Andrea Yaffe has begun a one-year detail as Deputy Director of the Defense Technology Security Administration (DTSA), bringing with her more than two decades of national security experience, including leadership roles across the Department of Defense and the National Security Council.
Yaffe announced the news on LinkedIn, writing:
“I am pleased to share that I am starting a one year detail as the Deputy Director of Defense Technology Security Administration. DTSA has a crucial mission of identifying and mitigating national security risks associated with transferring information and advanced technology internationally in order to maintain the U.S. warfighter’s technological edge and support U.S. national security objectives. DTSA has a fantastic team of leaders and experts, and I look forward to enabling and advancing the work they do each day.”
Her appointment places her at the helm of an agency charged with safeguarding sensitive technologies as they intersect with global partnerships. DTSA plays a critical role in shaping and implementing policies that control the international transfer of U.S. defense-related technologies, ensuring that cooperation with allies doesn’t come at the cost of security.
In her new position, Yaffe will help oversee a staff of more than 190 policy analysts, engineers, licensing specialists, and security officers. Their mission: to ensure that every international transfer of sensitive technology aligns with U.S. national security goals.
Before taking on the DTSA role, Yaffe served as the Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy and as the acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy. She also served as Director for Space Policy at the National Security Council.
Over her 13-year tenure with the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Yaffe held several key roles, including Director of Space Strategy and Plans, Director of Transnational Threats and Counter-WMD Policy, and Foreign Policy Advisor to the Cooperative Threat Reduction program. She also previously served as a Country Director within OSD Policy.
Her private sector and early government experience is equally distinguished, including time as an Associate Vice President at The Cohen Group, a summer internship with the Defense Intelligence Agency, and nearly three years on Capitol Hill as a legislative correspondent in the office of the late Senator Carl Levin.
Yaffe’s educational background further supports her national security credentials, with a master’s degree in Security Policy Studies from George Washington University, undergraduate studies in Arabic at The American University in Cairo, and a bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Johns Hopkins University.
(AI was used in part to facilitate this article.)
