2027 Dr. Chris Scolese Summer Internship Program

For over 60 years, the NRO has developed, acquired, launched, and operated the satellites that are the foundation for America's advantage and strength in space. Using a diversified architecture of spacecraft, NRO collects and delivers the best space-based intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance content on the planet.

Basic Eligibility for a Position with the NRO

• Be a U.S. Citizen
• Be suitable for federal employment, as determined by a background investigation
• Be able to obtain and hold a TS/SCI security clearance, including a polygraph
• Have favorable results on a pre-employment drug test
• Register for the Selective Service System if male, over 18 years of age and born after Dec 31, 1959

About the Role

The NRO Summer Internship Program provides students pursuing education with paid opportunities to work at the NRO and explore career paths related to their academic field of study or career interest. Interns will receive training and guidance to prepare them to support NRO projects and initiatives.

Summer interns are full-time employees on a temporary appointment for the period of 10 weeks between June and August. With a successful evaluation at the end of the summer, there may be an opportunity to return during subsequent summers based on mission requirements, continued eligibility, and the student's availability.

Responsibilities

Intern Projects:

• Each intern will be given a project to complete that aligns with mission need.
• Specific duties will expose individuals to independent and team-oriented work opportunities.
• Each intern performs under direct supervision and will be provided feedback on a regular and timely basis.

Professional Development and Training:

• Throughout the summer, NRO interns will have the opportunity to participate in a variety of professional development and training experiences, including:
• Speaker series with NRO seniors
• Security Q&A sessions
• NRO mission overviews

Technical Career Field:

• Prepares and evaluates plans and designs for engineering projects; researches trends and patterns; conducts technical analysis; evaluates the value and applicability of new technology; and provides engineering expertise and advice on program planning over a broad range of engineering, architecture or scientific programs.
• Supports the management of issues and risks to balance cost, schedule and technical performance.
• Supports the development of new methods and criteria, procedures and/or instructions for engineering, architecture or scientific problems; proposes new policies and practices.
• Provides recommendations on engineering, architecture or scientific problems, programs, and functions to a broad customer base.
• Supports the planning, development, and implementation of crucial projects and segments of NRO programs.
• Supports the development and modification of analytic models and methods to meet the requirements of cost, performance, and effectiveness studies and variance analyses.
• Gathers historical cost, performance and effectiveness data and establishes relationships between system characteristics and design criteria.
• Conducts extensive systemic exploration of problems by an operations research approach; conducts analysis of alternatives, presents trend analysis data ascertaining potential problem areas.
• Synthesizes science and technology capabilities to create new concepts and prototypes with guidance.
• Develops draft test and evaluation plans with supervisory assistance; participates in the test and evaluation campaigns.

Contracts Career Field:

• Support management on all aspects of contract management, including contract information, solicitation, negotiation, cost analysis, administration, termination and closeout.
• Plan, develop, and establish procurement plans strategies, and approaches for acquisition projects.
• Support the developments of procurement objectives for the program regarding competition and price range; construct the contract vehicle.
• Prepare statements of work, acquisition plans, source selection plans and solicitation documents.
• Responsible for contract administration functions following award throughout the contract life cycle.
• Monitor and ensure contractor performance in accordance with the terms of the contract.
• Support negotiations and issue contract modification driven by technological advances or upgrade operational requirements.

Financial Management Career Field:

• Financial Concepts of NRO.
• Fund commitment, obligation and expenditure.
• Organization specific financial requirement tools and resource planning.
• Transactions and financial tools to execute program resources.
• Appropriations Law to include purpose, time, and amount as they relate to budgets.
• Organizational budget hierarchy and alignment for resource management and accounting (financial statement) purposes.
• Execution metrics and oversight reporting of obligations and expenditures.
• Acquisitions Support to NRO Programs.
• Contract types and financial requirement planning.
• Contract deliverables and financial analysis/forecasting.
• Spend plans and forecasting of funding needs.

Requirements

• Be enrolled full-time in an undergraduate or graduate degree program at an accredited college or university.
• Have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.
• Undergraduates must have completed a minimum of 24 credit hours at the time of application.
• Provide an unofficial transcript at the time of application and an official transcript upon acceptance into the program from the academic institution.
• Be available for an interview and other applicable processing.
• NRO prohibits illegal drug involvement during employment, regardless of state level legalization, and requires a passing pre-employment drug screening. Prior drug use is carefully evaluated.
• Be available, and geographically located near Chantilly, Virginia for the 10-week summer program from June – August.

Preferred Qualifications

• Strong oral and written communication skills.
• Good organization and planning skills and be able to demonstrate effective project coordination and implementation based on past work or school experiences.
• Possess deductive reasoning skills and be able to analyze and synthesize information for problem-solving.

What You Need To Apply

• Required – Resume and Transcript

In order to qualify for this position, your resume and transcripts must provide sufficient evidence of experience and/or education relevant to the specific position for which you are being considered. Your resume will be evaluated based on the following criteria: range of occupational skills relevant to the position, alignment of education and/or work experience to the position, evidence of your experience collaborating with others, and evidence of your experience presenting information-communication skills. Please be clear and concise when describing your experience.

Please upload a .pdf copy of your current transcript from the institution you are currently attending. If you have started a graduate program but have not completed your first semester, you must submit your conferred undergraduate degree, along with proof of enrollment in a full-time graduate program. Although NRO will accept unofficial transcripts at the time of the application, an official transcript is required to receive a final job offer. The official transcript will show your full-time enrollment into a program for the Fall (2026) semester of the internship year.

Applicants submitting a resume that exceeds the two-page limit per OPM Memorandum, “Merit Hiring Plan,” dated May 29, 2025, will not be eligible for consideration.

Locations

• Chantilly, Virginia (All positions)
• Buckley Air Force Base, Colorado (Technical Career Field only)
• Fort Belvoir, Virginia (Technical Career Field only)
• White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico (Technical Career Field only)

Pay

2026 Salary Range for Washington D.C. Metro Area:

• Working towards Bachelor's Degree: GG-06, Step 05 - $58,884 per year
• Working towards Master's Degree: GG-07, Step 05 - $65,435 per year
• Working towards Doctorate: GG-09, Step 05 - $80,041 per year

Federal pay is a combination of base and locality pay which is based on the geographic location of where you work. These positions are Defense Civilian Intelligence Personnel System (DCIPS) positions in the Expected Service under Title 10 USC 1601.

Examples of Accepted Educational Pursuits

Technical Career Field:

• Aerospace Engineering
• Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning
• Computer Science
• Data Science
• Electrical Engineering
• General Engineering
• Information Technology
• Mathematics
• Mechanical Engineering
• Operations Research
• Program Analysis

Contracts Career Field:

• Contract Specialist

Financial Management Career Field:

• Budget Formulation – forecasting budget needs for future years by planning/balancing limited resources
• Budget Execution – day-to-day budget actions/reporting and contractor performance analysis
• Fiscal Law & Policy – Execute budgets within legal parameters and policy; unique to federal government
• Financial Systems – learn/leverage available systems/databases to perform analysis supporting decisions related to budget