Senior Analyst - LATAM Organized Crime

About the role

The Senior Analyst will lead ExTrac's coverage of Latin America, focusing on cartels, criminal networks, and illicit economies. The role requires a deep understanding of organized crime dynamics, geopolitical contexts, and US national security interests.

Responsibilities

• Collect and analyze intelligence on Latin American organized crime, with a focus on cartel structures, criminal governance, trafficking networks, and armed non-state actors.
• Apply advanced OSINT methodologies to track cartel activity, criminal governance, trafficking routes, and armed group dynamics.
• Monitor Spanish-language media, government reporting, law enforcement releases, and social media across the region.
• Produce geopolitical and strategic analysis of Latin American countries, covering political stability, governance, and regional diplomacy.
• Assess how state and non-state dynamics in the region interact, and identify emerging trends, key actors, and criminal networks.
• Own delivery of regular analytical products, ensuring they are ready to reach customers with minimal substantive editing.
• Separate description from analysis in all outputs, apply the probability lexicon consistently, and maintain precise sourcing on the platform.
• Manage multiple concurrent deliverables and adjust priorities transparently as the picture develops.
• Curate data strategically, verify data through cross-referencing and regional context, and help close data gaps that limit analytical coverage.
• Improve platform tagging, categorization, and source integration for Latin America organized crime data.
• Build and maintain deep regional expertise, spanning organized crime and wider geopolitical dynamics.
• Contribute to external thought leadership, publications, briefings, or commentary that reflects ExTrac's analytical brand in this space.
• Engage directly with customers to understand requirements and present findings, building credibility through analytical quality and responsiveness.
• Mentor junior analysts in research methods, analytical thinking, and house style.
• Train junior analysts on data quality standards.
• Conduct quality-assurance reviews of others' outputs where relevant, and help document the methodology so it is not held solely by one person.

Requirements

• At least five years' professional experience in intelligence analysis, organized crime, national security, law enforcement, or a related analytical field.
• Demonstrated ability to apply advanced OSINT methodologies to complex information environment problems, with a track record of separating description from analysis in written outputs.
• Deep, demonstrable subject matter expertise in Latin American organized crime: cartel structures, criminal governance, trafficking networks, and armed non-state actors.
• Ability to produce geopolitical and strategic analysis of Latin American countries, including political stability, governance, and regional diplomacy.
• Working knowledge of how organized crime and wider geopolitical dynamics in the region intersect with US national security interests and policy.
• Professional proficiency in Spanish, with the ability to monitor and assess Spanish-language media and source material directly.
• Experience producing intelligence products for a professional audience, applying consistent probability language and precise source attribution.
• Ability to manage multiple concurrent deliverables independently, and to engage directly and credibly with customers.
• Strong data literacy, and comfort curating, verifying, and structuring data to support analytical output.
• Prior experience covering Mexico, Colombia, or Ecuador specifically is desirable.
• A bachelor's degree in a relevant field, such as security studies, Latin American studies, political science, or criminology; a master's degree or higher is advantageous.
• Experience mentoring or providing quality assurance to junior analysts is desirable.
• Existing engagement in external thought leadership, publications, briefings, or commentary, on Latin American security or organized crime.
• Security clearance.