Other Agencies and Independent Organizations

Operations Officer Senior Level

McLean, Virginia Full time

Operations Officer Senior Level

Department: Other Agencies and Independent Organizations

Location(s): McLean, Virginia

Salary Range: $121785 - $187093 Per Year

Job Summary: The National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) leads the nation's effort to protect the United States from terrorism by integrating, analyzing and sharing information to drive whole-of-government action and achieve our national CT objectives.

Major Duties:

  • The NCTC Operations Center (NCTOC) serves as NCTC's point of entry for intelligence reporting and provides situational awareness on global terrorism issues and breaking real-world events. It is the central hub for communications between the Center, the IC, and the broader CT community. The Operations Officer, Senior Level is a member of team leadership who assists in all aspects of running NCTC's 24x7 situational awareness mission. The team serves a number of customers, including the Intelligence Community, the broader counterterrorism community, the Director of NCTC, and the Director of National Intelligence. Oversee and lead a professional staff that maintains 24/7 global situational awareness by independently planning, researching and analyzing raw intelligence reporting and maintaining awareness of current intelligence issues. Coordinate with Intelligence Community (IC), watch officers and operation centers to ensure situational awareness of collection enterprise's activities, and to assure alignment with key national priorities. Oversee the development and implementation of strategies to augment and extend strategic collection capabilities, and coordinate with national, defense, and domestic authorities to ensure alignment with key intelligence priorities. Manage and direct professional staff in monitoring, sorting, prioritization, and analysis of intelligence and operational message traffic. Direct and lead professional staff in the development of situational awareness information that is provided ODNI, IC, United States (U.S.) government, and other appropriate leaders. Oversee and lead professional staff in performing community outreach and collaboration activities by planning and engaging in internal and external information sharing, fostering collaborative relationships with interagency partners, and communicating timely and relevant intelligence information. Oversee and participate in the preparation of reports and oversight material for collection enterprise situation awareness, to ensure substantive accuracy and consistency with applicable policies and statutes; edit and provide quality control review of written products. Plan, develop, and deliver oral briefings and written reports to ODNI leadership on intelligence issue activities and/or threats. Oversee the development and implementation of strategies to augment and extend strategic collection capabilities, and coordinate with national, defense, and domestic authorities to ensure alignment with key intelligence priorities. Develop, justify, and provide structured recommendations and innovative solutions for collection enterprise situational awareness on the status and employment of collection capabilities. Serve as principal advisor to ODNI and other IC officials regarding operational collection initiatives, programs, and projects. As required, guide Operations Officers' training and professional development by identifying relevant courses consistent with the officer's skills, career path, and the team's mission requirements; monitor team training activities to ensure all required and requested training is completed to standard.

Qualifications: FREE RESPONSE ESSAY QUESTIONS All applicants must answer the following four short, free response essay questions. The responses cannot exceed 200 words per question. By submitting your responses to the following questions, you certify that you are using your own words and did not use a consultant or AI (such as a large language model [LLM]). How has your commitment to the Constitution and the founding principles of the United States inspired you to pursue this role within the Federal government? Provide a concrete example from professional, academic, or personal experience. In this role, how would you use your skills and experience to improve government efficiency and effectiveness? Provide specific examples where you improved processes, reduced costs, or improved outcomes. How would you help advance the President's Executive Orders and policy priorities in this role? Identify one or two relevant Executive Orders or policy initiatives that are significant to you and explain how you would help implement them if hired. How has a strong work ethic contributed to your professional, academic or personal achievements? Provide one or two specific examples and explain how those qualities would enable you to serve effectively in this position. Required Qualifications: Extensive knowledge of intelligence analysis and production. Extensive ability to develop complex written products, as well as the ability to brief counterparts and senior officials on those products, answer detailed questions, and provide supporting information. Extensive ability to maintain and develop effective working relationships with counterparts and more senior staff in the IC for the purpose of sharing information. Extensive knowledge of the ODNI and larger IC mission, operations, tradecraft, capabilities, and requirements. Extensive ability to make assessments of time-sensitive issues, adjust priorities, and change focus quickly as demands change. Extensive ability to work effectively both independently and in a team or collaborative environment, coupled with established and effective interpersonal, organizational, and problem-solving skills. Ability to work rotating shifts of 12.5 hours in a fast-paced demanding environment. Comprehensive knowledge of relationships and interrelationships in the IC and collection capabilities, including Crisis/operations center with 24-hour/7-day responsibilities. Extensive knowledge of defense, domestic, and national IC collection issues and capabilities. Strong oral and written communication skills, including the ability to clearly convey complex information and technical data to all levels of management. Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with senior defense, domestic, and national IC officials. Outstanding interpersonal and organization skills, including ability to manage competing priorities under strict guidelines while maintaining superior customer service. Demonstrated ability to work effectively with teams, build and sustain professional relationships, and exert influence effectively at all levels within and across organizations on a myriad of collection situational awareness topics.

How to Apply: We encourage you to read the entire announcement prior to submitting your application. This post is for viewing purposes only. Internal ODNI Cadre Candidates must submit an application through the classified JobsDNI website. For current employees who do not currently have access to internal systems {due to extenuating circumstances, applications should be sent to either NCTC_OES_EOG_HR_OPS@cia.ic.gov (classified email system) or odni_nctc_hr_ops@odni.gov (unclassified email system). Joint Duty Candidates from within the IC must submit an application through the classified IC Joint Duty Program website. ONLY applicants from federal agencies outside the IC should send their complete application package to either NCTC_OES_EOG_HR_OPS@cia.ic.gov (classified email system) or odni_nctc_hr_ops@odni.gov (unclassified email system). Applicants experiencing technical issues may submit their application via email to either email system. All attachments should be in Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF format. Applications submitted through the classified email system should NOT contain classified information above the TS//SI/TK//NOFORN level. APPLICATION PACKAGES MUST CONTAIN ALL ITEMS LISTED ABOVE. AN INCOMPLETE APPLICATION PACKAGE WILL BE INELIGIBLE FOR CONSIDERATION. Do not include the following types of information in your profile or resume: Social Security Number (SSN) Photos of yourself Personal information, such as age, gender, religious affiliation, etc. Encrypted and digitally signed documents Your application MUST be received by 11:59 PM (EST) on the closing date of this announcement. Applications received after the closing date will NOT be eligible for consideration.

Application Deadline: 2026-03-27