U.S. Intelligence Community careers

Maximize impact. Optimize resources. Strengthen national security.

In the Intelligence Community, acquisition and contracting professionals play a vital role in securing the goods and services that keep missions moving. From planning and negotiations to execution and closeout, you'll manage the full contract lifecycle — ensuring the best value while supporting critical operations. You'll evaluate vendors, analyze costs and implement strategies that align with government needs. Whether handling streamlined purchases or multimillion-dollar contracts, your expertise helps drive efficiency and innovation in national security.

Who gets hired:

• Acquisition specialists
• Contracting specialists
• Contracting officers
• Grants officers

Behind every mission, there’s a team managing the people, budgets and operations that keep intelligence moving. Business professionals in the Intelligence Community play a critical role — hiring and training top talent, overseeing budgets, negotiating contracts and ensuring seamless operations. Just like in the private sector, these skills are essential for success. Your expertise in business, accounting, finance, HR or administration helps provide the intelligence our leaders rely on to make informed decisions.

Who gets hired:

• Accountants
• Administrative management specialists
• Benefits specialists
• Contracting specialists
• Human resource specialists
• Instructional design specialists
• Instructors
• Program officers

As a computer scientist in the Intelligence Community, you’ll tackle complex challenges, test cutting-edge solutions and redefine how information is stored, analyzed and presented. Your expertise in system architecture and software design will drive innovation, creating new standards for intelligence transformation. If you're ready to push the boundaries of technology, this is where it happens.

Who gets hired:

• Computer scientists
• Information technology specialists
• Information technology operations specialists
• Network vulnerability analysts
• Software engineers
• Web engineers

Tell the story. Drive the mission.

In the Intelligence Community, communication is key. Whether through writing, editing, design or web development, you’ll craft messages that inform, engage and connect. From internal briefings to public outreach, your work ensures the right information reaches the right audience — shaping understanding and advancing intelligence goals.

Who gets hired:

• Communications operations specialists
• Editors
• Graphic designers
• Public affairs specialists
• Publications officers
• Technical editors
• Writers
• Visual information specialists

Every agency in the Intelligence Community plays a role in shaping the cyber landscape. Your career could focus on defending U.S. systems from cyber threats or gathering intelligence to stay ahead of adversaries. No matter where you start, you’ll gain hands-on experience, expand your expertise across agencies and tackle evolving security challenges. Technology is changing fast and your work in this field will help keep the country secure.

Who gets hired:

• All-source analysts
• Capabilities defense specialists
• Computer network defense analysts
• Computer network operators
• Information assurance engineers
• Information systems security specialists
• Technical counterintelligence officers

Unlock the potential of data. Every agency collects and analyzes vast amounts of information from across the globe and the challenge is making sense of it all. That’s where data science professionals come in.

Whether you're identifying patterns in massive datasets, building machine learning models, or delivering insights to national security leaders, your work will shape critical decisions. From predictive analytics to natural language processing, you’ll tackle challenges few in the private sector face — because in intelligence, data doesn’t just inform, it drives action.

Who gets hired:

• Computer science
• Computer engineering
• Data analytics
• Mathematics
• Statistics
• Operations research
• Physics
• Quantitative social science

In the Intelligence Community, learning never stops. As a training and education professional, you’ll design and deliver cutting-edge courses that keep intelligence professionals at the top of their field. From developing new curricula to ensuring programs stay ahead of industry trends, you’ll create learning experiences that drive success.

Who gets hired:

• Education specialists
• Education technicians
• Instructors
• Instructional design specialists
• Learning development specialists
• Training instructors

In the Intelligence Community, understanding foreign languages means unlocking critical insights. Whether you’re translating intelligence, analyzing foreign targets or crafting reports that shape national security decisions, your expertise in language and culture is essential.

Based on your skills and experience, you may enter a specialized language development program — blending immersive training with real-world application. With a deep understanding of global events, dialects, and cultural nuances, you’ll provide decision-makers with the intelligence they need to stay ahead.

Critical language needs are Russian, Chinese, Arabic, Persian, Korean and Spanish.

Who gets hired:

• Foreign language advisors
• Foreign language translators, interpreters and liaisons
• GEOINT analysts
• Language analysts
• Scientific linguists

Join a team that engineers the future of intelligence operations. From designing secure facilities to optimizing HVAC, air distribution and piping systems, your work ensures mission-critical spaces function at their best. Whether you're creating technical drawings or analyzing infrastructure, you'll play a key role in building environments that support national security.

Who gets hired:

• Environmental protection specialists
• Equipment specialists
• Facilities engineers
• Facilities manager
• Facilities operations specialists
• Logistics management specialists
• Logistics officer
• Supply management specialists

Intelligence analysis is a dynamic field that offers intellectual challenge, career growth and the opportunity to make a real impact. You'll transform raw data into actionable intelligence, uncover trends, and interpret global events. Your work informs the decisions of political and military leaders, shaping national security strategy.

Success in this role requires sharp analytical thinking, logical reasoning, and the ability to communicate complex ideas clearly. If you're ready for a career that challenges you and makes a difference, intelligence analysis is where it starts.

Careers available in this field include:

• All-source analysts
• Intelligence analysts (general, economics, scientific and technical, geographic/regional)
• GEOINT analysts (imagery intelligence)
• GEOINT analysts (photogrammetric image science)
• Intelligence operations specialists (counterintelligence)
• Intelligence operations specialists (DOMEX digital forensic analyst)

As an intelligence collector, you’ll play a key role in gathering the critical information that drives national security. Whether leveraging foreign language skills or learning a new one, you’ll use your ability to negotiate, analyze, and adapt in complex situations. With specialized training and sharp interpersonal skills, you’ll collect intelligence from around the world — helping to inform decisions that matter.

Who gets hired:

• Intelligence collection experts
• Intelligence research specialists
• GEOINT analysts
• Intelligence specialists
• Access analysts and system architects

Inspection, investigation and compliance professionals play a critical role in maintaining security and accountability. Whether evaluating facilities and procedures, conducting in-depth investigations or ensuring compliance with regulations, your work keeps operations running smoothly and ethically. Your attention to detail and commitment to standards help safeguard intelligence efforts and strengthen national security.

Who gets hired:

• Administrative investigators
• Compliance officers
• Financial auditors
• Investigators
• Inspectors
• Quality assurance specialists

The Intelligence Community operates in a complex legal landscape shaped by international and domestic laws, regulations and policies. As a legal professional, you'll provide expert guidance to leaders and policymakers, ensuring intelligence operations align with legal and ethical standards. Your insights will help shape decisions that impact national security today and in the future.

Careers available in this field include:

• Attorneys
• Law clerks
• Legal technicians
• Legislative affairs liaisons
• Intelligence oversight officers
• Paralegal specialists

Medical professionals in the Intelligence Community provide critical care through evaluations, lab analyses and pharmaceutical services. Occupational health experts ensure safe work environments, assessing conditions and addressing risks that could impact employee well-being and performance. Your expertise helps keep intelligence professionals healthy, focused and ready to meet the challenges of national security.

Who gets hired:

• Clinical psychologists
• Environmental health and industrial hygienists
• Medical advisors
• Nurses
• Pharmacists
• Physicians
• Professional counselors
• Safety and occupational health managers

Security professionals in the Intelligence Community safeguard the people, information and facilities that protect our nation. From law enforcement and investigations to cybersecurity and intelligence analysis, these roles are critical to mission success. Whether securing classified information or defending against threats, you’ll play a vital role in keeping operations and personnel safe.

Who gets hired:

• Area security officers
• Criminal investigators
• Information security specialists
• Physical security specialists
• Police officers (general and K9)
• Polygraph examiners
• Security analysts

STEM professionals drive the future of intelligence. From research and design to development and operations, every stage of the technical life cycle plays a role in national security. Work in cutting-edge labs, tackle complex challenges, and push technology to new heights. With hundreds of patents and more breakthroughs ahead, the Intelligence Community is where innovation happens and where your expertise makes an impact.

Who gets hired:

• Computer network operators
• Computer scientists
• Information system security managers
• Mathematicians
• Physical scientists
• Physicists
• Software engineers
• Systems engineers