Role of the Director
The role of the Director of the CIA (D/CIA) is to manage the Agency’s intelligence collection, analysis, covert action, counterintelligence, and liaison relationships with foreign services. The D/CIA also oversees the management of foreign intelligence acquired by human sources, what we call HUMINT.
The CIA Director is nominated by the President with the advice, consent, and confirmation of the Senate. The D/CIA reports to the Director of National Intelligence.
CIA Director William J. Burns
Bill Burns was sworn in as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency in March 2021, making him the first career diplomat to serve as Director. He was promoted to Cabinet rank by President Biden in June 2023.
Director Burns has served six Presidents and Administrations of both parties during nearly four decades of public service in diplomacy and intelligence. He is only the second serving career diplomat in history to become Deputy Secretary of State, and also served as U.S. Ambassador to Russia and Jordan.
Following his retirement from the Foreign Service in late 2014, Director Burns served as President of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He is the author of the best-selling book, The Back Channel: A Memoir of American Diplomacy and the Case for Its Renewal (2019). He earned a bachelor's degree in history from LaSalle University and master's and doctoral degrees in international relations from Oxford University, where he studied as a Marshall Scholar. He and his wife, Ambassador Lisa Carty, have two daughters.
Deputy Director of the CIA
Role of the Deputy Director
The CIA Deputy Director (DD/CIA) supports the Director in managing the Agency’s intelligence collection, analysis, covert action, counterintelligence, and liaison relationships with foreign services. The DD/CIA also exercises the Director’s powers in his or her absence or if the Director position becomes vacant.
Deputy Director David S. Cohen
David S. Cohen was officially sworn-in on January 20, 2021. Cohen previously served as Deputy Director of the CIA from 2015 to 2017. In that role, Cohen helped manage the Agency’s worldwide operations, oversee strategic modernization of the Agency, and lead foreign intelligence collection, analysis, and action. He directed special projects on new technologies and how best to work with companies to advance the CIA’s mission. At the end of his tenure, Cohen was awarded the Distinguished Intelligence Medal, the CIA’s highest honor. Before returning to the CIA in 2021, Mr. Cohen was a partner in the Washington, DC office of WilmerHale, where he led its Business and Financial Integrity Group.
Prior to his previous role at the CIA, Cohen served as Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence in the Department of the Treasury, where he managed the policy, regulatory enforcement, and intelligence functions aimed at fighting illicit finance. He supervised the Office of Foreign Assets Control and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and developed and administered sanctions against Iran, Russia, North Korea, and terrorist organizations. He previously served as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorist Financing and in the Treasury’s general counsel’s office. Before joining the Treasury Department in 2009, Cohen practiced law for nearly 20 years.
Cohen earned his bachelor’s degree in government from Cornell University and his JD from Yale Law School.
Chief Operating Officer
Role of the Chief Operating Officer
The Chief Operating Officer (COO) manages CIA on a day-to-day basis, formulating and implementing policies and programs that affect the corporate interests of the Agency and its personnel on behalf of the Director of the CIA. Enterprise-level functions under the COO’s purview include budget and resources, strategic planning, and senior personnel assignments.
Chief Operating Officer Maura Burns
Maura Burns was selected as CIA’s Chief Operating Officer in May 2022. She most recently served as CIA’s Deputy Chief Operating Officer and brought a wide range of leadership and expertise to the position. She advanced through multiple analytic and managerial roles during her long career within the Directorate of Analysis, where she specialized in weapons, counterproliferation, and counterterrorism.
Over the years, Ms. Burns earned many prestigious honors. In 2024, she received the Wash100 Award that recognizes the most influential federal government executives; in 2016, she received a Presidential Rank Award; in 2010, she was inducted into the Senior Intelligence Service for exceptional executive experts and managers who advance the Agency’s mission; and in 2000, she was among the first group inducted into the Senior Analytic Service – a cadre of the Intelligence Community’s leading subject matter experts.
A native of Pittsburgh and a diehard Steelers, Penguins, and Pirates fan, Ms. Burns joined the Agency in 1988 after working for Westinghouse. She graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1985 and volunteers her time as a docent at the National Air and Space Museum.