Senior Staff Engineer, Operations Analysis (R5869)

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

We are seeking a Senior Lead 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 helping demonstrate how Shield AI’s AI-powered platforms perform in realistic and contested operational environments.

What you'll do

• Plan, own and 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.
• Be a force multiplier by coaching and developing incoming talent.

Required qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in science, technology, engineering or math domain.
• Typically requires a minimum of 10 years of related experience in operational analysis, modeling & simulation, operations research, or related defense or aerospace roles.
• Active Secret at a minimum.
• 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.
• Experience with evaluating strategic development and analysis goals for multi-mission/multi-domain applicability.
• Familiarity with DoD acquisition processes, tools (Brawler, ESAMS, etc.), Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System (JCIDS), and military operational testing.
• Experience leading a product effort from pre-shaping to tactical deployment
• Prior experience in systems engineering product development lifecycle (SysML or MBSE preferred)
• Experience developing technical expertise in a team to execute analyses for system design and analysis.
• Preferred Top-Secret clearance (or ability to obtain one).

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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.

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.

Compensation for this role is based on the position’s work location. The salary range shown reflects the listed location and may vary if the position is based in a different geographic market. Actual compensation will also consider factors such as experience, skills, qualifications, and internal equity.

Seattle, Washington pay range: $220,000 - $330,000