Senior Mission Effectiveness, Operational Concepts & Threat Analyst

Aether Aerospace•Newport News, VA

7d•$160,000 - $175,000

About The Position

Aether Aerospace seeks a highly experienced Senior Mission Effectiveness and Operational Concepts Analyst, with threat and electronic warfare subject matter expertise, to support a six-month military operational analysis and mission engineering study in representative U.S. Army aviation and combined-arms environments. The role applies extensive military operational and technical experience to develop and assess operational concepts, define desired mission outcomes and effects, and evaluate the operational implications of emerging capabilities. It combines mission effectiveness analysis, operational concept development, aviation survivability and threat assessment, operational graphics, and technical reporting. The analyst works with modeling and simulation engineers, operations research analysts, and other technical specialists to ensure scenarios, assumptions, and findings are militarily credible and relevant to operational decision-making. The emphasis is on operational expertise and connecting military capabilities and activities to desired effects and mission outcomes, rather than detailed statistical analysis or simulation development. The position is anticipated to support a six-month project with approximately 31.2 hours per week and 748.8 total planned hours. The assignment may be extended depending on project needs and continued funding. Both W-2 employment and 1099 independent contractor arrangements will be considered, subject to applicable requirements. The stated annualized salary is $160,000–$175,000; anticipated pay for six months is $57,600–$63,000 based on planned hours, with the possibility of up to 25% additional hours. Compensation depends on the agreed arrangement, relevant experience, and applicable contract requirements; the annualized figure does not guarantee earnings for the assignment. The ideal candidate will be local to the Tidewater/Newport News, Virginia area. An active Secret clearance is required.

Requirements

Active Secret clearance.
Associate degree in a technical, aviation, military science, or related discipline; extensive relevant military and defense industry experience may be considered in lieu of additional formal education.
Minimum 25 years of combined relevant military aviation, defense acquisition, operational analysis, aviation survivability, or defense contractor experience.
Significant operational experience in U.S. Army Aviation, preferably involving attack or reconnaissance aviation.
Demonstrated experience supporting military aviation programs, operational capability assessments, systems integration, or aviation research and development.
Experience developing or evaluating military operational concepts, mission objectives, desired operational effects, and measures of mission effectiveness.
Experience assessing aviation survivability, threat environments, or military operational capabilities.
Experience developing or contributing to technical reports, operational briefings, and executive-level presentations.
Ability to work independently and collaboratively with multidisciplinary technical and analytical teams.
Strong understanding of Army Aviation operations, mission planning, aircraft survivability, and tactical employment considerations.
Working knowledge of military air-defense threats, electronic warfare, and their operational implications.
Ability to translate military mission objectives into desired operational effects and assess relationships among capabilities, effects, and mission outcomes.
Ability to interpret technical and analytical results and communicate their operational significance.
Proficiency with Microsoft PowerPoint, Word, and Excel.
Ability to develop clear operational graphics, mission diagrams, and technical presentations.
Strong written and verbal communication skills.

Nice To Haves

Former U.S. Army AH-1 or AH-64 aviator, Instructor Pilot, Standardization Pilot, or Master Gunner.
Extensive experience supporting U.S. Army Aviation acquisition or modernization programs, including Program Executive Office Aviation or associated Project Management Offices.
Experience serving as a program integrator, technical advisor, or Systems Engineering and Technical Assistance (SETA) contractor.
Experience supporting Army Aviation Science and Technology (S&T), aviation survivability, mission effectiveness, or operational capability assessments.
Familiarity with Army Aviation Launched Effects, precision fires, electronic warfare, and combined-arms operations.

Responsibilities

Develop and assess operational concepts that identify desired mission outcomes, required effects, and the capabilities and activities needed to generate those effects.
Establish mission objectives, desired end states, operational conditions, and criteria for mission success using military operational experience.
Identify relationships among friendly-force actions, adversary responses, desired effects, and mission accomplishment.
Develop representative operational scenarios and mission vignettes describing how capabilities may be employed to achieve tactical and operational effects.
Identify Measures of Effectiveness (MOEs) for desired effects and mission outcomes in coordination with the analytical team.
Assess how threat capabilities, electronic warfare, aviation survivability, and operational constraints affect mission objectives.
Identify operational dependencies, capability limitations, and constraints that may affect mission success.
Inform simulation scenario development, including force employment concepts, operational assumptions, and representative adversary behaviors.
Review and interpret modeling and simulation results for credible and militarily meaningful operational behaviors, effects, and outcomes.
Evaluate how differences in capabilities, employment concepts, and operational conditions may influence mission outcomes.
Develop and refine operational concepts, mission vignettes, and Concept of Operations (CONOPS) products.
Develop OV-1 graphics, operational effects diagrams, mission sequences, and other visual products showing relationships among capabilities, activities, effects, and outcomes.
Support scenario descriptions, operational narratives, mission objectives, decision points, and operational timelines.
Translate technical and analytical information into operationally relevant graphics and executive-level presentations.
Prepare and contribute to technical reports, analytical summaries, executive briefings, and customer deliverables.
Coordinate with technical team members to maintain consistency among operational concepts, simulation assumptions, analytical findings, and reporting products.
Support final study conclusions and recommendations, communicating operational implications, limitations, and areas requiring further investigation.
Provide independent subject matter expertise on representative air-defense threats, aviation survivability, and electronic warfare.
Assess threat-system capabilities and engagement environments for their implications for friendly-force survivability and mission accomplishment.
Support development and review of representative threat scenarios involving air-defense systems, radar and sensor capabilities, and contested electromagnetic environments.
Evaluate operational implications of kinetic and nonkinetic effects, including electronic attack, suppression, deception, and disruption of adversary capabilities.
Assess relationships among threats, friendly-force employment concepts, survivability, and achievement of desired effects.
Review threat assumptions, modeled threat behaviors, and operational conditions for technical and operational plausibility.
Identify uncertainties, limitations, and gaps in threat representations that could materially affect analytical findings.
Provide an independent operational and survivability perspective during scenario reviews, technical assessments, and analytical quality assurance.
Collaborate with the Study Lead, M&S Technical Lead, operations research analysts, and other subject matter experts through study planning, execution, and reporting.
Participate in scenario development, analytical planning, technical interchange meetings, and customer reviews.
Support verification of operational assumptions and evaluation of model-generated operational behaviors and outcomes.
Help define operationally meaningful measures and criteria for assessing mission effectiveness.
Identify inconsistencies among operational concepts, modeled capabilities, threat representations, and analytical conclusions.
Contribute to interpreting and synthesizing findings in an appropriate military operational context.
Support preparation and review of study deliverables, including operational graphics, mission vignettes, technical reports, and executive-level presentations.