Andrea M. Yaffe

Deputy Director, Defense Technology Security Administration

Ms. Andrea M. Yaffe, a career member of the Senior Executive Service, is currently serving as the Deputy Director for the Defense Technology Security Administration (DTSA). In this capacity she assists the Director in managing a staff of over 190 policy analysts, engineers, licensing, and security officers responsible for developing and implementing DoD technology security and foreign disclosure policies for international transfers of defense-related goods, services, information, and technology.

Prior to her detail from the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Policy (OSDP) as the Deputy Director, Ms. Yaffe spent four years focused on space policy, serving most recently as the Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (PDASD) for Space Policy. Before that she was the National Security Council’s Director for Space Policy and the Director for Space Strategy and Plans in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. In these roles, she helped develop and shape multiple DoD and national space policies and strategies that contributed to efforts to normalize space as an operational domain. Additionally, as Acting PDASD, she supported the Assistant Secretary of Defense (ASD) for Space Policy on all matters under the ASD’s purview, including nuclear deterrence, countering weapons of mass destruction (CWMD), space and missile defense.

Prior to her work regarding the space domain, Ms. Yaffe served for five years as the Director of Transnational Threats in OSDP’s CWMD office. Her team led OSDP’s efforts on WMD interdiction, multinational arms control, denying Iran a nuclear weapons capability, and mitigating North Korea-related WMD threats.

She began her tenure working CWMD issues as a Foreign Policy Advisor on the DoD Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) policy team. She joined the CTR team after serving as Deputy Director of the OSDP Pakistan team.

Before joining DoD, Ms. Yaffe was an Associate Vice President at The Cohen Group, helping to build the firm's India practice, while also working on Middle East and homeland security issues for clients. She started her career as a legislative correspondent for Senator Carl Levin.

Ms. Yaffe has a BA in International Relations from Johns Hopkins University and an MA in Security Policy Studies from George Washington University.

Andrea M. Yaffe

Deputy Director, Defense Technology Security Administration