Operations Analyst - Defense Analytics DARPA

Key Responsibilities

• Use quantitative techniques to help leadership understand and manage complex programs.
• Support analysis of budget plans, execution profiles, and trade-off scenarios, helping to illuminate the implications of different funding and scheduling options.
• Work with financial and program management staff to develop data-driven insights that support planning, resource allocation, and execution monitoring.
• Analyze operational and tasking data to understand workload, throughput, and performance.
• Develop metrics, visualizations, and decision-support tools to help leadership see where processes are working well and where adjustments may be needed.
• Pull together information from multiple sources, structure it for analysis, and present clear, actionable findings.
• Examine lifecycle and performance data to identify trends and potential areas for improvement.
• Assess how programs progress from early research through transition, applying quantitative methods to evaluate options, risks, and likely outcomes.
• Collaborate closely with program managers, acquisition analysts, financial analysts, and other stakeholders to ensure that analytic products are aligned with real-world needs and are delivered in a format that supports effective decision-making.

Qualifications and Requirements

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in engineering, science, mathematics, or a related technical field.
• Experience: At least 4 years of experience in operations research or a closely related analytical discipline supporting large organizations.
• Experience gathering data and constructing mathematical or statistical models to describe systems and support decisions.
• Security Clearance: Active Top Secret (TS) clearance required.
• Skills: Strong quantitative and analytical skills, including statistics, modeling, and/or optimization.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel and familiarity with one or more analytical tools (e.g., MATLAB, R, Python) is highly desirable.
• Ability to translate complex analytic findings into clear, concise briefings and written products.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting Department of Defense financial, acquisition, or R&D organizations.
• Familiarity with defense planning, programming, budgeting, and execution (PPBE) processes and related data.