job summary

Ironclad Defense Works seeks a Senior Operational Analysis / Operations Research Analyst to support NATO capability development in Norfolk, VA. The role blends quantitative analysis with structured stakeholder engagement to inform decisions on courses of action, analyses of alternatives, and risk management.

The candidate will combine data science, modeling, and decision analysis with liaison work across NATO and industry to deliver actionable evidence for senior leaders.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or quantitative degree or at least five years of OR/OA experience in military, strategic, political, or international settings.
• Two examples in the past 10 years totaling at least three years in military OR OA or data science supporting policy, capability, or acquisition.
• Experience designing, leading, and facilitating structured stakeholder engagements across multiple levels of seniority.

Responsibilities

• Conduct Course of Action analyses and cost, schedule, risk, and performance assessments for NATO capability development.
• Plan and execute qualitative and quantitative studies to evaluate operational effectiveness.
• Develop or elicit performance and effectiveness measures and present defensible recommendations to senior decision-makers.

Skills

Operations Research

Stakeholder engagement

Analytical methods

Cost/schedule/risk analysis

Decision analysis

Education

Quantitative degree or 5+ years experience

Tools

Python

R

MATLAB

Julia

Job description

Senior Operational Analysis / Operations Research Analyst

Location: Norfolk, Virginia

Work Arrangement: Full-time, on-site

Travel: Up to 60 days annually, including international travel

Clearance: ACTIVE SECRET CLEARANCE FROM U.S. OR NATO MEMBER NATION REQUIRED

The Opportunity

Ironclad Defense Works is seeking a Senior Operational Analysis / Operations Research Analyst to support NATO Allied Command Transformation in Norfolk, Virginia. This role will provide analytical support to NATO capability development programs by applying Operations Research and Operational Analysis methods to complex military capability, acquisition, and programmatic decisions.

The successful candidate will combine quantitative and qualitative analysis with structured stakeholder engagement to help NATO evaluate Courses of Action, conduct Analyses of Alternatives, assess cost, schedule, risk, and operational effectiveness, and develop defensible recommendations for senior decision-makers. The position requires a strong analytical practitioner who can scope complex problems, design and execute studies, facilitate workshops, develop assessment frameworks, and communicate findings clearly to technical and nontechnical stakeholders across NATO.

Key Responsibilities

• Conduct Course of Action analysis using Operations Research and Operational Analysis methods to support NATO capability development.
• Plan and execute qualitative and quantitative studies assessing operational effectiveness.
• Conduct cost-effectiveness, risk-benefit, and comparative alternatives analyses.
• Support Analysis of Alternatives involving cost, risk, schedule, and operational-effectiveness considerations.
• Engage NATO, national research organizations, and industry to gather evidence relevant to capability alternatives.
• Design and facilitate stakeholder workshops to elicit objectives, assumptions, measures, risks, preferences, and expert judgment.
• Develop or elicit Measures of Performance and Measures of Effectiveness.
• Review and assess schedule estimates for quality and analytical usefulness.
• Review cost estimates developed by others to determine whether they adequately support decision-making.
• Analyze individual and aggregated risks and recommend appropriate risk-management approaches.
• Develop comparative assessments of alternative solutions and document the analytical rationale supporting recommendations.
• Support Requests for Information, surveys, and other structured evidence-gathering activities involving NATO nations, industry, and external organizations.
• Apply appropriate Operations Research methods, including decision science, multi-criteria decision analysis, optimization, modeling and simulation, behavioral OR, data science, advanced analytics, machine learning, or wargaming where relevant.
• Produce analytical reports for inclusion in NATO Capability Program Plan evidence packages.
• Develop and deliver decision briefs and presentations explaining analytical methods, evidence, assumptions, and outcomes.
• Capture lessons identified and lessons learned to support continuous improvement of NATO Operational Analysis practices.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Operations Research, Mathematics, Computer Science, Physics, Engineering, or another quantitative discipline; or at least five years of Operations Research/Operational Analysis experience conducting and leading analytical studies in a relevant military, strategic, political, or international environment.
• At least two examples within the past 10 years totaling a minimum of three years of experience in military Operations Research, Operational Analysis, or Data Science supporting policy development, capability development, or acquisition.
• Candidates possessing a relevant quantitative bachelor’s degree need at least two years of qualifying experience within the past five years.
• Experience designing, leading, and facilitating structured stakeholder engagements involving technical and nontechnical participants across multiple levels of seniority.
• Demonstrated ability to elicit objectives, assumptions, measures, risks, preferences, and expert judgment in support of defense capability decisions.
• Recent experience, within the past five years, determining Operational Analysis requirements, scoping analytical problems, developing analysis plans, and delivering high-quality outputs that influence senior decision-makers.
• Experience developing data-collection and analysis plans or assessment frameworks incorporating Measures of Effectiveness and Measures of Performance.
• Experience gathering evidence and assessing operational effectiveness using Operations Research or Operational Analysis methods in defense-domain applications.
• Experience identifying, eliciting, assessing, analyzing, and communicating uncertainty and risk associated with capability, acquisition, project, program, or portfolio decisions.
• Experience developing or working with cost and schedule estimates, including relevant estimating methodologies and processes.
• Experience working within a strategic or operational military command or multinational organization.
• Recent experience supporting complex project, program, or portfolio decisions through analytical assessment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior experience supporting NATO Allied Command Transformation or another NATO command or organization.
• Experience conducting formal Course of Action analyses or Analyses of Alternatives.
• Experience supporting NATO capability development, defense acquisition, or military requirements processes.
• Experience with multi-criteria decision analysis, optimization, modeling and simulation, or wargaming.
• Proficiency with analytical tools such as Python, R, MATLAB, Julia, or comparable software.
• Experience developing cost-effectiveness or risk-benefit models.
• Experience briefing senior military, government, or executive decision-makers.
• Experience supporting multinational military or coalition capability-development efforts.
• Experience designing and facilitating analytical workshops involving diverse international stakeholders.
• Experience using AI to support Operational Analysis.

Clearance

This position requires an active National SECRET (or higher) security clearance from the U.S. or a NATO member nation. Applicants who do not possess the clearance specified above cannot be considered at this time.

Compensation

Compensation for this position ranges from $120,000 - $145,000 annually. Final salary will be based on factors such as experience, education, skills, qualifications, location, contract requirements, and overall affordability.

Eligible full-time employees may also receive a comprehensive benefits package, including medical and dental insurance, retirement benefits, paid leave, and professional development opportunities.

Ironclad Defense Works is an Equal Opportunity Employer.