Dan Cardella Loves Solving National Cyber Problems

Dan Cardella brings great passion to his work at Booz Allen for solving client problems and building the next generation of cyber leaders. He also brings over 20 years of experience in National Security Agency (NSA) signals intelligence (SIGINT) and cyber missions. Dan started his career as an Arabic linguist supporting geopolitical and counterterrorism missions. Since joining the firm, his skills have diversified enabling him to work in multiple fields and disciplines across the spectrum of end-to-end SIGINT development (SIGDEV), SIGINT discovery, and cyber operations.

Now a principal and a contract technical director, Dan cherishes being part of a team that decomposes the most urgent and complex challenges for clients and finds solutions to vital mission problems. He says maintaining proximity to the most important facets of the mission—and fully grasping all aspects of what will disrupt client success—is both challenging and satisfying. What is most rewarding is “seeing our dedication to our craft, collaboration, and knowledge sharing, becoming the keys to our client success.”

Why did you go into this field?

As I separated from the Air Force in 2003, I strongly desired to contribute in a career beyond my foreign language abilities I had at the time. I lacked any proven expertise in SIGDEV fields, but Booz Allen invested in me by providing a wealth of opportunities to learn and grow from true experts. My first major independent delivery assignment was to work across the client enterprise in the U.S. and Europe, to reestablish and later teach the foundational methodology for SIGDEV. The opportunity brought me close to highly diverse people, challenges, and locations.  I was hooked, haven’t looked back, and am now dedicated to paying these experiences forward.    

How do you describe your job to non-scientific/technical people?         

My role is to help advance the technical health for our workforce, to assist in driving the state-of-the-art, and to bring about the most effective and efficient solutions for our client priorities.   

Why and how did you decide to do this work?             

Explaining this calling and putting into words why I need to do this work, is very difficult. What is not so difficult is sharing how I do my job.  Simply put, I am the product of generous and highly informed mentors and leaders, exciting client mission experiences, and an exceptional delivery team. NSA SIGINT and cyber missions exist within an unforgiving, dynamic, and highly complex set of environmental conditions. I am part of a team that both accepts that reality and focuses our collective energy to solve incredibly complex problems. 

What is a client achievement you’re proud of?            

Seeing how our team rallies to the fight together, how we persevere, learn new skills, and deliver—under the most urgent circumstances—history-making mission outcomes that result in our clients being lauded by the highest levels of national leadership. 

How has Booz Allen given you the opportunity to take part in interesting work?                

Since 2003 Booz Allen has helped to open every door of opportunity for me to achieve my personal, academic, and career goals. The firm has invested in me through highly diverse experiences and mentors, multiple post-graduate degrees, industry certifications, and ensuring I attend the most important technical conferences. I have been allowed to be the technical director for an amazing contract team, who face off against some of the most important challenges in the intelligence community. Furthermore, I’ve been afforded every opportunity to participate in community service both locally and internationally as well as maintain a healthy work/life balance for my family. 

What do you see as next for your career?     

To continue to help Booz Allen differentiate itself within the market, and to do my part in support of the firm’s National Cyber platform across the intelligence community. There is tremendous work yet to be done in bringing solutions to our clients.