National Counterterrorism Center
NCTC has permanent and rotational opportunities for professionals that are interested in working in a dynamic organization focused on leading the nation’s effort to combat terrorism at home and abroad. NCTC’s workforce consists of cadre officers, whose long-term professional home is with NCTC, and detailees who are assigned here for multi-year rotations from 20 different federal agencies. Our workforce also includes a critically important population of contractors, whose essential contributions can be found across every mission area.
NCTC is looking for candidates with backgrounds in foreign languages, area studies, international relations, finance, geography, national security studies, military and foreign affairs, political science, computer science, data science, mathematics, economics, engineering, operations research, statistics, and program management and support.
For the majority of NCTC's vacancies, you must either be an internal ODNI employee or a current federal employee to apply. Throughout the year, there will be some positions open to external hires. These positions will mainly be at the GS 8-10 entry level. Please check often to see if new opportunities have been posted.
To Apply For Vacancies:
Click here for all open vacancies at NCTC.
NCTC was created from a post-9/11 world in which the United States Government (USG) reorganized and restructured the Intelligence Community (IC) in order to protect and secure our nation from terrorist attacks. President George W. Bush, by issuing Executive Order 13354, and the Congress of the United States (US), by passing the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act (IRTPA) of 2004, reformed our nation’s intelligence enterprise, with a specific focus on intelligence related to terrorism. These foundational documents define NCTC’s principal roles, missions, and responsibilities—mainly to analyze the threat using all available USG information, to share terrorism-related information with our partners across the counterterrorism (CT) enterprise, to maintain the single authoritative USG database of known and suspected terrorists, and to integrate the national CT effort through effective planning and strategy development.
NCTC performs five key missions in support of our Nation’s CT efforts. The Center is authorized to access to all terrorism-related information held by the USG. NCTC’s unique authorities effectively bridge the divide between foreign and domestic intelligence, thereby allowing the Center to bring a whole-of-government approach to each mission area.
Threat Analysis
Under IRTPA, NCTC serves as the primary organization in the USG for analyzing and integrating all intelligence possessed or acquired by the USG pertaining to terrorism and CT except intelligence pertaining exclusively to domestic terrorism. NCTC has a responsibility to inform its partners on all international terrorism issues, and unique authorities allow personnel to analyze intelligence collected both inside and outside the US.
Identity Management
NCTC has the statutory responsibility to serve as the central and shared knowledge bank on known and suspected terrorists and international terror groups, as well as their goals, strategies, capabilities, and networks of contacts and support. To fulfill this role, NCTC maintains the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment (TIDE), the USG’s central classified repository for all known or suspected international terrorists and their networks of contacts and support. The responsibility for maintaining a repository of terrorist identities was identified as one of the principal duties identified for TTIC and TIDE now includes biographic information, such as names and dates of birth; biometric information, such as photos; and derogatory information explaining a subject’s link to terrorism. NCTC receives international terrorism information from law enforcement and intelligence partners and consolidates it into TIDE, which is an analytic tool as well as a database. NCTC uses the information in TIDE to support screening activities across the USG. NCTC provides agencies, departments, and organizations charged with adjudicating travel applications—such as non-immigrant visas and applicants from Visa Waiver Countries, and USG immigration benefits, including refugees and individuals in DHS detention—with terrorism information related to the applicant or petitioner. NCTC screens all travelers bound for the US for a nexus to terrorism against TIDE and other NCTC terrorism intelligence holdings. NCTC’s screening is part of a multilayered approach that has streamlined operations, removed stovepipes, and increased transparency across agencies.
Information Sharing
NCTC ensures that other agencies with CT missions have access to and receive intelligence needed to accomplish assigned activities. NCTC’s analysis is coordinated throughout the IC, supporting senior policymakers and other members of the policy, intelligence, law enforcement, defense, homeland security, and foreign affairs communities.
Strategic Operational Planning
NCTC also has the statutory responsibility to conduct strategic operational planning for CT activities across the USG, integrating all instruments of national power—diplomatic, financial, military, intelligence, homeland security, and law enforcement within and among the agencies. In this role, NCTC ensures unity of effort for the USG. Planning efforts include broad strategic plans as well as specific action plans to maximize coordination on key issues. NCTC also leads interagency task forces designed to analyze, monitor, and disrupt potential terrorist attacks.
National Intelligence Management
NCTC’s role as NIM CT requires integrating the CT mission across intelligence functions, disciplines, and activities to achieve unity of effort and effect. NCTC leads US IC efforts to optimize CT community performance and capabilities, and advocates on behalf of the CT community to ensure the US IC is postured to support national strategy and policy objectives. NCTC ensures that collection activities for CT are responsive to and inform analytic judgments and that analytic activities produce intelligence judgments, identify intelligence gaps, and provide the basis for guidance to collectors. This includes informing and aligning the US IC’s activities against the highest priority terrorism threats.CONTENT TO COME
NCTC’s Counterterrorism Calendar provides information on known terrorist groups, individual terrorists, and technical information on topics such as biological and chemical threats.
2016 Edition
This edition, like others since the Calendar was first published in daily planner format in 2003, contains many features across the full range of issues pertaining to international terrorism: terrorist groups, wanted terrorists, and technical pages on various threat-related topics. The Calendar also marks dates that terrorists may believe are important if planning attacks to commemorate particular events.
CONTENT TO COME
"At NCTC, we sit in the middle of a Counterterrorism and Homeland Security enterprise that includes the federal government and all of our partners in Washington."
—The Hon. Nicholas J. Rasmussen, Director
The documents below are being released to provide information on NCTC’s use of data. Posting these documents online is consistent with our ongoing transparency initiative—which includes the release of documents to the public as well as a series of privacy and civil liberty symposiums—to enhance our outreach and engagement with advocacy and faith-based groups, national security academics, and other members of the public.
Using Counterterrorism Lessons Learned to Address other Transnational Threats
This paper, written by Russell E. Travers of the National Counterterrorism Center in August 2015, was selected as a finalist in the 2015/2016 Galileo Awards Program. The paper lays out a strategic framework for addressing the most tactical of issues, the challenges posed by transnational bad actors. Galileo is an annual Intelligence-wide competition designed to encourage and recognize innovative workforce ideas that address current challenges and help share the future of U.S. Intelligence.
Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment (TIDE) Fact Sheet - Current as of 30 June 2016
This fact sheet, updated annually, provides a primer on TIDE, the knowledge bank that supports the U.S. Government's terrorist screening systems. Through the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, Congress mandated that NCTC establish and manage TIDE.
Memorandum of Understanding between FinCEN and NCTC (redacted)
This Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) governs NCTC's access to the Department of the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) data collected pursuant to the reporting authority contained in the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). The redacted MOU places restrictions on the NCTC's access and provides protections to the data.
Overview of the Baseline Safeguard Protections Under NCTC’s 2012 Attorney General Guidelines
A White Paper that describes how NCTC has implemented its Attorney General Guidelines-mandated baseline safeguards, as well as the compliance checks/audits of NCTC’s adherence to those safeguards.
Enhanced Safeguards Decision Matrix
The decision matrix used by NCTC in assessing each replicated non-terrorism dataset for potential application of additional, Enhanced Safeguards, over and above the baseline safeguards which are applied to all replicated datasets.
NCTC Compliance Incident Procedures Regarding Data Handling (redacted)
Procedures for reporting, assessing, investigating and resolving compliance incidents relating to NCTC’s handling of data accessed pursuant to various authorities, to include Executive Order 12333 and/or Attorney General-approved Guidelines.
Overview of NCTC’s Data Access as Authorized by the 2012 Attorney General Guidelines
A White Paper detailing the categories of data that NCTC replicates under its Attorney General Guidelines, as well as how this data is used by NCTC to fulfill its counterterrorism mission.
NCTC’s Annual Report on the Access, Retention, Use and Dissemination of United States Person Information For the Period March 23, 2012 through March 31, 2013 (redacted)
NCTC’s first annual report to the ODNI General Counsel and Civil Liberties Protection Officer, as well as the IC Inspector General, on NCTC’s access, retention, use and dissemination of non-terrorism datasets, as required under NCTC’s revised 2012 Attorney General Guidelines.
Memorandum of Agreement Between the Department of Homeland Security and the National Counterterrorism Center Regarding Advance Passenger Information System Data (redacted)
The MOA which allows NCTC to gain bulk access to DHS APIS Data, for up to 1 year, which incorporates detailed restrictions on who can access the data and for what purpose, pre-requisite training, processes for ensuring data is up to date, error correction and feedback, independent auditing by DHS, and many other privacy and civil liberties protective provisions.
ODNI White Paper on Civil Liberties and Privacy Protections
A White Paper issued by the ODNI’s Civil Liberties and Privacy Office explaining the civil liberties and privacy protections incorporated into NCTC’s 2012 Attorney General Guidelines.
NCTC Guidelines – Mission Justification Fact Sheet
A short paper explaining NCTC’s counterterrorism mission, as well as the factors that led to revision of NCTC’s Attorney General Guidelines in March 2012.
Historical Reference Documentation
NCTC Attorney General Guidelines
Executive Order 13354 National Counterterrorism Center
Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004