Given today's rapid evolution of signals and advancements in adversarial technologies, the NSA must maintain and develop a highly talented workforce of SIGINT analysis professionals, e.g. Signals Analysts and Target Systems Analysts, spanning expertise in communications intelligence (COMINT), electronic intelligence (ELINT), foreign instrumentation signals intelligence (FISINT), and PROFORMA (formatted data communications) intelligence. These professionals play a vital part in maintaining our technical capabilities to recover, understand, exploit and derive intelligence from foreign communications and signals. - COMINT is technical and intelligence information derived from foreign communications; it includes intelligence derived from the content of the communications to and from individuals, networks, or devices. - ELINT is technical and geolocation information derived from foreign non-communication electromagnetic emissions, most commonly from radars, weapons systems, beacons, navigational systems and electromagnetic interference. - FISINT consists of technical information and intelligence derived from the intercept of foreign electromagnetic emissions associated with the testing and operational deployment of foreign aerospace, surface and subsurface systems. - PROFORMA is machine-generated data communications associated with military C4ISR, civil, industrial, commercial and personal applications; analysis of PROFORMA data conveys information derived from sensors and/or control systems. Responsibilities of Signals Analyst Professionals may include: - Levy deep technical understanding of signal characteristics to determine signal structure, define signal parameters, identify signal content, and model signal behavior within the RF and digital domains. - Transform signals between domains, and create processing models and scripts. - Report technical characteristics of signals and maintain knowledge bases. - Support access and follow-on analytic activities. - Analyze engineering and technical information related to weapon and space systems. - Conduct target analysis and research. - Use knowledge of customer requirements to collect, process, analyze and/or report on signals intelligence information. - Identify and analyze signal waveforms (e.g., weapon systems or communication systems), bit streams (e.g., multiplexers, error correction, voice and video compression, or instrumentation systems), and/or protocols (e.g., link layer, network layer, or application layer). - Develop software code to support analysis and/or processing using a variety of architectures and solutions. - Report signal parametric data and intelligence information in databases, narrative reports, and oral presentations. - Collaborate with collection managers, developers, analysts, and reporters to optimize resources, develop new solutions to analytic challenges, fuse multiple sources of information, and deliver critical intelligence to a variety of customers.