Organization

FIRS is led by an SES-level Chief, assisted by a Principal Deputy Chief. FIRS consists of attorneys, subject-matter experts, research specialists, and other professional staff across five units, as shown in the organizational chart below.

Three units are each supervised by a Deputy Chief and staffed primarily by attorneys, who are dual-hatted to perform all legal and policy work:

• Foreign Investment Unit, which primarily represents the Department on CFIUS and contributes to the development of the outbound-investment program;
• Telecom & Supply Chain Unit, which primarily manages the Attorney General’s responsibilities as Chair of Team Telecom and works closely with interagency partners in the exercise of various ICTS supply-chain authorities; and
• Compliance & Enforcement Unit, which helps design measures to mitigate risk, works with companies to ensure compliance with those measures, and takes action to enforce compliance when appropriate.

Two additional non-attorney units and provide critical support and expertise: 

• Science & Technology Unit, led by the Principal Scientific Officer, which consists of subject-matter experts that provide analysis and advice on information security and data privacy, cybersecurity, communications networks and equipment, emerging technologies (including artificial intelligence, advanced computing, autonomous systems and robotics, biotechnology, financial technology, and space technologies and systems), and other topics; and
• Knowledge Management & Operations Unit, led by a Director, which provides data analytics, business intelligence, and operational support. 

FIRS personnel come from a diverse range of professional backgrounds, including civil and criminal litigation, transactional, and regulatory practices at law firms, cybersecurity consulting firms, telecommunications and software companies, other parts of the Department of Justice (including the Civil Division, Office of Legal Counsel, and NSD’s Office of the Assistant Attorney General, Counterintelligence and Export Controls Section, Counterterrorism Section, and Office of Intelligence), the Intelligence Community (including the FBI and National Security Agency), and other government agencies (including the Department of Commerce, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, State Department, Federal Communications Commission, and the White House).