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.
- 9+ years of experience in operational analysis, modeling & simulation, operations research, or related defense or aerospace roles.
- Active Secret at a minimum. Preferred 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.
- 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.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in science, technology, engineering or math domain
- 9+ years of experience in operational analysis, modeling & simulation, operations research, or related defense or aerospace roles
- Active Secret security clearance at a minimum
- Ability to obtain a S//SAR level security clearance
- Strong working knowledge of military operations, modeling & simulation, data science, and operational analysis techniques
- Experience building/modifying mission-level models using AFSIM, STK, MATLAB, Python, or similar M&S frameworks
- Familiarity with DoD acquisition processes and tools (Brawler, ESAMS), JCIDS, and military operational testing
- Experience in force-on-force analysis, CONOPS development, or military campaign modeling
- Experience with systems engineering lifecycle and model-based systems engineering (SysML or MBSE)
What the Team is Saying
Shield AI Compensation & Benefits Highlights
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Healthcare Strength — Company materials describe excellent medical, dental, and vision coverage alongside a mental‑health EAP. Site perks such as an onsite gym in DC and a gym discount in San Diego support a health‑focused offering.
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Retirement Support — Careers materials highlight a 401(k) with company match as part of the standard package. A Total Rewards overview emphasizes retirement features within a broader, transparent compensation view.
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Career-Linked Recognition & Rewards — Compensation for in‑demand technical and senior go‑to‑market roles is described as competitive, with visible engineering ranges and top‑end packages. This points to meaningful upside tied to role, level, and scarce skills.
Shield AI Insights
What We Do
At Shield AI, you won't wait years to see your work reach the field. You'll build hardware and software that operates in the real world right now, in the hands of the people who depend on it. Hivemind, our AI pilot, has been flying since 2018. It has flown more than 30 platforms, including an F-16, and it now sits under a U.S. Air Force production contract for Collaborative Combat Aircraft. When you write code or shape a system here, you contribute to technology with a proven flight record and a clear production future. V-BAT flies intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions with an operational record that stretches from Ukraine to the Indo-Pacific. It delivers eyes where they matter most, in the most demanding conditions on earth. The teams behind it watch their work get tested where the stakes are real. X-BAT takes its first flight this year. It's an AI-piloted fighter that needs no runway, built to operate where traditional aircraft can't. Join now and you help shape a program at its earliest, most formative stage. That's the kind of ground-floor work that defines a career. Do the most impactful work of your life, on problems that matter. Autonomy at this level asks a lot of you. You'll take on problems in perception, planning, and control that few teams anywhere are equipped to solve. You'll work across disciplines, from aerospace and robotics to machine learning and systems engineering, alongside people who hold themselves to an exacting standard and expect the same from you. Our mission is clear: protect service members and civilians with intelligent systems. That purpose runs through every decision, every design review, and every deployment. It's why the work here carries a weight you can feel. Ready to join our mission? Explore our open roles and find where you fit.
Why Work With Us
Founded in 2015 by a former Navy SEAL, Shield AI builds AI pilots and uncrewed aircraft. Veterans aren't an afterthought here, they're at every level. It's why the work carries weight: AI pilots and uncrewed aircraft flying real missions, from Ukraine to the Indo-Pacific, protecting service members and civilians.
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Shield AI Teams
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Shield AI Offices
Hybrid Workspace
Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.
