Senior Intelligence Analyst, Iran Focus

Job description

The R&D team at Chainalysis is inspired by solving the hardest technical challenges and building products that establish trust in cryptocurrencies. We're a global organization that thrives on challenging work and doing it alongside exceptionally talented teammates. Our industry evolves rapidly, and our mission is to build a flexible, AI-driven platform that automates entity resolution, optimizes data labeling pipelines, and creates predictive models that identify illicit patterns before they escalate. Our data and solutions have been used to solve some of the world's most high-profile criminal cases and grow consumer access to cryptocurrency safely. Now, by pairing the industry's most trusted blockchain data with agents that reason, investigate, and act, we help our customers scale their workflows as the cryptocurrency economy becomes increasingly mainstream. Chainalysis data has helped solve some of the world’s highest-profile criminal and national-security cases and made it safer for people everywhere to access crypto. The Global Intelligence Team produces the attribution at the heart of that data — connecting on-chain activity to the real-world entities behind it, across the global crypto ecosystem. It’s the intelligence data moat beneath every Chainalysis product, and what investigators, sanctions authorities, and national-security agencies rely on to follow the money and disrupt threats. Few threats test that mission harder than Iran. Through the IRGC and its Qods Force, a network of proxies and Shia militant groups, state-linked cyber actors, and a sprawling sanctions-evasion apparatus, the Islamic Republic has turned to cryptocurrency to raise, move, and launder value beyond the reach of the traditional financial system — from exchange-based sanctions evasion and crypto mining powered by subsidized energy, to oil- and commodity-for-crypto schemes, dual-use procurement, and the financing of proxies across the region. Making that activity visible on-chain is one of the most consequential problems in crypto intelligence today. As our Iran-focused intelligence analyst — the team’s subject-matter expert on Iran and the IRGC — you’ll own that problem end to end. This is a depth role: while our analysts cover the breadth of the crypto-services ecosystem, you’ll go deep on a single, high-stakes domain — becoming the person, inside Chainalysis and increasingly across the industry, who understands how Iran and its proxies use crypto and can prove it on-chain. You’ll own the attribution for Iran’s crypto footprint, map how these networks actually operate, turn that into finished intelligence customers act on, and be the expert voice representing Chainalysis on Iran crypto threats. Who you’ll work with You’ll join a fast-moving, globally distributed team — analysts, threat-domain SMEs, data scientists, and engineers — collaborating across time zones, async and in real time. We move fast, hold each other to a high bar, and back each other up across regions. As the Iran SME, you’ll be the single point of depth for the domain and a force multiplier for everyone working adjacent to it. In this role, you’ll: - Own Iran attribution end to end — the threat-actor entities, their definitions, and the accounts, addresses, and infrastructure they operate: Iranian exchanges and OTC/no-KYC networks, IRGC and IRGC-QF financing, Iranian proxy and Shia militant finance (e.g., Hezbollah, the Houthis, and Iraqi militias), sanctions-evasion infrastructure, Iranian ransomware and state-linked cyber operations, and oil-, commodity-, and procurement-for-crypto flows. - Lead the attribution response to Iran-related sanctions events — when OFAC or allied authorities designate Iranian entities, actors, or infrastructure, drive the rapid, high-visibility on-chain attribution that turns those designations into coverage in our data, often against the clock. - Map the networks on-chain — trace how Iranian actors raise, move, launder, and cash out value through Iranian VASPs, regional exchanges, mixers, no-KYC swaps, mining operations, and off-ramps, and keep that picture current as they adapt to pressure. - Produce finished intelligence — advisory notes, customer and partner briefings, and contributions to flagship publications (the Crypto Crime Report and beyond) that make the Iran crypto threat legible and actionable. - Be the named external expert — represent Chainalysis on Iran crypto threats at conferences, on panels, with the press, and in briefings to public- and private-sector partners. - Help set the Iran collection agenda — surface what data we need on Iranian networks and feed those requirements into our collection process and priority intelligence requirements; you direct collection for the domain, but it runs through the team’s apparatus and prioritization, not you alone. - Translate typologies into detection — turn what you learn about Iranian methods into guidance that our products and our customers can operationalize. - Build with AI — design and tune the automation that scales your analysis and the team’s, and handle the hard cases automation can’t. - Level up the team — raise the bar on Iran and threat-finance tradecraft broadly, and partner closely with analysts, other SMEs, data science, and engineering. We’re looking for candidates who have: - Deep, demonstrable Iran expertise — real command of the IRGC and IRGC-Qods Force, Iran’s proxy and Shia militant landscape, Iranian sanctions evasion, and/or Iran’s illicit-finance and procurement systems. This is the core of the role, and we’ll expect you to show it. - On-chain tracing ability against Iranian targets — direct experience following Iranian crypto activity on-chain (Iranian exchanges, sanctions evasion, proxy or terror finance), or deep Iran threat-finance expertise paired with proven blockchain-tracing skill you can bring to bear here from day one. - A national-security or threat-finance background — intelligence, sanctions, counter-threat-finance, or investigations, from the IC, Treasury/OFAC, law enforcement, the military, a think tank or research institution, or private-sector CTF/sanctions work. - Regional fluency — a strong grasp of Iranian geopolitics, the proxy network, and regional financial flows. Farsi (or Arabic) language ability is a significant plus. - Elite potential and a proven track record — exceptional aptitude, judgment, and work ethic; you’ve led hard problems end to end and you raise everyone around you. - Excellent writing and communication — this is an outward-facing expert role; your intelligence has to land with analysts, customers, and senior audiences alike. - AI-forward instincts — you build automation to scale your work and others’, not just use it. - Comfort working with data; blockchain forensics experience strongly preferred. - 5+ years of relevant analytic, intelligence, or threat-finance experience for a Senior hire; 8+ years and recognized domain authority for a Staff hire. You might also have: - Farsi language ability. - Direct experience with OFAC sanctions, terror-finance designations, or the designation process. - A record of published research or public speaking on Iran, sanctions evasion, or crypto threat finance. - Familiarity with Iranian exchange infrastructure, crypto mining as a sanctions-evasion vector, or dual-use procurement networks. AI at Chainalysis AI is not a feature at Chainalysis - it is a new way of working. One that turns instructions into work done, and helps us move faster than the threats we're built to counter, and we expect our employees to take ownership of the output and ensure quality. As the world's most trusted blockchain analytics platform, Chainalysis sits at a rare intersection of proprietary data, regulatory relationships and crypto expertise that makes it uniquely placed to shape and lead the next era of AI-driven intelligence - and we expect everyone here, regardless of role, to be an active part of it. AI fluency is tied directly to how we measure performance and how we plan to win. There is no substitute for your own curiosity. We provide the tools, workflows, and space to experiment - but the expectation is that you develop these capabilities yourself, bring ideas, and collaborate across teams to reinvent the way work gets done. We are not using AI to do less. We are using it to do what was never possible before. About Chainalysis Chainalysis is the blockchain data platform, making it easy to connect the movement of digital assets to real-world services. Powered by deep blockchain data and AI, organizations can investigate illicit activity, manage risk exposure, and develop innovative market solutions built on the industry's most trusted blockchain intelligence. Our mission is to build trust in blockchains, blending safety and security with an unwavering commitment to growth and innovation. You belong here. At Chainalysis, we believe that diversity of experience and thought makes us stronger. With both customers and employees around the world, we are committed to ensuring our team reflects the unique communities around us. We’re ensuring we keep learning by committing to continually revisit and reevaluate our diversity culture. We encourage applicants across any race, ethnicity, gender/gender expression, age, spirituality, ability, experience and more. If you need any accommodations to make our interview process more accessible to you due to a disability, don't hesitate to let us know. You can learn more here https://go.chainalysis.com/rs/503-FAP-074/images/Interview%20Accommodations%20Request.pdf. We can’t wait to meet you.