Looking for a Job in XR? The CIA is Hiring

As XR continues to grow, its relevance outside of entertainment use-cases does too. The technology has caught the attention of the US Central Intelligence Agency, which is now looking to hire an ‘extended reality specialist’.

The CIA is one of the United States’ key intelligence agencies, primarily focused on foreign intelligence and national security. While certainly most associated with spy novels and covert operations, the organization employs some 20,000 individuals, many of whom are focused on information monitoring, retrieval, and analysis.

To aid in its stated mission of being the nation’s “first line of defense,” the CIA is now looking to hire an ‘Extended Reality Specialist’ with an advertised salary between $61,947 and $164,102.

“As an Extended Reality Specialist, you will use your expertise to interact with Agency officers, researchers, and developers to create methods to extend and immerse individuals in their environments. You will have the opportunity to showcase your technical expertise and program management skills to influence the Agency’s technology, while also providing you with the ability to stay abreast of all pertinent AR/VR technologies. This includes, but is not limited to, AR/VR headsets, software development, and cloud infrastructure,” reads the job listing.

Granted, that doesn’t make it particularly clear what one would really do in such a role. But it’s probably not about making the ultimate AR headset with heat vision and magic hacking abilities, or flying through a visual representation of the internet to chase down personified viruses—like we might see in a near-future CIA spy thriller.

More likely, such a role would leverage XR’s excellent data visualization capabilities to help stakeholders easily collaborate on complex data, especially if it has a 3D or geographic component. There’s also major opportunities to use XR for training—like firearms and mission briefings.