OpenSource Cyber Threat Intelligence Analyst

Open Source Cyber Threat Intelligence Analyst

Location: Northern VA. Full-time, on-site role.

Travel: For this role, you must be able to travel up to two weeks at a time, both foreign and domestically.

Description:

The Open Source Cyber Threat Intelligence Analyst will serve as a dedicated OSINT specialist within the Indications & Warnings (I&W) branch, supporting proactive early warning of cyber threats targeting Department of State personnel, systems, and information assets. This role is ideal for an analyst who excels in opensource investigations, threat actor tracking, and fusing multisource intelligence into highvalue assessments.

In this role, you will:

• Serve as the primary OSINT collector and analyst for the I&W mission, performing targeted opensource research across surface/deep/dark web environments, social media, threat forums, and global reporting sources.
• Track advanced persistent threat (APT) actors, their infrastructure, exploitation methods, malware, development, targeting trends, and behavioral signatures using OSINT, vendor, and classified feeds.
• Conduct pattern, trend, link, and behavioral analysis to identify malicious cyber activity aimed at Department personnel, networks, and mission equities.
• Maintain structured analytic records and metadata to catalog active campaigns, actor infrastructure changes, and IOCs.
• Identify and triage Indicators of Compromise (IOCs) using SIEM tools and other security platforms; pivot from IOCs to external opensource leads to identify additional malicious infrastructure.
• Act as a core participant in I&W's fusion cell, integrating OSINT findings with technical telemetry and intelligence reporting to enhance situational awareness and inform mitigation recommendations.
• Liaise with Intelligence Community (IC) partners, private sector researchers, and internal CTAD teams to validate findings and close intelligence gaps.
• Monitor geopolitical developments, emerging technologies, hacktivist activity, and cybercriminal ecosystems to anticipate cyber threat shifts affecting Department operations.
• Produce high quality written and verbal assessments, including rapid-turn spot reports, actor profiles, trend analyses, and briefings tailored for both technical and nontechnical audiences.
• Correlate external threat intelligence with internal events to identify vulnerabilities, preintrusion indicators, and opportunities for proactive defense.
• Support I&W's mission to provide actionable analysis that informs Department cybersecurity policy, configuration changes, and mitigation actions.
• Potential to travel to support cyber security briefings and consultations.

#DSCM

• Bachelors degree and a minimum of 9 years of experience; 7 years with Masters degree; and 4 years with PhD.
  • An additional 4 years of experience may be substituted in lieu of the bachelor's degree requirement.
• Must either possess and maintain, or obtain prior to start date, one of the following professional certifications:
  • CASP+ CE; CCNP Security; CEH; CFR; CHFI; CISA; CISSP (or Associate);
    Cloud+; CND;
    CySA+; GCED; GCIH; GICSP; SSCP
• Cyber Threat Intelligence & APT Analysis: Demonstrated experience in cyber threat intelligence, including tracking and analyzing Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) actors, adversary operations, tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs), and pivoting from indicators of compromise (IOCs) to identify related infrastructure.
• Threat Intelligence Tools & Methodologies: Experience with SIEMs, threat intelligence and threat detection platforms, and established threat modeling frameworks such as MITRE ATT&CK, Lockheed Martin Cyber Kill Chain, or Diamond Model.
• Threat Analysis & Incident Support: Experience providing intelligence support before, during, and after cyber incidents, including attribution analysis, adversary profiling, correlating disparate events, conducting post-incident reviews, identifying lessons learned, and improving threat detection capabilities.
• Cybersecurity & Predictive Analysis: Knowledge of cloud security and threats targeting cloud environments, network protocols and systems, and experience developing predictive models or assessments to anticipate emerging cyber threats and recommend preemptive mitigation measures.
• Analytical & Communication
  
  Skills:
  
  Strong analytical, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills with demonstrated ability to work independently and collaboratively. Excellent written communication skills with the ability to convey highly technical information in an analytic…