Stephanie O'Sullivan became the Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence (PDDNI) February 18, 2011. She works to assist the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) in managing the day to day operations of the intelligence community, and to act on behalf of the DNI in his absence. Prior to serving as PDDNI, she served as a senior leader at the Central Intelligence Agency

Central Intelligence Agency

The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...

 (CIA), rising to the Associate Deputy Director of the CIA before being confirmed as the PDDNI.

Prior Career

She served as the Associate Deputy Director of the CIA from December 2009 to February 2011. Prior to that position, Ms. O'Sullivan headed CIA's Directorate of Science and Technology for 4 years. In that role, she managed CIA's technological innovation and support to case officer operations. In all, Ms. O'Sullivan spent over 14 years combined in the Directorate of Science and Technology. Before the CIA, she worked in the Office of Naval Intelligence, and at TRW, which is now part of Northrop Grumman.

Nomination

She was nominated by President Barack Obama

Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

 on January 5, 2011 at the recommendation of Director James R. Clapper

James R. Clapper

James R. Clapper, Jr. is a retired lieutenant general in the United States Air Force and is currently the Director of National Intelligence. He was previously dual-hatted as the first Director of Defense Intelligence within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence alongside the position...

. On February 15, 2011, the Senate Intelligence Committee

United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence

The United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence is dedicated to overseeing the United States Intelligence Community—the agencies and bureaus of the federal government of the United States who provide information and analysis for leaders of the executive and legislative branches. The...

 voted unanimously to recommend O'Sullivan's confirmation to the Senate

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

, which later unanimously confirmed her.