Junior Mission Solutions Architect

Shift5 • Arlington, VA

16h • $90,000 - $110,000

About The Position

Shift5 is building a data platform for onboard operational technology (OT), providing cybersecurity, predictive maintenance, and compliance capabilities for defense and commercial fleets. The Junior Mission Solutions Architect collaborates with customers and internal stakeholders to generate data-driven insights. Working across Mission Operations, Mission Delivery, Solution Engineering, and Systems and Core Engineering, the role helps translate complex business problems into testable hypotheses and actionable, data-based solutions. It calls for a collaborative, detail-oriented approach, openness to mentorship, and willingness to take on varied tasks.

Requirements

• 1–2 years of industry experience, or equivalent practical research experience demonstrated through undergraduate laboratory research or technical coursework.
• Receptiveness to mentorship, guidance, direction, and constructive feedback or correction.
• Ability to learn to break down unstructured, ambiguous, and complex problems into smaller, manageable parts.
• Aptitude in a general analytics coding language such as Python, R, SQL, or MATLAB.
• Data analysis skills, including ability to identify data types and technical tests needed to validate hypotheses.
• Willingness to learn to explain the business impact of data analysis and connect findings to decision points.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, including a track record of presenting technical information clearly and efficiently to non-technical audiences.
• Confidence to acknowledge mistakes and ask for help.
• Ability and willingness to travel up to 50% of the time within the United States.

Nice To Haves

• Demonstrated experience contributing to guided, end-to-end project execution from problem definition to final deliverable.
• Exposure to time-series data analysis.
• Foundational formal education in data science or a related field, with emphasis on linear algebra, computation, and statistics.
• Industry exposure in defense, aerospace, cybersecurity, or mechanical engineering.

Responsibilities

• Perform structured data analyses under senior guidance to extract actionable insights and address customer problems.
• Use statistical tools and software to identify patterns, trends, and anomalies in complex data sets for diagnostic and predictive support.
• Help identify customer problem sets, prioritize issues, scope solution requirements, and analyze how problems appear in data.
• Support development of testable hypotheses, identify required data sources, and help create and execute testing suites.
• Translate analytical workflows into modular, reusable components for data science capabilities and services, and help generalize targeted solutions into Shift5 core capabilities.
• Collaborate with programmers, engineers, project leads, and internal stakeholders to identify process improvements, support system updates, and execute data strategies.

Benefits

• Bonus program and equity in a fast-growing startup.
• Competitive medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and their families.
• Health Savings Account with annual employer contributions.
• Employer-paid life and disability insurance.
• Uncapped paid time off policy.
• Flexible work and remote work policy.
• Tax-deferred public transit benefits with Metro SmartBenefits for DC/MD/VA.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed