2026 PhD Graduate - Modeling and Simulation Analyst - Air Combat and Strike Mission Analysis Group

Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory•Laurel, MD

60d

About The Position

Are you a PhD graduate with an interest in supporting the development and employment of novel air vehicles, weapons, sensors, and countermeasures? Do you like contributing to a highly collaborative team environment and learning from some of the top experts in their fields? If so, we are looking for someone like you to join our team! We are seeking outstanding candidates to help us shape the development of air dominance and strike platforms, kinetic and non-kinetic weapons, and military tactics by building and applying modeling and simulation tools to perform multi-domain survivability and mission effectiveness analysis. We are a large team of 50+ engineers, physicists, mathematicians, and computer scientists who perform mission-level analysis to drive acquisition decisions on important precision strike technologies. Our work is sophisticated, engaging, and frequently has significant impact on Department of Defense programs. We believe in building strong, productive teams, continually growing our capabilities, cultivating collaborative relationships and encouraging a work environment that embraces integrity, trust, confidence, teamwork, accountability, and a little bit of fun. Our team always emphasizes personal development over short-lived success, and we pride ourselves on our intellectual integrity and our ability to deliver outstanding, unbiased analysis products! As a member of our team, you will perform one or more of the following: Evaluate the US military's ability to deny, degrade, disrupt, and deceive threat sensors, communications, and tracking to improve platform survivability in contested environments Model scenarios with strike weapons and aircraft to make critical contributions to their design, requirements, and optimal tactical employment Conduct and analyze multi-domain, mission-level simulations to identify trends, extract meaningful insights, and support mission planning and strategic decision-making Apply MATLAB, Python, and/or other programming languages to develop scripts to process and analyze data

Requirements

Possess a PhD in engineering, physics, computer science, applied mathematics, or a related technical field
Have some familiarity with programming languages and standard methodologies
Can work effectively in a team environment as well as independently
Are able to obtain an Interim Secret level security clearance by your start date, and can ultimately obtain a Top Secret level clearance. If selected, you will be subject to a government security clearance investigation and must meet the requirements for access to classified information. Eligibility requirements include U.S. citizenship

Nice To Haves

Have a PhD in one of the technical fields listed above with research focused on designing, conducting and analyzing experiments
Are skilled in data visualization or modeling and simulation
Have experience with air platform maneuverability and survivability, radio frequency (RF) physics and signal processing, or Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance, and Tracking (ISR&T)
Have experience applying MATLAB or Python to analysis problems
Have an active security clearance

Responsibilities

Evaluate the US military's ability to deny, degrade, disrupt, and deceive threat sensors, communications, and tracking to improve platform survivability in contested environments
Model scenarios with strike weapons and aircraft to make critical contributions to their design, requirements, and optimal tactical employment
Conduct and analyze multi-domain, mission-level simulations to identify trends, extract meaningful insights, and support mission planning and strategic decision-making
Apply MATLAB, Python, and/or other programming languages to develop scripts to process and analyze data