Strategic Mission Engineer

CHAOS Industries•Columbia, WA

4d•Onsite

About The Position

CHAOS Industries is hiring a Strategic Mission Engineering Lead to bring recent, real-world military operational experience into the design, testing, and fielding of its products. The role develops, executes, analyzes, and validates models, simulations, scenarios, and operational assessments across defense, national security, and commercial programs. Findings will inform engineering investment, customer requirements, product requirements, business development strategy, and product road maps, with a focus on Air Defense, counter-unmanned aerial systems (C-UAS), and related mission areas. This is a foundational role in a fast-moving environment, operating with limited guidance to identify warfighter needs and develop practical solutions to operational problems. The position works across engineering, product, data science, analysis, growth, customer, and partner teams, and serves as an interface to U.S. and allied operators and air defenders. It supports classified data exchanges and mission data accreditation, as well as programs involving DoD services, DARPA, the intelligence community, and commercial customers. The role requires domestic and international travel. The stated base salary range is $160,000–$220,000, excluding potential bonuses, equity, and benefits.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree or higher, or equivalent military operational and analytical experience.
At least 5 years of experience supporting defense, intelligence, or advanced technology programs through industry or government employment.
Recent experience planning and executing military operations in Air Defense, C-UAS, fires, ISR, or a related mission area in a deployed or operational environment.
Direct experience employing sensing and effecting capabilities against a peer or near-peer adversary.
Ability to operate with limited guidance by defining problems, setting an approach, and delivering independently.
Track record of developing practical solutions to operational problems and carrying them through to adoption.
Ability to lead cross-functional efforts spanning operations, engineering, product, and business development teams.
Experience guiding analysts in analytical tools and rigorous methods, and interpreting and presenting results to decision makers.
Strong data visualization skills and comfort developing CONOPS/OV-1 visuals and briefing packages.
Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, including experience briefing flag/general officer or SES-level audiences.
Eligibility to obtain a Top Secret clearance.
Willingness and ability to travel domestically and internationally, including to customer, partner, and operational sites.

Nice To Haves

Active Top Secret clearance.
Experience analyzing the full kill chain (find, fix, track, target, engage, assess) across multiple domains, including air, surface, space, and electronic warfare engagements.
Established relationships across U.S. and allied operational communities, including service air defense branches, the joint C-UAS community, and allied partners.
Experience leading study teams or cross-organization working groups, including threat-informed scenario development, model accreditation, or verification and validation efforts.
Experience supporting rapid development programs across DoD services, DARPA, ONR, AFRL, COCOMs, the acquisition community, or commercial advanced technology programs.
Experience supporting capture and positioning activities, such as RFI/RFP responses, white papers, technical exchanges, and shaping new business pursuits.

Responsibilities

Support execution of mission engineering and operations analysis strategy across Air Defense, C-UAS, and related product development and business development efforts.
Translate current and future concepts of operation, including U.S. and allied SOPs and TTPs for static and mobile forces, into mission engineering and operations analysis designs.
Identify unmet operational needs across the kill chain and develop practical solutions with engineering and product teams, including capability concepts, CONOPS, and study designs.
Translate validated intelligence community assessments of adversary air, missile, and related threat systems into modeling parameters, scenario constructs, and red-force orders of battle for mission-level simulations.
Lead blue-force CONOP-informed scenario development across domains, reflecting credible doctrine and projected capabilities.
Validate blue-force operating models, assumptions, and simulation outputs against authoritative source data and operational experience; engage users and partners to resolve discrepancies and update representations as CONOPS and CONEMPS develop.
Maintain awareness of adversary threats, capabilities, and evolving TTPs using intelligence reporting, operational lessons learned, and open-source analysis; keep model, scenario, and study threat representations current.
Brief CONOP assessments, scenario rationale, and analytical findings to technical leadership, program executives, and government customers, including DoD, DARPA, and intelligence community stakeholders up to flag/SES level.
Partner with engineers, data scientists, and analysts to turn operational and intelligence questions into structured analytical approaches, and challenge questions that are not the right ones to ask.
Monitor emerging blue-force capabilities, doctrine, TTPs/SOPs, and technologies and shape study designs to address future developments.
Serve as a primary interface to U.S. and allied partner operators and air defenders, including supporting classified data exchanges and mission data accreditation.
Support programs for DoD services, DARPA, the intelligence community, and commercial customers; partner with engineering, product, growth, and customer teams to shape new business pursuits.