Overview

The Operational Evaluation Division (OED) has an immediate career opening for an Analyst to support the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force focused on Sustainment and Readiness analysis and modeling.  IDA takes great pride in the high caliber and timeliness of its analyses, which are produced in an atmosphere that encourages independent thinking and objective results. Work at IDA is conducted in a team environment and often involves a multi-disciplinary approach.

Responsibilities

The Analyst will conduct high-visibility analyses to support and advise mid- and senior-level civilian and military officials on issues affecting the operational availability and sustainment of Navy and Air Force weapons systems. In particular, the successful candidate will contribute to major studies that affect investments in improving the readiness of weapon systems. The Analyst’s efforts will be focused on data-intensive analyses, developing better mathematical and analytical models, as well as building and using discrete-event simulations to answer major programmatic issues for senior military leadership.  The analyst will analyze maintenance, supply, operational, and cost data and apply data science methodologies to the Department of Defense’s data systems for supply management, maintenance tracking, personnel, budgets, and contracting. The analyst’s efforts will focus on developing novel and rigorous approaches, including visual displays appropriate for highlighting major issues and courses of action for the senior DoD leadership. The Analyst will work closely with government officials from multiple organizations and at varying levels of seniority to better understand the DoD data environment, and will communicate findings and recommendations to an audience with diverse backgrounds and levels of analytical training. Occasional travel is expected.

Qualifications

• A minimum of:
• PhD in a STEM field (such as Physics, Astronomy, Chemistry, Applied Mathematics, Engineering, or Material Science), Operations Research, Statistics, Data Science, or another data-intensive research field; OR
• Masters degree in a STEM field, Operations Research, Statistics, Data Science, or other data-intensive research field with 8+ years of data science related work experience and military experience in logistics, supply or maintenance. 
• Candidates must have experience with computer programming for data processing and analysis. Experience with one of the following programming languages is required: R, Python, MATLAB.
• Experience in sustainment, logistics or readiness modeling is desired but not required.
• Strong communications skills are essential.
• Quantitative skills are critical, as is the ability to analyze and visualize data.
• Successful completion of a criminal background check is required.