Technical Quantitative Analyst

About the Company

Systems Planning and Analysis, Inc. (SPA) delivers high-impact, technical solutions to complex national security issues. With over 50 years of business expertise and consistent growth, SPA is known for continuous innovation for government customers in both the US and abroad. The Joint, Office of the Secretary of Defense, Interagency Division (JOID) provides expert support services across the Department of Defense, Federal Civilian, and international markets, offering a diverse portfolio of analytical and programmatic capabilities to help customers make informed decisions on challenging issues.

SPA provides critical decision support to enable and execute a strategy of technological superiority, delivering secure, resilient, and preeminent capabilities to the warfighter quickly and cost-effectively. Our team of experienced military, technical, and operations research analysts evaluates military problems, identifies driving factors, devises innovative approaches, and performs thorough assessments to inform technology and acquisition governance decisions.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a Quantitative Analyst SETA supporting DARPA program managers in the development, integration, and scaling of complex adaptive system modeling and data-intensive analytical capabilities.
• Integrate complex, multi-source intelligence and commercial/open-source data streams into graph-based, network analytical frameworks to support strategic competition analysis, industrial base resilience, and national security decision-making.
• Act as the primary technical liaison between academic researchers, software engineering teams, and IC stakeholders to ensure tools align with operational requirements.
• Advise DARPA leadership on program execution risks, data architecture scalability, and capability transition strategy.

Requirements

• Master’s degree or PhD in Economics, Data Science, Applied Mathematics, or a related quantitative field.
• Active TS/SCI clearance.
• 5+ years of relevant experience in quantitative economic modeling, advanced econometrics, and network data science/data engineering applied to complex adaptive systems.
• Demonstrated experience in large-scale data processing, multi-source data pipeline integration, and managing structured/unstructured data architectures.
• Practical experience with graph analytics, network modeling tools, and interconnected data architectures (e.g., Python/R quantitative libraries, graph databases, or network science frameworks).
• Strong background working within or alongside the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC), including familiarity with IC mission environments, data workflows, and intelligence-derived datasets.
• Understanding of diverse data sources across global economics, financial networks, trade flows, defense industrial supply chains, and multi-INT sources.
• Able to work fully onsite based on client needs in Arlington, VA.
• Travel to support program operations up to 15% duty factor.

Preferred Qualifications

• Strong communication skills—both written (including executive PowerPoint briefs) and oral—with the ability to translate complex econometric and data models for senior defense stakeholders.
• Experience with defense industrial base analysis, economic statecraft, strategic competition modeling, or macroeconomic resilience metrics.
• Hands-on experience building decision-support tools, AI/ML-enabled analytical tools, cloud data engineering workflows, or large language model (LLM) research pipelines.
• Experience in a high-paced private sector quantitative production environment such as systematic investing or trading, real-time ad technology development, or pharmacological optimization and customization.

Benefits

SPA provides eligible employees with an opportunity to enroll in a variety of benefit programs, including:

• Health insurance
• Flexible spending accounts
• Health savings accounts
• Retirement savings plans
• Life and disability insurance programs
• Paid and unpaid time away from work

Specific programs and options may vary depending on eligibility factors such as geographic location and date of hire.

Pay

Salary range: USD $160,000.00/Yr. - USD $200,000.00/Yr.