Maura Burns (Ret.)

Last Name: Burns

First Name: Maura

ACNSL Offices and Committees:

• National Security and the All-Volunteer Force

• Arms Control

• Health and Readiness

Rank: SIS-5

Branch: Central Intelligence Agency

Last or Significant Assignment:

• Chief Operating Officer of the Central Intelligence Agency

Medals and Honors:

• Presidential Rank Awards (2)

• Distinguished Intelligence Medal

• Director’s Award for Distinguished Service

• Distinguished Career Intelligence Medal

Areas of Expertise:

• Executive Leadership Skills

• Mentorship and Employee Development

• Technical Weapons Knowledge including Arms Control Issues

• Policy and Communications at the Executive Level

Maura Burns is a transformational enterprise executive at the Fortune 200–scale and served as the Chief Operating Officer of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) – the number three position - until her retirement in 2025. In this role, she directed enterprise-level day-to-global business functions and spearheaded strategic initiatives that modernized technology and strengthened organizational resilience.

A seasoned national security senior executive, Maura is recognized for driving enterprise-wide change that improved efficiency, accelerated innovation, and positioned the organization for future challenges. She built strong partnerships with the private sector to accelerate the adoption of cutting-edge technologies—including artificial intelligence, advanced cybersecurity systems, and next-generation technical collection platforms—ensuring mission success at scale. Maura’s career reflects three decades of deep expertise in nuclear energy and weapons systems, space and counterspace security, biosecurity threats, and arms control.

As the Director of the Weapons and Counter-Proliferation Mission Center, she led more than 500 engineers, analysts, scientists, and operators in developing and implementing technical strategies to address emerging threats across the nuclear fuel cycle and space systems among other weapons threats. She strengthened global partnerships, aligning U.S. and international efforts to safeguard critical technologies while advancing scientific and operational collaboration.

Her leadership philosophy is rooted in transparency, collaboration, and talent development. She is a champion of workforce transformation, succession planning, and STEM recruitment, with a strong commitment to developing the next generation of executives in highly technical fields.

Throughout her career, Maura has been a trusted advisor to senior leaders and policymakers, guiding complex resource decisions, shaping interagency and international collaboration, and navigating organizational change at enterprise scale. Her ability to balance technical expertise with operational excellence has made her a recognized leader in both national security and global technology strategy. Maura’s distinguished service has been recognized with some of the nation’s highest honors, including two Presidential Rank Awards, the Distinguished Intelligence Medal, the Director’s Award for Distinguished Service, and the Distinguished Career Intelligence Medal—reflecting her sustained excellence, innovation, and impact on national and global security.