Drimva

Shield AI

Staff Engineer, Operations Analyst (R5807)

$157K–$235K

Washington, D.C. · On-site · Staff · Full-time · Posted Sep 8, 2026

Experience
7+ years in operational analysis, modeling & simulation (M&S), or military operations research.

About the job

Leads operational analysis, modeling, simulation, and wargaming to evaluate autonomous aircraft performance and inform system design and mission capabilities.

What you'll do

  • Develop and lead operational analysis, modeling, simulation, and wargaming of autonomous aircraft in military scenarios.
  • Conduct trade studies and analyze mission effectiveness, survivability, threats, and system performance.
  • Translate operational insights into design decisions and communicate findings to stakeholders through reports and briefings.

What they ask for

  • Expertise in military mission analysis, operational planning, and wargaming methodologies.
  • Proficiency with AFSIM, STK, MATLAB, or other aerospace and defense M&S tools.
  • Deep understanding of air combat, ISR, electronic warfare, or autonomous systems in contested environments.
  • Experience with DoD stakeholders and applying modern compute, data science, and software development practices to simulations and analytics.

Nice to have

  • Experience with force-on-force analysis, CONOPS development, campaign modeling, or DoD acquisition processes.
  • Experience integrating AI-driven decision-making or using GenAI to create simulation or analysis tools.

Pay

USD 157,000–235,000 per-year-salary; base salary

Tools

AFSIM, STK, MATLAB, Python, Git, CI/CD

AI focus

Analyzes AI-powered and autonomous aircraft capabilities, including autonomy-driven decision-making; preferred work includes integrating AI-driven algorithms and using GenAI to create simulation or analysis tools.

Model-written summary · the original posting is authoritative

First seen Oct 10, 2026 · Last verified Nov 5, 2026 (UTC)