Directorate of Support

Our Mission and Priorities

Mission

We enable the Agency's Global Mission to ensure the nation's security with speed, reach, and scale. Our interconnected support network delivers trusted and authoritative services across all support business disciplines globally.

Vision

One global support enterprise that delivers assured, high-value support solutions to our mission partners.

Values

We are guided by a professional ethos that is the sum of our core values, highest aspirations, and commitment to mission. This ethos holds us on course as we exercise the extraordinary influence and authorities with which we have been entrusted to protect the Nation and advance its interests. Our values are those of the Agency that we serve.

What We Do

First and foremost, the Directorate of Support (DS) enables the intelligence mission. The "mission first" approach ensures that each CIA directorate, partners across the Intelligence Community, and various other government agencies always have the support they need to meet whatever challenge they face.

Every day, the DS works with analysts, scientists and operations officers around the globe providing the full range of both technical and non-technical support services, to include security, finance, logistics, business systems, and much more. DS officers work within local support teams or on their own as a single point of coordination on all DS matters. The collective expertise and creativity of DS officers enable the CIA's collection, analysis and technology missions to advance with precision, focus and efficiency.

The work is both interesting and challenging. DS officers:

From the frontlines to the back office, the support we provide touches all facets of intelligence operations. These services, along with the passion and commitment of DS officers, make the intelligence mission possible, anytime, anywhere.

The strength of the DS lies in the expertise, ingenuity, focus, and passion of their officers. DS officers bring a wide variety of skills, including medical, logistics, security, business systems, engineering, finance, education, facilities management, and human resources. No other Agency component has as many professionals with such a range of skills.

The DS includes officers with advanced skills, such as doctors, finance officers, information security specialists, and graphic artists, as well as support generalists who can demonstrate a wide array of talents and acumen. All of our officers are constantly challenged to learn, adapt and contribute to a variety of mission-critical situations. Our unique tradecraft enables us to meet the challenges of supporting an intelligence mission that is critical to our nation’s defense. At home and abroad, our dedicated professionals play a vital role in the national security of our country every day.

Support Organization and Occupational Groups

The DS offices represent the diverse skills necessary to ensure mission success.  

Facilities officers create and maintain safe, secure, functional work environments.

Finance officers handle the full range of financial services and resource management for the Agency. They establish Agency contracts and focus on employee compensation, budgets and auditing.

Human Resources and training officers hire and train employees who can meet the demands of the mission. They deliver the full range of employee compensation and benefits. On a daily basis, HR officers strive to enhance employee work life, to ensure fairness, and to support the needs of our employees and their families

Logistics officers manage day-to-day logistical support; acquisitions; construction projects; and the coordination of the expeditious movement of people and equipment.

Medical professionals assist and administer to CIA employees, ensuring that the Agency maintains healthy employees, both mentally and physically. These officers plan, develop, implement and direct the CIA's medical programs on a worldwide basis. In addition, they further protect employees from environmental hazards.

Security officers protect Agency personnel, facilities, information, and operations. Security officers protect our workforce, while managing risk and supporting the mission and operations of the Agency, both domestically and overseas.

Careers

You might be surprised by who works at the CIA. The strength of the Directorate of Support (DS) lies in the expertise, ingenuity, focus and passion of their officers, who play a vital role in enabling CIA’s mission. Behind every intelligence effort are the extraordinary skilled professionals working in the DS. They get key functions up and running at the start of a mission, and get everyone and everything out safely at the end. From medical services and logistics to the human resources, security, finance, and trade occupations, these officers provide the infrastructure and expertise necessary to keep key CIA functions up and running at Headquarters and in locations worldwide.

A Career of Global Importance

In response to the wide-ranging needs of the intelligence mission, the DS recruits, hires, and trains a broad spectrum of applicants whom they train and deploy in unique ways, providing an extraordinary diversity of talent, skills, and backgrounds. The DS hires for more than 30 different career disciplines to share the CIA’s mission of keeping the nation safe. Support officers generally serve alongside their customers and rotate to new assignments every few years according to their interests and experience.

Is This the Job for You?

The range and variety of positions within the DS is extensive. We generally look for individuals who see their career as more than a job and will take on our mission in a personal way, applying their skills and talents for the good of the country.

Training and continuing educational opportunities are part of our culture. Diversity is also key to our success. Because of our national security role, all applicants must be US citizens and successfully complete thorough background and medical examinations, including a polygraph interview.

If you choose to build your career with the CIA supporting our critical mission, you will have the opportunity to serve in a variety of locations and positions. You will enhance your skills by progressively tackling more challenging duties within a specialized area or by building on your experience and contacts to coordinate support activities.