Entry Level Open Source Intelligence Analyst Jobs in California

Job Description

Intelligence Analyst

Global intelligence operations center Santa Monica, California

About M1 Global

Since 1994, M1 Global has grown from a local security provider to the trusted security partner of Fortune 500 companies worldwide. We build security programs for complex enterprise environments - from loading docks to data centers, headquarters to event venues - powered by Aurix, our proprietary automation platform that pairs skilled specialists with proven processes for industry-leading prevention, detection and reporting. Wherever and however our clients operate, we integrate.

Protecting the companies that power the world.

The Role

You produce the intelligence a global security team acts on. Open-source collection, source verification, assessment, and written product a decision-maker can use at speed - that is the work, and it is the whole of the work.

Automated detection surfaces signal continuously. Your job starts there. You verify it, weigh the sourcing, judge whether it matters to this client's people and sites, and say so in writing with your confidence level and your information gaps stated plainly. Everything you write passes a release gate before it reaches the client, and it carries the center's analytical standard rather than your personal style.

You work a shift alongside another analyst and a watch officer who reads every product before it goes out. This is a dedicated intelligence seat in a purpose-built center, not an analyst role bolted onto a console.

Key Responsibilities

Collection and Verification

Run open-source collection across news, government, civil society, transportation, meteorological and social sources against a defined portfolio of sites, people and travel.

Verify before you report. Grade the source, corroborate where corroboration is possible, and state plainly where it is not.

Triage automated alerting for relevance and false positives, and feed tuning recommendations back so the alert stream improves rather than repeats.

Assessment and Analytical Writing

Apply structured analytic technique and guard against your own bias. Explain the reasoning behind a call, not only the conclusion.

Write bottom line up front, for an executive audience, with confidence language used consistently and information gaps stated.

Separate fact from assessment in every product so a reader can tell which is which without asking you.

Produce recurring situational awareness products and answer requests for information inside agreed turnaround times.

Alerting and Escalation

Assess incoming alerts against proximity, severity and threat type, and escalate on defined criteria without waiting to be prompted.

Support declared incidents with rolling updates at the cadence the client sets.

Hand off cleanly to the physical security operations function when an event needs a response on the ground, and confirm the handoff was received and understood.

Records and Tradecraft

Maintain the case and incident record so an assessment does not reset when someone else picks it up.

Practice sound digital hygiene in every collection activity.

Contribute to standard operating procedures, escalation matrices and product templates, and keep them current as conditions change.

Required Qualifications

Experience: Three or more years in an analytical role producing written product for decision-makers. Console or dispatch experience does not count toward this requirement.

Writing: Demonstrated analytical writing under time pressure - bottom line up front, confidence and information gaps stated explicitly. A written product sample is required at interview.

Tradecraft: Working command of structured analytic techniques, cognitive bias mitigation, source evaluation and grading, and open-source intelligence collection.

Research: Ability to research across multiple languages using translation tooling and to judge what survives translation.

Education: Bachelor's degree in international relations, security studies, political science, intelligence studies, journalism, criminal justice or a related analytical discipline - or equivalent military or government intelligence experience.

Availability: Able to work any shift in a 24/7/365 operation, including nights, weekends and holidays.

Eligibility: Authorized to work in the United States. Able to pass background, drug and client-required security screening.

Preferred Qualifications

Certifications: IALEIA Criminal Intelligence Certified Analyst (CICA). A vendor-neutral open-source intelligence credential.

Background: Prior corporate protective intelligence, military or government all-source analysis, or law enforcement intelligence.

Specialization: Regional expertise or professional working proficiency in a second language.

Platforms: Experience with protective intelligence case management, real-time alerting or mass notification platforms.

Key Competencies

Work Environment

On-site at a client security operations center in Santa Monica, California. This is an embedded role - you work inside the client's operation, in their systems and their workspace, under M1 Global.

24/7/365 operation on eight-hour shifts, three per day on a rotating cycle. Shift assignment includes nights, weekends and holidays.

Sustained console work with concurrent monitoring across multiple systems and time zones.

Every product you publish is reviewed before release and sampled monthly against a published quality rubric, with the score returned to you and your supervisor.

Schedule construction, call-out coverage and relief staffing are handled by M1 Global's Fusion Centers, which support every M1 Global contract. You are not asked to find your own relief.

M1 Global is the employer of record. You are assigned to a single client program and work on no other M1 Global account.

Employment is contingent on background, drug and client-required security screening. Authorization to work in the United States is required; visa sponsorship is not available for this position.

Certification Requirements After Hire

M1 Global funds and schedules these credentials. Each is a condition of continued assignment once its clock expires. Candidates who already hold them are preferred.

Protective intelligence case management platform - foundation credential within 90 days.

Mass notification and visual command platform operator certification within 90 days.

IALEIA Basic Analyst Classification within 180 days.

CPR, First Aid and AED certification before first unsupervised shift, maintained current.

A vendor-neutral open-source intelligence credential within 180 days, where elected.

Compensation

$44.00 - $48.00 per hour

The posted range is the pay scale M1 Global reasonably expects to pay for this position, published in accordance with California Labor Code section 432.3. Actual placement within the range depends on experience and credentials held at hire. This position is non-exempt and eligible for overtime under California law. Compensation includes M1 Global's standard employee benefits package.

Equal Opportunity

M1 Global is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Qualified applicants with criminal histories are considered consistent with the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance and the California Fair Chance Act.

M1 Global. We are security, smarter.