Staff Engineer, Operations Analysis (R4757)

AI Chopping Block; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Shield AI is seeking a Staff Operational Analyst to contribute to the modeling, simulation, and analysis of our aircraft systems. You will perform analyses at the component, system, mission and campaign levels to evaluate effectiveness, survivability, and operational impact across domains.

This role requires strong military operations knowledge, M&S techniques, data science, and the ability to support product decisions and customer engagements with realistic, contested-environment analyses.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in science, technology, engineering or math domain.
• 7+ years of experience in operational analysis, modeling & simulation, operations research, or related defense or aerospace roles.
• Active Secret at minimum, preferred Top-Secret clearance (or ability to obtain one).
• Ability to obtain a S//SAR level security clearance desired.

Responsibilities

• Execute operational analyses to assess the effectiveness of autonomous systems in representative military scenarios.
• Develop and run modeling, simulation, and wargaming analyses to evaluate system performance, mission impact, and survivability in contested environments.
• Collaborate with engineering teams and product managers to translate operational findings into actionable system insights.
• Perform trade studies and sensitivity analyses to assess system performance across varying operational conditions, assumptions, and threat environments.
• Build, modify, and analyze mission-level models using tools such as AFSIM, STK, MATLAB, Python, or similar M&S frameworks.
• Analyze force-on-force engagements, sensor performance, and autonomy-enabled behaviors to support mission effectiveness assessments.
• Engage with DoD stakeholders, operators, and analysts to understand mission needs and operational constraints.
• Provide documentation, analyses, and briefings for internal teams, customers, and government stakeholders.

Skills

Operational analysis

Modeling & simulation

Data science

Security clearance

Education

Bachelor’s degree in STEM

Tools

AFSIM

STK

MATLAB

Python

Job description

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-BATaircraft, 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:

We are seeking a Staff Operational Analyst to contribute to the modeling, simulation, and analysis of Shield AI’s aircraft systems. In this role, you will perform analysis at the component, system, mission and campaign levels to evaluate the effectiveness, survivability, and operational impact of our aircraft across multiple domains, missions and applications. You will collaborate closely with engineering, product, and defense stakeholders to assess system performance, inform design trade-offs, and improve mission outcomes.

This position requires a strong working knowledge of military operations, modeling & simulation (M&S),data science,and operational analysis techniques. Your analyses will directly support product decisions and customer engagements by helpingdemonstratehow Shield AI’s AI-powered platforms perform in realistic and contested operational environments.

What you'll do:

• Execute operational analyses to assess the effectiveness of autonomous systems in representative military scenarios.
• Develop and run modeling, simulation, and wargaming analyses to evaluate system performance, mission impact, and survivability in contested environments.
• Collaborate with engineering teams and product managers to translate operational findings into actionable system insights.
• Perform trade studies and sensitivity analyses to assess system performance across varying operational conditions, assumptions, and threat environments.
• Build, modify, and analyze mission-level models using tools such as AFSIM, STK, MATLAB, Python, or similar M&S frameworks.
• Analyze force-on-force engagements, sensor performance, and autonomy-enabled behaviors to support mission effectiveness assessments.
• Engage with DoD stakeholders, operators, and analysts to understand mission needs and operational constraints.
• Contribute to the development and refinement of concepts of operations (CONOPS) for AI-enabled aircraft capabilities.
• Monitor emerging threats and operational challenges relevant to autonomous and air combat systems.
• Prepare technical documentation, analysis reports, and briefings for internal teams, customers, and government stakeholders.
• Apply modern compute and development best practices (e.g., version control, scripting, scalable compute workflows, and reproducible analysis) to build and maintain reliable analysis pipelines.

Required qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in science, technology, engineering or math domain.
• 7+ years of experience in operational analysis, modeling & simulation, operations research, or related defense or aerospace roles.
• Active Secret at minimum, preferred active Top-Secret clearance (or ability to obtain one).
• Ability to obtain a S//SAR level security clearance desired.

Preferred qualifications:

• Prior experience in force-on-force analysis, CONOPS development, or military campaign modeling.
• Expertise in applicable design reference mission development such as OCA or SEAD.
• Familiarity with DoD acquisition processes, tools (Brawler, ESAMS, etc.), Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System (JCIDS), and military operational testing
• DoD Program experience as analysis task lead
• Prior experience in systems engineering product development lifecycle (SysML or MBSE preferred)
• Expertise providing program critical analysis for system design and integration/test.