The Ultimate International Career

The CIA's Clandestine Service is the front-line source of clandestine information on critical international developments, from terrorism and weapons of mass destruction to military and political issues. The mission often requires clandestine service officers to live and work overseas, making a true commitment to the Agency. This is more than just a job – it's a way of life that challenges the deepest resources of personal intelligence, self-reliance and responsibility.  National Clandestine Service Officers are individuals with varied backgrounds and life experiences, professional and educational histories, language capabilities, and other elements that allow us meet our mission critical objectives. 

View our available Clandestine Service positions on the Clandestine Service page.
 

National Clandestine Services Officers are grouped into the following categories of expertise:

FIELD-BASED POSITIONS

Operations Officer

Operations Officers serve on the front lines of the human intelligence collection business by clandestinely recruiting and handling sources of foreign intelligence. It takes special skills and professional discipline to establish strong human relationships that result in high-value intelligence from clandestine sources. An Operations Officer must be able to deal with fast-moving, ambiguous and unstructured situations. This requires physical and psychological health, energy, intuition, “street sense” and the ability to cope with stress. Operations Officers serve the bulk of their time in overseas assignments.

Collection Management Officer

As the link between the Clandestine Service Operations Officer in the field, the US foreign policy community and Intelligence Community analysts, it is the responsibility of the Collection Management Officer (CMO) to manage the collection, evaluation and dissemination of CIA intelligence information. Managing the collection effort requires determining what US policymakers need to know and then communicating those requirements to the Operations Officer. To be effective, the CMO must understand Clandestine Service operations and how they are conducted abroad, as well as international issues and overseas operating environments.

HEADQUARTERS-BASED POSITIONS (WASHINGTON, DC)

With the exception of the NCS Language Officer and Operations Officer — Specialized Skills Officer positions, NCS is currently not recruiting Headquarters Based Officers (HBO).  The remaining HBO positions fall within the following three career tracks:  Staff Operations Officer (SOO), Collection Management Officer-Headquarters Specialist (CMO-S), and Operational Targeting Officer.  When available, placement into one of the three aforementioned HBO tracks will be determined upon successful completion of training.

Staff Operations Officer

The Staff Operations Officer guides, coordinates and supports overseas intelligence collection. These officers develop a cadre of resources throughout the Agency that allows them to provide the field with thoughtful and useful guidance to keep clandestine operations in the field running safely and smoothly. They develop substantive expertise on their assigned area, such as terrorism, proliferation, narcotics trafficking and political issues in order to enhance their interaction with field-based officers and provide advice and counsel. Working closely with Operations Officers overseas, they provide oral and written briefings to senior management at Headquarters on operational cases and individual agents. Opportunities for foreign travel exist.

Collection Management Officer — Headquarters Specialist

This Officer has extensive interaction with US intelligence customers, such as personnel from the Departments of State, Treasury and Energy, the Defense Intelligence Agency and military commands, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security.  The CMO-S is tasked with turning US agencies’ national security concerns into specific questions for Clandestine Service operations.  To be effective, the CMO-S must understand operations and how they are conducted abroad, as well as maintain substantive knowledge about the countries and issues against which the CIA is collecting information. Opportunities for tours and/or short assignments domestically and overseas exist.

Operational Targeting Officer

In today’s fast-paced and technologically savvy world, targeting is critical to the success of the Clandestine Service’s global mission. Operational Targeting Officers directly support, drive and/or manage complex worldwide operations to develop actionable intelligence against the highest priority threats to US national security.  They apply specialized skills to identify, analyze and facilitate the penetration and disruption of international organizations and networks posing such threats. Targeting Officers also develop a substantive knowledge in one or several functional Clandestine Service missions — terrorism, proliferation, narcotics trafficking and/or counterintelligence — as well as regional expertise. Effective Targeting Officers are inquisitive, analytical, detail- and action-oriented, and capable of mining vast amounts of data for new leads. Opportunities for foreign travel and tours of duty exist.

Operations Officer—Specialized Skills Officer

Specialized Skills Officers focus on intelligence operations for US policymakers in hazardous and austere overseas environments. Military special operations or combat arms experience (ground, air, or maritime), previous foreign travel, combat service and foreign language proficiency are highly valued.

Language Officer

The Language Officer applies advanced foreign language skills, experience and expertise to provide high-quality translation, interpretation and language-related support for a variety of Clandestine Service operations. In addition to their expert language skills, Language Officers provide in-depth cultural insight — an important dimension of the job. They also work closely with officers in other Clandestine Service disciplines — particularly field collectors — to support the overall mission of intelligence acquisition. As with other Clandestine Service professions, foreign travel opportunities and certain specialized training are integral elements of the job.

The Clandestine Life

Operations Officers and Collection Management Officers spend a significant portion of their time abroad.  Typically, Operations Officers will serve 60% to 70% of their careers overseas, while Collection Management Officers will be overseas for 30% to 40% of their careers.  Staff Operations Officers, although based in the Washington, D.C. area, travel overseas on a temporary basis.  Language Officers also are primarily based in Washington, though short-term and some long-term foreign travel opportunities are available.

Officers in each of these careers are under cover. By the very nature of this clandestine business, officers can expect limited external recognition for themselves and their families. Instead, the Agency has its own internal promotions, awards and medals, and makes every effort to recognize the accomplishments of its personnel.

 In addition to competitive pay, Officers are provided housing and receive overseas allowances and schooling benefits for their children when serving abroad.  There are also other benefits, such as language pay incentives, that Officers can receive depending on their skills set and position duties.  Collectively, the benefits enable Officers to make significant contributions that impact our national security, and experience a high level of job satisfaction and camaraderie throughout their career.

Is This the Job for You?

Traditionally, we have had an officer corps of considerable diversity in terms of politics, talent, personality, temperament and background. That said, there are some fundamental qualities common to most successful officers, including a strong record of academic and professional achievement, good writing skills, problem-solving abilities and highly developed interpersonal skills. Overseas experience and languages are important factors as well. Officers must be perennial students, in the sense that they are required to seek answers, learn other languages and study other cultures to enhance their abilities to deal effectively with foreign cultures and societies.

Getting Started: Clandestine Service Trainee (CST) Program

This is the launching pad for challenging positions in the National Clandestine Service, providing new officers an opportunity to follow in the footsteps of today's senior NCS managers. Uniquely qualified trainees are groomed in an intensive year-long training program to prepare them for the foreign-intelligence-collection challenges facing the US today.

The National Clandestine Service has a second program, the Professional Trainee (PT) Program, for recent college graduates, after which PTs may be considered for the CST Program.