Entry Level Open Source Intelligence Analyst Jobs in California

Description
Job Description
Intelligence Manager, Global Intelligence Operations Center
Dedicated Enterprise Account • Santa Monica, California
Location
On-site - Santa Monica, California
Employment type
Full-time, exempt. Dedicated to one client account.
Salary range
$120,000 - $145,000 annually
Entity
M1 Global - part of the Specialized family of brands
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 own the analytical standard. Every product the Global Intelligence Operations Center publishes to the client carries it - how sources are graded, how fact is separated from assessment, how confidence is stated, and what gets held back. You write that standard, you enforce it through a release gate, and you are answerable for the quality of every product the center publishes, on every shift.
The center runs 24/7/365 with watch officers supervising analysts on the floor at a one-to-two ratio. You lead those supervisors. You also produce the strategic assessments the watch floor cannot write - the quarterly view of the risk environment across the client's footprint, produced away from the alert queue so it is not written in the gaps between alerts.
You are engaged within thirty minutes on any declared incident, at any hour.
Key Responsibilities
Analytical Standards
• Author and maintain the source validation policy, the confidence lexicon and the analytical writing standard, and publish them so an analyst and a client decision-maker read the same words the same way.
• Operate the release gate. Decide what is published, what returns for rework and what is held, and be able to defend each call.
• Hold the line on tradecraft under time pressure. A fast product that overstates confidence is a failure.
Product Quality and Measurement
• Own product quality measures including analytical writing quality, source validation compliance, assessment timeliness and release gate first-pass rate.
• Ensure every product associated with a priority-one event is reviewed, not sampled.
• Investigate misses to root cause and separate volume, staffing and platform tuning causes.
Strategic Production
• Produce recurring strategic assessments of the risk environment affecting the client's global footprint, written for executive decision-makers.
• Set the product mix with the client and retire products that no longer earn their place.
• Answer executive requests for information with sourced, defensible assessments inside agreed turnaround times.
Analyst Development
• Lead and develop watch officers, intelligence analysts and the protective intelligence and travel security function.
• Coach on structured analytic technique, bias mitigation, source evaluation and analytical writing - continuously and in writing, not at annual review.
• Participate in quarterly blind calibration against the published rubric and reconcile scoring differences openly.
Incident and Crisis Support
• Assume intelligence coordination authority on a declared incident and produce rolling situation reports at the cadence the client sets.
• Serve as the analytical voice to leadership during a crisis - give decision-makers the picture they need in the time they have to decide.
• Direct surge analytical capacity when the situation requires it.
• Own the intelligence side of the handoff into physical security operations - what is passed, how fast it is acknowledged and whether it arrives usable. Handoff volume, acknowledgement time and handoff quality are measured and reported monthly.
Platform and Tradecraft
• Own analytical use of the intelligence tool stack, including protective intelligence case management, alerting and mass notification platforms, and open-source collection tooling.
• Drive alert relevance tuning and false-positive triage, and evidence platform performance for the client, who holds the vendor relationships.
• Maintain the case record so an assessment does not reset when an analyst leaves.
Required Qualifications
• Experience: Eight or more years in intelligence analysis, including three years leading or formally reviewing the work of other analysts.
• Standard setting: You have written and published an analytical writing standard, rubric or source grading policy that others were held to. Be prepared to discuss it.
• Tradecraft: Working command of structured analytic techniques, cognitive bias mitigation, source evaluation and grading, and open-source intelligence tradecraft including digital hygiene.
• Writing: Proven analytical writing under time pressure, bottom line up front, with confidence and information gaps stated explicitly. A written product sample is required at interview.
• Domain: Demonstrable corporate protective intelligence, threat assessment or executive-facing risk analysis experience. Console or dispatch experience is not a substitute.
• Platforms: Proficiency with commercial protective intelligence case management, real-time alerting and mass notification platforms.
• 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.
• 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). ASIS Physical Security Professional (PSP). ATAP Certified Threat Manager. Vendor-neutral open-source intelligence credential.
• Background: Military or government all-source intelligence, followed by corporate protective intelligence.
• Specialization: Regional expertise or professional working proficiency in a second language.
• Environment: Prior intelligence leadership inside a corporate global security operations center.
• Programs: Experience with travel risk management and ISO 31030-aligned duty-of-care programs.
Key Competencies
Analytic Tradecraft
Standard Setting
Analytical Writing
Source Evaluation
Escalation Judgment
Crisis Coordination
Analyst Development
Intellectual Honesty
Stakeholder Communication
Work Environment
• On-site at a client intelligence 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.
• Full-time, aligned to a 24/7/365 operation, with flexibility to observe and support day, swing and overnight shifts.
• On-call for declared incidents. You are engaged within thirty minutes, at any hour.
• This role does not perform alarm monitoring, video monitoring, access control or dispatch. Those functions sit in a separate service area with a separate supervisory chain. Personnel are separated; information is not, and you own your side of the handoff between them.
• Schedule construction, call-out coverage and relief staffing are delivered by M1 Global's Fusion Centers, which support every M1 Global contract. This role partners with them and does not carry the scheduling function.
• 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 successful completion of background screening, drug screening and any 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 the following credentials. Each is a condition of continued assignment once its clock expires. Candidates who already hold them are preferred; candidates who do not are expected to earn them on the stated schedule.
• Protective intelligence case management platform - foundation credential within 90 days; advanced credential within 12 months.
• Mass notification and visual command platform operator certification within 90 days.
• IALEIA Criminal Intelligence Certified Analyst within 18 months, where eligible.
• CPR, First Aid and AED certification before first unsupervised floor coverage, maintained current.
Compensation
$120,000 - $145,000 annually
The posted range is the salary 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, credentials held at hire and internal equity. Compensation includes M1 Global's standard employee benefits package.
Equal Opportunity
M1 Global is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. M1 Global considers qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance and the California Fair Chance Act.
M1 Global. We are security, smarter.