Staff Engineer, Operational Analyst

Job overview

The Staff Engineer, Operational Analyst role is onsite in Washington, DC. The posting lists a salary range of $157,000–$235,000 per year, plus bonus, benefits, and equity for a full-time regular employee offer package. Shield AI’s mission is to protect service members and civilians with intelligent systems. The role develops operational analysis, modeling, simulation, and wargaming to assess autonomous aircraft effectiveness, survivability, and mission impact. Its findings inform engineering and product decisions, align system capabilities with defense stakeholders’ needs, and support the development of AI-driven aircraft capabilities.

What you'll do

• Develop and execute operational analysis strategies
• lead modeling, simulation, and wargaming
• assess system performance, mission impact, and survivability
• translate operational insights into design decisions and improvements
• conduct trade studies and sensitivity analyses
• use tools such as AFSIM, STK, MATLAB, and Python to develop mission models
• analyze force-on-force engagements, sensor effectiveness, and autonomy-driven decisions
• collaborate with DoD stakeholders, operators, and warfighters
• support CONOPS development
• identify emerging threats
• present reports, briefings, and recommendations
• build and iterate simulation and analysis pipelines using modern compute and software practices.

What we're looking for

Skills & competencies

staff engineer

operational analyst

washington dc

shield ai

full-time

$157k–$235k/year

autonomous aircraft

modeling and simulation

wargaming

afsim

stk

matlab

python

defense technology

Work arrangement

• Weekend coverage required

Benefits & perks

• Full-time regular employee package includes bonus, benefits, and equity.

Why this role

The role combines military operational analysis with high-fidelity simulation and modern cloud/HPC and software-development workflows. Active Secret or Top Secret clearance, or ability to obtain one, is listed as preferred.

About the employer

Shield AI is hiring for this role. Industry: Search, Detection, Navigation, Guidance, Aeronautical, and Nautical System and Instrument Manufacturing. Sector: 33.