Sean Joyce Named Executive Assistant Director of National Security Branch

April 21, 2010 - Director Robert S. Mueller, III has named Sean Joyce executive assistant director (EAD) of the FBI’s National Security Branch (NSB), comprised of the Counterterrorism Division, Counterintelligence Division, Directorate of Intelligence, and the Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate. Most recently, Mr. Joyce served as assistant director (AD) of the FBI’s International Operations Division (IOD).

“The NSB oversees the FBI’s national security and intelligence operations. As EAD, Sean will be responsible for the continued development of a specialized national security workforce and will serve as the FBI’s lead intelligence official,” said Director Mueller. “Sean brings a wide range of operational and leadership experience to this position, which he has demonstrated during more than 20 years of service to the FBI.”

Mr. Joyce entered on duty as an FBI special agent in 1987. Following the completion of training at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, he was assigned to the Dallas Division, Fort Worth Resident Agency (RA), where he investigated violent crimes. He later investigated Colombian narcotics matters in the Miami Division. In 1994, Mr. Joyce was selected as a member of the Hostage Rescue Team.

In 1998, he returned to the Dallas Division as a SWAT team leader. He was designated the supervisory senior resident agent for the Fort Worth RA in 2002, with responsibility for the RA’s Counterterrorism Squad, which earned the Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service in 2004. The very next year, Mr. Joyce received the same award for his work in another counterterrorism matter.

Mr. Joyce was designated legal attaché to Prague in August 2005, and in 2007, received an award for investigative excellence for his work there. In 2007, he was assigned to the Washington Field Office as an assistant special agent in charge. The following year he was named section chief of the Counterterrorism Division’s International Terrorism Operations Section, with responsibility for international terrorism matters within the United States.

In February 2009, he was named deputy assistant director of IOD and served in that role until being appointed AD in October 2009. As AD, he was responsible for more than 600 employees in 75 foreign and domestic locations in support of the FBI’s international mission to defeat national security and criminal threats by building a global network of trusted partners and strengthening the FBI’s international capabilities.

A Boston native, he holds degrees from Boston College and Dartmouth’s Amos Tuck School of Business.