Senior Mission Effectiveness, Operational Concepts & Threat Analyst

Start Date: Immediate
JHNA, CTSi, and EXPANSIA have come together to form a Defense Technology platform focused on delivering high-impact technologies, technology-enabled services and advanced manufacturing solutions to the U.S. Department of Defense and related national security customers. Backed by Falfurrias Management Partners, the platform brings together deep domain expertise across Army, Navy, and Air Force and Space Force programs, digital engineering, systems integration, and specialized manufacturing capabilities.
The combined organization operates as a multi-entity aerospace and defense technology and tech-enabled services and manufacturing enterprise positioned for scalable growth, operational excellence, and long-term value creation.
OVERVIEW
Full-time
Location: The ideal candidate will be local to the Tidewater/Newport News, VA area.
Anticipated Project Duration: Approximately six (6) months, with the potential for extension based on project needs and continued funding.
Aether Aerospace is seeking a MACE Modeling & Simulation Engineer to lead Modern Air Combat Environment (MACE) scenario development, model configuration, and simulation execution for an operations analysis study supporting a commercial aerospace and defense customer.
The study will assess the comparative mission effectiveness of precision-strike and electronic-warfare capabilities in representative U.S. Army aviation, launched-effects, and ground-force scenarios. The technical lead will translate the approved study plan into executable simulations, establish consistent comparison cases, verify model behavior, and provide documented simulation outputs to the study’s operations analysts.
This hands-on technical leadership position will work closely with the study lead, analysts, subject-matter experts, and customer representatives.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Mission Effectiveness and Operational Concept Development

• Develop and assess operational concepts that identify desired mission outcomes, the
• effects required to achieve those outcomes, and the capabilities and operational activities necessary to generate those effects.
• Apply military operational experience to establish mission objectives, desired end states, operational conditions, and criteria for mission success.
• Identify relationships among friendly-force actions, adversary responses, desired effects, and overall mission accomplishment.
• Develop representative operational scenarios and mission vignettes describing how military capabilities may be employed to achieve specific tactical and operational effects.
• Identify Measures of Effectiveness (MOEs) that characterize achievement of desired operational effects and mission outcomes, in coordination with the study's analytical team.
• Assess the influence of threat capabilities, electronic warfare, aviation survivability, and operational constraints on the achievement of mission objectives.
• Identify operational dependencies, capability limitations, and potential constraints that may affect mission success.
• Provide operational expertise to inform simulation scenario development, including force employment concepts, operational assumptions, and representative adversary behaviors.
• Review and interpret modeling and simulation results to determine whether represented operational behaviors, effects, and outcomes are credible and militarily meaningful.
• Evaluate how differences in military capabilities, employment concepts, and operational conditions could influence mission outcomes.

Operational Concept Graphics and Technical Reporting

• Develop and refine operational concepts, mission vignettes, and Concept of Operations (CONOPS) products illustrating representative military employment scenarios.
• Develop Operational Viewpoint (OV-1) graphics, operational effects diagrams, mission sequences, and other visual products communicating relationships among capabilities, activities, effects, and operational outcomes.
• Support development of scenario descriptions, operational narratives, mission objectives, decision points, and operational timelines.
• Translate complex technical and analytical information into clear, operationally relevant graphics and executive-level presentations.
• Prepare and contribute to technical reports, analytical summaries, executive briefings, and customer deliverables.
• Collaborate with technical team members to ensure consistency among operational concepts, simulation assumptions, analytical findings, and reporting products.
• Support development of final study conclusions and recommendations, clearly communicating operational implications, limitations, and areas requiring additional investigation.

Independent Threat, Aviation Survivability, and Electronic Warfare Subject Matter Expertise

• Provide independent subject matter expertise concerning representative air-defense threats, aviation survivability, and electronic warfare considerations.
• Assess the operational relevance of threat-system capabilities, engagement environments, and 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 operating environments.
• Evaluate the operational implications of kinetic and nonkinetic effects, including electronic attack, suppression, deception, and disruption of adversary capabilities.
• Assess the relationship between threat capabilities, friendly-force employment concepts, survivability considerations, and the ability to achieve desired mission 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 influence analytical findings.
• Provide an independent operational and survivability perspective during scenario reviews, technical assessments, and analytical quality assurance activities.

Study Integration and Technical Collaboration

• Collaborate with the Study Lead, M&S Technical Lead, operations research analysts, and other subject matter experts throughout 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.
• Assist in defining operationally meaningful measures and criteria used to assess mission effectiveness.
• Identify potential inconsistencies among operational concepts, modeled capabilities, threat representations, and analytical conclusions.
• Contribute to the interpretation and synthesis of study findings, ensuring that technical results are placed in an appropriate military operational context.
• Support preparation and review of study deliverables, including operational graphics, mission vignettes, technical reports, and executive-level presentations.

KEY QUALIFICATIONS

Clearance: Active Secret Clearance

Education & Years of Experience: 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 activities.
• 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.
• Demonstrated 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 between 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.

PREFERRED ADDITIONAL QUALIFICATIONS

• 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.

Aether Aerospace is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, age, national origin, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other protected characteristic.