Salary:   $58,229 – $116,901

Location:              Washington, DC metropolitan area

Are you a news junkie? Do the foreign affairs headlines pull you in? You should consider the CIA's Open Source Center (OSC) for your next career. Hiring Open Source Officers (OSOs) as foreign media analysts, OSC is the Intelligence Community's expert in collecting and analyzing foreign-based, publicly available information. It's about knowing what's going on and what it might mean down the road. To get there, OSOs apply foreign language, area knowledge, and subject matter expertise to review and assess foreign-based websites, social media, and traditional press sources--in short, the vast majority of information generated. Together with OSC's geospatial analysts, cyber specialists, librarians, and data scientists, the challenge is to identify trends, patterns, and relationships that provide unique insights into national security issues. OSOs typically specialize in an area of the world (country or region) or a specific topic (i.e., military, economy, emerging media technologies, terrorism, proliferation, cyber security, science & technology, etc). Additionally, OSOs manage foreign national staff and contractors in the United States and overseas.

Minimum requirements: A bachelor's or master's degree with a minimum 3.0 GPA on a 4-point scale is required. The candidates need to have a keen interest in foreign affairs demonstrated by formal education or previous life/work experience. They also need strong writing and analytic skills; foreign language proficiency; well developed Internet research skills; excellent communication and English language skills. Degrees in all areas of study are considered. Many OSOs have lived in their region of interest and/or have formally studied the politics and history of a particular country or region. As a part of the screening process, selected applicants will be sent language proficiency and analytic writing tests.

The following languages, with relevant area knowledge, are among those sought: Turkish, Farsi/Persian, Kurdish, Hebrew, Somali, and Arabic; Spanish, French, Portuguese, and two or more West European languages; East European languages; Russian, Uzbek, Ukrainian, and Central Eurasian dialects; Chinese, Korean, and Japanese; Hindi, Urdu, Dari, and Pashtu. As part of your application, please attach a short, analytical writing sample (no more than 5 pages in length) in your area of claimed expertise, as well as a copy of college transcripts.

All applicants must successfully complete a thorough medical and psychological exam, a polygraph interview and an extensive background investigation. U.S. citizenship is required.

To be considered suitable for Agency employment, applicants must generally not have used illegal drugs within the last twelve months. The issue of illegal drug use prior to twelve months ago is carefully evaluated during the medical and security processing.

Important Notice: Friends, family, individuals, or organizations may be interested to learn that you are an applicant for or an employee of the CIA. Their interest, however, may not be benign or in your best interest. You cannot control whom they would tell. We therefore ask you to exercise discretion and good judgment in disclosing your interest in a position with the Agency. You will receive further guidance on this topic as you proceed through your CIA employment processing.

To Apply:

Make a note of the position(s) that interest you, as you can apply for up to four positions in one application. DO NOT submit multiple applications; this will only slow the review of your application, and delay processing. Please read the Application Instructions carefully before you begin the online application process.

An equal opportunity employer and a drug-free work force.