Intern - Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group (Spring 2025) - Center For Strategic And International Studies

The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is a non-profit, bipartisan public policy organization established in 1962 to provide strategic insights and practical policy solutions to decision makers concerned with global security and prosperity. Over the years, it has grown to be one of the largest organizations of its kind, with a staff of approximately 250 employees, including more than 120 analysts working to address the changing dynamics of international security across the globe.

The Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group (DIIG) is hiring a research intern for a 35-hour per week, in-person, paid position. DIIG provides analysis on the critical issues at the cross-section of the Department of Defense, its industrial base, and long-term strategic competition. With a focus on defense acquisition trends, technological innovation, manufacturing capacity, and defense industrial cooperation, DIIG monitors important developments in the global defense industry. Through years of analytical research, DIIG has strengthened its capabilities to draw from large databases to present information in a clear, meaningful way. DIIG also collaborates with other teams at CSIS on a variety of research topics.

DIIG’s research efforts focus on a variety of topics, including:

• Defense acquisition trends

• The defense industrial base

• Global supply chains

• Foreign military sales and defense trade

• Export controls

• International defense industrial cooperation

The hired candidate will be paid hourly, commensurate with experience ($17.50/hour for current undergraduate hires, $18.50/hour for hires with a bachelor’s degree, and $19.50/hour for hires with a master’s degree)

Essential functions may include, but are not limited to the following:

• Provide research support to PONI staff for ongoing projects on deterrence, arms control, disarmament, and other nuclear weapons policy issues.

• Support events related to various research projects.

• Develop programming for PONI’s Nuclear Scholars Initiative and Mid-Career Cadre.

• Compile the Nuclear Policy News mailing three times a week.

• Support PONI’s outreach efforts, including drafting content for social media.

• Produce an independent research product for the Next Generation Nuclear Network blog.

• In pursuit of a bachelor’s degree (preferably at the junior or senior level) or of a master’s degree. Recent graduates are also encouraged to apply

• Must have at least a 3.0 GPA (on a 4.0 scale) from an accredited U.S. institution or equivalent from a non-U.S. institution

• Strong communication and interpersonal skills

• Training in quantitative analysis or qualitative social science methods

• Experience with Microsoft Office software (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)

• Ability to carry out tasks without ongoing oversight

• Demonstrated ability to conduct research and present information clearly and efficiently

SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATES WILL HAVE SOME OF THE FOLLOWING SKILLS:

• Familiarity or demonstrated interest in defense research, acquisition, or supply chains

• Interest in national security, emerging technologies, advanced manufacturing, export controls, and international defense industrial cooperation

• Background in national security, science, engineering, economics, econometrics, organization science, or statistics

• Experience coding (preferably with R, Python, and/or Stata)

• Proficiency with databases (ideally SQL Server)

This position will be based out of our Washington DC headquarters and is expected to be in-office.

The physical demands are representative of those that must be met by an employee working in an office environment. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential job functions. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

Interested applicants should submit a résumé, cover letter, and college transcript as a single PDF at https://https://careers.csis.org/. Applications not submitted in one PDF will not be considered. This application will remain open until the position is filled.