Cultural Subject Matter Expert

Clear Fracture; Rockville (MD); On-site; USD 155,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Clear Fracture is seeking a China Cultural and Regional Intelligence Subject Matter Expert to provide authoritative context on Chinese culture, politics, and current events. You will integrate regional expertise with advanced open-source research to support intelligence requirements and operational planning.

You will evaluate complex information, synthesize into clear assessments, and brief stakeholders on analytic judgments and gaps.

Qualifications

• Active Top Secret clearance with eligibility for access to Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI may be required).
• 8+ years providing cultural, regional, linguistic, geopolitical, or advisory services.
• 5+ years of intelligence analysis supporting operational/strategic environments.
• Bachelor's degree; four additional years of related experience may substitute.
• Proficiency in Mandarin Chinese.
• Ability to interpret regional terminology, language, and cultural references.
• Strong analytic writing, briefing, and presentation skills.
• Experience monitoring regional events and assessing operational or strategic impact.
• Experience conducting advanced online research across publicly available sources and digital environments.
• Knowledge of internet research methods, metadata analysis, and online identity resolution.

Responsibilities

• Provide expert analysis of Chinese history, culture, politics, society, institutions, language, and current events.
• Analyze developments across political, military, economic, technological, information, and socio-cultural domains.
• Apply cultural and regional expertise to intelligence assessments and planning.
• Conduct advanced research using public sources, social media, datasets, and research platforms.
• Evaluate source credibility, bias, provenance, and relevance per analytic tradecraft.
• Integrate information from disparate sources to assess threats, risks, and opportunities.
• Produce concise, well-supported intelligence products and executive summaries.
• Monitor significant regional events and provide timely analysis of implications.
• Coordinate intelligence production requests across partners and teams.
• Brief customers and stakeholders on developments, judgments, gaps, and confidence levels.

Skills

Mandarin Chinese

Analytic writing

Briefings

Open-source research

Stakeholder coordination

Education

Bachelor's degree

Equivalent experience in lieu of a degree

Job description

If you are unable to complete this application due to a disability, contact this employer to ask for an accommodation or an alternative application process.

Cultural Subject Matter Expert

Full Time Rockville, MD, US

30+ days ago Requisition ID: 1028

Salary Range: $155,000.00 To $180,000.00 Annually

Position Overview

Clear Fracture provides specialized intelligence services, open-source research capabilities, and Research-as-a-Service solutions to government and commercial customers. Our offerings combine internally developed open-source intelligence and artificial intelligence capabilities with experienced analysts who possess deep regional, linguistic, and cultural expertise.

Clear Fracture is seeking a China Cultural and Regional Intelligence Subject Matter Expert to provide authoritative cultural, political, social, linguistic, and operational context in support of intelligence and mission requirements. The successful candidate will help customers understand developments within the People's Republic of China and the broader Chinese-speaking environment by integrating regional expertise with disciplined intelligence analysis and advanced open-source research.

This role requires the ability to evaluate complex and sometimes conflicting information, identify relevant cultural and regional implications, and communicate assessments clearly to operational and strategic audiences.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide expert analysis of Chinese history, culture, politics, society, institutions, language, and current events.
• Analyze political, military, economic, technological, information, and socio-cultural developments affecting assigned mission areas.
• Apply cultural and regional expertise to intelligence assessments, operational planning, threat analysis, targeting support, and trend identification.
• Conduct advanced research using publicly available information, social media, commercial datasets, specialized research platforms, and other authorized digital information environments.
• Evaluate source credibility, information reliability, bias, provenance, and relevance in accordance with established analytic tradecraft.
• Integrate information from disparate sources to characterize the mission environment and assess threats, risks, opportunities, and potential second-order effects.
• Produce clear, concise, and well-supported written intelligence products, briefings, assessments, and executive-level summaries.
• Monitor significant regional events and provide timely analysis of their operational, strategic, or organizational implications.
• Review strategic and tactical guidance relevant to cyberspace, counterintelligence, and broader intelligence operations.
• Support intelligence planning activities and recommend adjustments to collection, research, and production priorities.
• Develop and maintain intelligence task lists, production schedules, and requirements-tracking mechanisms.
• Coordinate intelligence production requests, responsibilities, dependencies, deadlines, and deliverables across mission partners and functional teams.
• Brief customers and internal stakeholders on complex regional developments, analytic judgments, confidence levels, and intelligence gaps.
• Collaborate with technical personnel, analysts, linguists, data scientists, and operational stakeholders to ensure that products are culturally informed, analytically rigorous, and responsive to mission requirements.

Minimum Qualifications

• Active Top Secret clearance with eligibility for access to Sensitive Compartmented Information. Current TS/SCI access may be required before performance begins.
• Eight or more years of professional experience providing cultural, regional, linguistic, geopolitical, or related advisory services.
• Five or more years of intelligence analysis experience supporting operational, strategic, defense, national security, law enforcement, or comparable mission environments.
• Bachelor's degree from an accredited institution.
• Four additional years of directly relevant professional experience may be considered in lieu of a bachelor's degree.
• Demonstrated expert knowledge of Chinese history, culture, politics, society, institutions, media, and current events acquired through substantial regional immersion, advanced academic study, language training, or sustained professional application.
• Demonstrated experience producing intelligence assessments, reports, briefings, or other analytic products for operational or strategic customers.
• Professional proficiency in Mandarin Chinese.
• Ability to interpret regional terminology, political language, cultural references, colloquial usage, and relevant linguistic nuances.
• Strong analytic writing, briefing, and presentation skills.
• Experience monitoring regional events and assessing their operational or strategic impact.
• Demonstrated experience conducting advanced online research across publicly available internet sources, social media platforms, commercial datasets, specialized databases, and other authorized digital environments.
• Working knowledge of internet research methods, metadata analysis, social media research, online identity resolution, source validation, and digital information environments.
• Ability to apply historical, cultural, political, and linguistic context to current events, targeting support, risk assessments, and trend analysis.
• Ability to manage competing requirements, coordinate across multiple stakeholders, and meet time-sensitive production deadlines.
• Excellent judgment, communication skills, discretion, and interpersonal effectiveness.

Preferred Qualifications

• Knowledge of Office of the Director of National Intelligence analytic standards.
• Familiarity with Department of Defense estimative language, evaluative criteria, and intelligence production practices.
• Experience supporting counterintelligence collection, functional services, investigations, analysis, or operations.
• Understanding of national and defense guidance applicable to counterintelligence and intelligence activities.
• Experience conducting intelligence planning, requirements management, collection support, or production coordination.
• Familiarity with the United States Intelligence Community and experience supporting Department of Defense or Intelligence Community customers.
• Experience analyzing Chinese military, political, economic, technological, cyber, influence, or information activities.
• Experience working within a global, multilingual, or multicultural organization.
• Professional proficiency in Cantonese or another language relevant to the assigned mission.
• Graduate education in Chinese studies, international relations, intelligence studies, political science, history, security studies, linguistics, or a related discipline.

Why Clear Fracture is Your Next Big Move

• Pioneer the Future. Join a rapidly growing company inventing an entirely new class of AI-powered data integration software.
• Meaningful Impact. Your work will directly support national security missions by enabling government organizations to modernize and operationalize their data faster than ever before.
• Culture of Innovation. Work alongside engineers, AI researchers, and industry experts passionate about solving difficult technical problems and building products that matter.
• Growth & Balance.At Clear Fracture, our people are our greatest asset. We foster a collaborative environment focused on innovation, professional development, opportunity, recognition, and work-life balance. We are committed to our employees with the same dedication we bring to every customer engagement.

If you’re excited about deploying cutting-edge AI technology into some of the world’s most challenging technical environments, we’d love to hear from you.