Strategic Mission Engineering Lead, C-UAS

Strategic Mission Engineering Lead, C-UAS

Washington, District of Columbia, United States

As the Strategic Mission Engineering Lead, C-UAS at CHAOS, you will lead the design, development, execution, analysis, and validation of models and simulations to deliver operational analysis and system performance assessment across defense, national security, and commercial programs – which will guide internal engineering investment, and assist business development in shaping customer requirements. You will have freedom to move rapidly and use your expertise to ensure rigorous statistical methods and simulation outcome analysis are tied to current and future threat and blue force concepts of employment. Your experience and work will directly inform critical decisions around product requirements, product engineering, business development strategy, and product road mapping.

This is a foundational hire. You will shape how CHAOS does mission engineering and operations analysis from day one, and you will have the freedom to move fast.

Responsibilities:

• Own the overall mission engineering and operations analysis strategy for Counter Unmanned Aerial Systems (C-UAS) and Air Defense (AD) product development and business development strategy at CHAOS.
• Inject and translate current and future concepts of C-UAS and AD operation into mission engineering and operations analysis design, to include US and allied force standard operating procedures (SOPs) and tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) for static and mobile C-UAS
• Enable the translation of validated intelligence community products (NASIC, DIA, MSIC, ONI, NGIC, MCIA, and partner agency assessments) for adversary UAS, cruise missile, and other aerial attack methods and into modeling parameters, scenario constructs, and red force order of battle for mission-level simulations.
• Lead blue force CONOP-informed scenario development across all domains, ensuring scenarios reflect credible blue force CONOPS, doctrine, and projected capabilities, not generic boilerplate.
• Validate blue force operating models, assumptions, and simulation outputs against authoritative source data; engage customer Air Defense users and partners to resolve discrepancies and refresh representations as new CONOPS and CONEMPS are developed.
• Brief blue force CONOP assessments, scenario rationale, and analytical findings to senior technical leadership, program executives, and government customers, including DoD, DARPA, and IC stakeholders up to the flag/SES level in order to better inform their requirements development to advantage CHAOS in future competitive programs.
• Partner with engineers, data scientists, and analysts to translate operational and intelligence questions into well-structured analytical approaches. The Mission Engineering Lead's role is to push back when the question being asked isn't the right one.
• Stay forward of emerging blue force capabilities, doctrine, TTPs/SOPs, and technologies, and shape study designs to address what's coming, not just what's documented.
• Serve as CHAOS's primary interface to US and allied partner air defenders, including coordination of classified data exchanges and mission data accreditation.
• Support programs spanning DoD services, DARPA, intelligence community, and commercial customers.
• Partner with engineering, product, growth, and customer teams to translate operational questions into well-structured analytical approaches and shape new business pursuits. Push back when the framing is wrong.

Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree or higher in Operations Research, Economics, Mathematics or a related field.
• 5+ years of experience supporting defense, intelligence, or advanced technology programs through industry or government employment.
• Recent experience planning and executing operational C-UAS and/or Air Defense of US military assets in a deployed combat environment.
• Extensive direct experience with the design and execution of operational real-world employment of C-UAS sensing and effecting capabilities against a peer adversary.
• Significant experience guiding the use of analytical tools and application of rigorous statistical methods to interpret and present results.
• Exceptional data visualization skills and comfort developing CONOPS/OV-1 visuals and briefing packages.
• Demonstrated ability to lead analytical efforts and deliver products with minimal oversight, including leading projects and studies.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, including experience briefing flag/general officer or SES-level audiences.
• Eligibility to obtain a Top Secret / Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI) clearance to

Preferred Requirements:

• Active TS/SCI clearance.
• Recognized expertise analyzing the full kill chain (find, fix, track, target, engage, assess) across multiple Air Defense or C-UAS domains, including air-to-air, air-to-surface, surface-to-air, space, and electronic warfare engagements.
• Deep expertise in leading sensor performance analysis (especially radar) and in guiding the development and validation of models of sensors, communications, weapons, aircraft, spacecraft, or ground/maritime systems in mission-level simulation environments such as AFSIM or Ansys STK.
• Experience leading study teams or technical working groups across organizations, including model accreditation, V&V efforts, or threat-informed scenario development.
• Experience designing and analyzing large-scale Monte Carlo and DOE-driven simulation campaigns supporting system effectiveness or kill chain assessment.
• Exposure to Distributed Interactive Simulation (DIS) networking and visualization tools such as MAK VR-Forces, SIMDIS, or similar.
• 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 (RFI/RFP responses, white papers, technical exchanges) and shaping new business pursuits.

Why CHAOS?

• Health Benefits: Medical, dental, and vision benefits 100% paid for by the company
• Additional benefits: 401k (+ 50% company match up to 6% of pay), FSA, HSA, life insurance, and more
• Our Perks: Free daily lunch, 'No meeting Fridays', unlimited PTO, casual dress code
• Compensation Components: Competitive base salaries, generous pre-IPO stock option grants, relocation assistance, and (coming soon!) annual bonuses
• Team Growth: 250 employees and counting across 5 global offices

Salary Range: $160,000 - $220,000

The stated compensation range reflects only the targeted base compensation range and excludes additional earnings such as bonus, equity, and benefits. If your compensation requirements fall outside of the range, we still encourage you to apply. The salary range for this role is an estimate based on a range of compensation factors, inclusive of base salary only. Actual salary offer may vary based on (but not limited to) work experience, education and/or training, critical skills, and/or business considerations.