Operations Research Analyst, Mission Engineering

An innovative, venture-backed defense technology company has engaged us to find an Operations Research Analyst to help build a new Mission Engineering capability from the ground up. In this role, you'll apply operations research, modeling and simulation, statistics, and mission-level analysis to evaluate complex defense scenarios and system effectiveness. You'll work across sensors, communications, aircraft, unmanned systems, weapons, spacecraft, and other mission systems to turn simulation results into clear, decision-quality insights.

A bit about the company:

• Growth-Stage Defense Technology: The company is rapidly scaling its engineering organization and developing advanced technologies for national security and defense applications.
• New Mission Engineering Function: This is an early hire onto a newly established team, offering significant ownership in shaping how mission analysis, modeling and simulation, and system effectiveness studies are performed.
• High-Impact Analysis: The team's work directly supports engineering decisions, product strategy, customer engagements, and evaluations of how systems perform in realistic operational environments.
• Cross-Functional Environment: You'll work closely with engineering, product, business development, and customer-facing teams to translate operational questions into rigorous analytical studies and actionable recommendations.
• Technical Ownership: This is an opportunity to help establish analytical methodologies, simulation practices, and tools as the Mission Engineering function scales.

We're looking for someone who has:

• Bachelor's degree or higher in Operations Research, Industrial Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Mathematics, Statistics, Physics, Computer Science, Data Science, or a related technical field.
• 5+ years of experience supporting defense, intelligence, national security, or advanced technology programs.
• Experience conducting mission-level operations analysis, modeling and simulation, or system effectiveness studies.
• Hands-on experience with AFSIM, ESAMS, Brawler, Ansys STK, or similar mission- or engagement-level simulation tools.
• Strong foundation in statistics, probability, optimization, or mathematical modeling.
• Experience applying quantitative methods such as Monte Carlo simulation, Design of Experiments (DOE), sensitivity analysis, or uncertainty analysis.
• Strong proficiency in Python and MATLAB for scientific computing, simulation analysis, data processing, and visualization.
• Experience analyzing system-of-systems interactions, operational scenarios, or defense kill chains.
• Strong technical communication skills, including the ability to translate complex analytical results into clear recommendations and present findings to technical and senior stakeholders.
• Experience developing data visualizations, CONOPS/OV-1 materials, technical reports, or executive-level briefings.
• U.S. citizenship and eligibility to obtain a TS/SCI security clearance.
• Based in or willing to relocate to the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area.

If this role is of interest to you, please apply with your current resume. We will review your background and reach out to schedule an initial call.