Intern - Center for the Industrial Base (Fall 2025)

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 some 275 employees, including more than 120 analysts working to address the changing dynamics of international security across the globe.

The Center for the Industrial Base (CIB), formerly the Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group, is hiring a research intern for a 35-hour per week, in-person, paid position. CIB provides analysis on the critical issues at the cross-section of the U.S. government, the U.S. industrial base, and long-term strategic competition. CIB monitors important developments in the global defense industry, with a particular focus on DOD and federal industrial base challenges; government contracting trends in defense, civilian agencies, and international markets; industry-government collaboration; and international industrial cooperation. Through years of analytical research, CIB has strengthened its capabilities to draw from large databases to present information in a clear, meaningful way. CIB also collaborates with other teams at CSIS on a variety of research topics.

CIB's research efforts focus on a variety of topics, including:

* The defense industrial base

* Manufacturing security and resilience

* Naval shipbuilding

* International defense industrial cooperation

* Defense acquisition trends

* Foreign military sales and defense trade

* Export controls

The hired candidate will be paid hourly, commensurate with experience ($18.00/hour for current undergraduate hires, $19.00/hour for hires with a bachelor's degree, and $20.00/hour for hires with a master's degree).

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

Interns at CIB bolster the team with a variety of core research and analytical skills.

* Assists with research and analysis

* Writes comprehensive reviews of background literature for projects

* Copy-edits papers

* Assists with data collection and management

* Note-taking and writing summaries of events and meetings

* Assists with event planning and staffing

* 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)

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