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Mary "Polly" Budenbach began her career as a civilian analyst in WWII with the Navy's cryptologic organization, OP-20-G. She worked on a variety of Japanese naval systems and received the Navy's Meritorious Civilian Service Award in 1945.

Later, at NSA, she worked the Russian problem and then directed the efforts of a group of experts in the Technical Consultants organization. This group was a think-tank where organizations sent their toughest cryptanalytic problems. In 1969, she was respected as the highest technical authority in the U.S. government in several specialized fields. She was, at one time, the highest paid woman in NSA and was probably the first woman supergrade. She was awarded the NSA Meritorious Civilian Service Award in 1975 and the Federal Women's Award in 1969.