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Extended Reality Specialist

Extended Reality Specialists apply their expertise to develop capabilities for virtual, augmented, and sensory enhanced environments using game engines, haptic devices, and/or immersive glasses.
  • Full time
  • Salary range: $68,405 - $181,216*
  • *Higher starting salary possible depending on experience level
  • Bachelor’s degree, preferably in a quantitative science, engineering, or other STEM-related field.
  • Foreign Language Bonus eligible
  • Opportunities for travel are possible
Express Interest
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Agency-wide Requirements

All applicants must be:

  • U.S. citizens (dual U.S. citizens also eligible)
  • At least 18 years of age
  • Willing to move to the Washington, DC area
  • Able to complete security and medical evaluations
  • Registered for the Selective Service

About the Job

Are you looking for a challenging position that will allow you to direct the future of extended reality for the Agency and the Intelligence Community missions at-large? Are you interested in working hands-on with cutting edge virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies? In the role of Extended Reality Specialist you will have the opportunity to use those technologies. You will have the opportunity to work with internal mission partners and various government organizations to meet the enduring challenges the Agency faces.

As an Extended Reality Specialist, you will use your expertise to interact with Agency officers, researchers, and developers to create methods to extend and immerse individuals in their environments. You will have the opportunity to showcase your technical expertise and program management skills to influence the Agency’s technology, while also providing you with the ability to stay abreast of all pertinent AR/VR technologies. This includes, but is not limited to, AR/VR headsets, software development, and cloud infrastructure.

Extended Reality Specialists are proactive and effective team players who support components from across the Agency. Your unique skills and experience will be utilized in full to serve our country and aid in collecting valuable intelligence.

Who You’ll Work With

At the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), we recognize our Nation’s strength comes from the diversity of its people. People from a broad range of backgrounds and viewpoints work at CIA, and our diverse teams are the reason we can keep our country safe.

Read more about diversity and inclusion

What You’ll Get

Our benefits support every aspect of a working professional’s life, including health and wellness, time off, family, finances, and continuing education. Our programs include highly sought-after government health benefits, flexible schedules, sick leave, and childcare. In some cases, we also offer sign-on incentives and cover moving expenses if you relocate.

As a CIA employee, you’ll also get the satisfaction of knowing your work is part of something bigger than yourself. Our work is driven by one mission: to keep our Nation safe. Every day is an opportunity to enhance U.S. national security.

Learn more about working at CIA.

Minimum Qualifications

  • Bachelor’s degree, preferably in a quantitative science, engineering, or other science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) related field
  • At least a 3.0 GPA on a 4-point scale
  • Experience in a STEM field, such as:
    • Electrical engineering
    • Mathematics/applied mathematics
    • Physics/applied physics
    • Mechanical engineering
    • Computer engineering/computer science
    • Software engineering
    • Aerospace/aeronautical engineering
    • Statistics/actual mathematics
    • Robotics
    • Artificial intelligence/machine learning
    • Computational engineering
  • Experience with various game engines
  • Good fundamental understanding of a range of AI techniques and ability to match techniques to problems
  • Creativity
  • Initiative
  • Integrity
  • Leadership abilities
  • Problem-solving skills
  • Ability to work in a diverse team environment
  • Ability to meet the minimum requirements for joining CIA, including U.S. citizenship and a background investigation

Desired Qualifications

  • Advanced degree in an engineering or computational science equivalent field or sub-field
  • Without previous work experience, a 3.0 GPA on a 4-point scale is strongly desired.
  • Experience working with data rich problems through research or programs
  • Experience with computer programming or user experience/user interface
  • Experience working with haptic devices and AR/VR devices
  • Ability to work across, and help guide, diverse teams including leveraging best commercial and industrial capability
  • Ability to successfully complete projects with large or incomplete data, to tackle hard problems and provide solutions