SASignals Intelligence Analyst
SA
Career

Signals Intelligence Analyst

By the numbers
Typical pay
$93,790 / yr
Education to start
High school diploma or equivalent
Future demand
-0.7% by 2034
People in this job
114K
Figures shown for ·closest of 3 O*NET occupations
The work
A day, hour by hour

Many SIGINT analysts work rotating shifts around the clock — here's a representative day shift:

06:00
Shift briefing

Incoming team reviews overnight threat activity and priority collection targets.

06:20
Signal monitoring

Lock collection equipment onto assigned frequencies; log every intercept precisely.

08:00
Pattern analysis

Scan hours of intercepted data — real threat or noise? That call is yours.

10:00
Translate & decode

Work through foreign-language intercepts; one mistranslation can break the whole picture.

11:30
Cross-agency sync

Compare findings with analysts from other units to close gaps in the picture.

12:30
Intelligence report

Write a tight, precise report — decision-makers act on exactly what you write.

13:30
Escalation call

Anomaly flagged: decide whether to escalate now or keep collecting before crying wolf.

14:15
Tech & tradecraft review

Study a new adversary encryption method; yesterday's techniques go stale fast.

14:45
Shift handoff

Brief the incoming analyst on open threads, active targets, and anything unresolved.

Things you do
  • Intercept electronic signals and communications from radar, radio, and satellites.
  • Scan intercepted data to spot hidden patterns or suspicious activity.
  • Translate and decode foreign-language communications to extract key intelligence.
  • Write detailed reports telling decision-makers exactly what the signals mean.
  • Tune and operate collection equipment to lock onto specific signal targets.
Decisions you’ll make
  • Is this signal a real threat, or just noise I'm pattern-matching into something?
  • Do I have enough to report this now, or should I keep collecting first?
  • Is this anomaly worth escalating, or will I cry wolf and lose credibility?
  • Am I reading this communication accurately, or projecting meaning that isn't there?
  • Should I flag this gap in our coverage, or is that itself a security risk to raise?
Education Pathways · how you get there
100 in 100 went the college route · 0 in 100 found another way in Less than 5 years, typically
Education mapped from O*NET:
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