Senior Analyst – MENA Focus

Jobtailor; Greater London; On-site; GBP 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

Jobtailor is seeking an experienced intelligence analyst to monitor and analyze political and security developments in the MENA region. The role requires fluency in Arabic, strong OSINT and narrative analysis skills, and the ability to translate Arabic sources.

You will produce concise, policy-relevant intelligence, support client discussions, and mentor junior analysts while integrating AI-assisted workflows and maintaining rigorous data standards.

Qualifications

• At least five years of intelligence analysis or related field experience.
• Deep knowledge of the MENA region and its political-security dynamics.
• Fluency in Arabic (MSA and dialects) and ability to translate Arabic sources.
• Experience applying OSINT, network or narrative analysis to complex data.
• Strong written communication and policy-relevant output skills.
• Ability to mentor junior analysts and maintain data quality standards.
• Comfort with integrating AI-assisted workflows and understanding ethical considerations.

Responsibilities

• Monitor political, security, and socio-economic developments across MENA.
• Conduct daily multilingual media and open-source monitoring across Arabic and English sources.
• Identify actors, platforms, narratives, and threats across online ecosystems.
• Lead regular analytical reporting and brief client discussions.
• Translate and assess Arabic documents and source material.
• Verify sources in original languages and maintain structured datasets.
• Support QA of analytical outputs and mentor junior staff.
• Integrate AI tools to enhance efficiency and outputs.

Skills

MENA geopolitical risk

Arabic fluency

OSINT methods

Structured analytical methodologies

Policy-relevant reporting

Source verification

Data structuring

Team mentoring

AI systems integration

Communication to diverse audiences

Tools

AI systems

Monitoring frameworks

Data workflows

Job description

• Monitor and assess political, security, and socio-economic developments across MENA
• Conduct daily monitoring of Arabic- and English-language media, social media, official statements, and other open-source information
• Track violent extremist organisation and non-state armed group activity, including propaganda, communications, governance, operations, and regional linkages
• Identify new narratives, actors, platforms, and threats across online ecosystems
• Apply structured analytical techniques to assess complex information and identify patterns and relationships
• Lead and contribute to daily, weekly, monthly, flash, and deep-dive analytical reporting
• Translate and assess Arabic-language documents and source material
• Contribute to client-facing discussions, briefings, and ad hoc research requests
• Develop and maintain subject-matter expertise across designated countries, actors, organisations, and themes
• Lead and contribute to regional source coverage and propose new actors, entities, channels, and outlets
• Verify and assess sources in the original language
• Maintain coverage against intelligence requirements
• Contribute to taxonomy and tagging decisions for MENA and violent extremism data
• Translate analytical judgement into structured data with research and data teams
• Support the Team Lead with reviewing and quality assurance of analytical outputs
• Mentor junior analysts on research methodology, analytical standards, and source validation
• Support other ExTrac teams on projects and deliverables
• Help develop research methodologies, monitoring frameworks, and analytical processes
• Integrate AI systems and AI-assisted workflows into analytical practice

Requirements

• At least five years of professional experience in intelligence analysis, geopolitical risk, disinformation analysis, strategic communications, international security, international relations, or a related field
• Strong subject-matter knowledge of the MENA region, including its key political and security actors and regional dynamics
• Working understanding of VEOs, their online ecosystems, communications strategies, narratives, and operational activity, built through direct analytical experience
• Fluency in written Arabic across Modern Standard Arabic and local dialects, including knowledge of slang
• Ability to monitor, analyse, and translate Arabic-language content from a range of sources
• Demonstrable experience applying structured analytical methodologies to complex information environments and online ecosystems, including OSINT, network analysis, narrative analysis, sentiment analysis, or other quantitative and qualitative approaches
• Strong written communication skills and a track record of producing concise, high-quality, policy-relevant intelligence and analytical outputs under tight deadlines
• Hands-on experience curating source coverage, identifying and verifying online sources, assessing affiliation, and maintaining structured datasets to a defined standard
• Experience proofreading, editing, and quality-assuring analytical products
• Strong organisational skills and ability to work independently while managing multiple concurrent workstreams and competing priorities
• Strong attention to detail
• Ability to communicate complex political, security, and extremist-related developments clearly to specialist and non-specialist audiences
• Comfortable integrating AI systems into workflow to improve outputs and efficiency
• Strong understanding of legal and ethical considerations surrounding intelligence collection, open-source research, and data handling
• Legally able to work in the UK without visa support; ExTrac is currently unable to support skilled worker visas

Core Competencies

Demonstrates expertise in intelligence analysis and geopolitical risk with a strong focus on the MENA region, including fluency in Arabic and proficiency in structured analytical methodologies. Capable of producing high-quality analytical outputs and effectively communicating complex developments to diverse audiences.

Highest-signal resume keywords

• Intelligence Analysis
• Geopolitical Risk Assessment
• Fluency in Arabic
• Structured Analytical Methodologies
• Online Ecosystem Monitoring

Hard Skills

• Analytical Reporting
• Source Verification
• Data Structuring
• Network Analysis
• Narrative Analysis
• Sentiment Analysis
• OSINT
• Research Methodology
• Quality Assurance
• Translation of Arabic Documents

Soft Skills

• Strong Written Communication
• Organizational Skills
• Attention to Detail
• Independent Work
• Mentoring

Industry Keywords

• MENA Region
• Violent Extremist Organizations
• Disinformation Analysis
• International Security
• Strategic Communications
• Open-Source Research
• Ethical Considerations in Intelligence

Tools & Technologies

• AI Systems Integration
• Monitoring Frameworks
• Analytical Processes