Naval Warfare Analyst Position Opening at the Institute for Defense Analysis

The Institute for Defense Analyses' (IDA) Navy Group intends to hire a new Research Staff Member sometime this year, and this group would like to bring the position to the attention of any grad students or postdocs who may be finishing up in the next few months.

They have officially posted the job description for the Naval Warfare Analyst position on the IDA public web site at https://www.ida.org/CareersAtIDA/ExploreIDACareers/JobOpening.aspx. (Search for Naval Undersea Warfare Analyst) The main www.ida.org site provides some general background about the Institute.

IDA is a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) under contract with the Department of Defense. My division works for the Pentagon’s Director of Operational Test and Evaluation, who reports directly to the Office of the Secretary of Defense and Congress on testing of new defense systems. In the case of our naval warfare programs (e.g., destroyers, subs, radars, sonars, mines, torpedoes), the Navy’s operational test force runs the tests, but the IDA are involved in the test design, they monitor the exercise, and then perform an independent analysis of the results.

The RSM slot is a full-time, permanent position with a generous salary and benefits. It is a great opportunity for someone who might wish to apply their analytical skills to this important area of national security. We spend much of our time writing, briefing, and meeting with Navy and other defense personnel, so the position requires strong communication skills. Since we deal with classified information, current American citizenship and the ability to obtain security clearance are mandatory. Moderate travel is involved, and the position offers a rare chance to ride aboard some of the Navy’s newest ships and submarines. The IDA atmosphere is quite collegial and academic, with excellent facilities and support services.

While the job description mentions specific areas of technical and military experience as desirable, most of the training will be obtained on the job; a physics or astrophysics PhD student with a good analytical mind would be well qualified. Of the approximately 100 analysts in our division, about 60% have PhDs, with over a third of those earned in physics. Over 20% of our staff came to IDA directly out of grad school or postdocs, with degrees from institutions such as Columbia, Cornell, Johns Hopkins, Maryland, MIT, Princeton, UCSB, Wisconsin, and Yale.

Interested candidates are welcome to email project leader Dr. George Khoury for additional information at gkhoury@ida.org

Dr. George Khoury

Institute for Defense Analyses

Operational Evaluation Division

4850 Mark Center Drive

Alexandria, VA 22311-1882

gkhoury@ida.org