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 over 200 employees, including more than 120 analysts working to address the changing dynamics of international security across the globe.

JOB SUMMARY

The iDeas Lab, the award-winning creative and digital production department at CSIS, seeks highly motivated and creative candidates for a full-time, six-month web development internship to join our dynamic and fast-paced team beginning in September 2020 (ending late February 2021). Responsibilities span a range of web development projects and content management support, and some multimedia assignments. The position is unpaid.

The iDeas Lab enhances CSIS's policy research and analysis with the latest in cutting-edge web technologies, design, video, and audio. You can see some of our work at ideaslab.csis.org or www.github.com/CSIS-iLab. The iDeas Lab is a creative environment made up of three major sub-teams – each of which is related to video/audio production, web development, and design. We are a collaborative team, and many of us cross over the different creative areas with our skills and passion.

The successful candidate will primarily support the web/dev team on a range of efforts and on a spectrum of CSIS’ issue areas. The internship supports our range of micro-websites and development of digital reports as well as interactive data visualizations. We are looking for a self-starter who is creative and has a strong desire to experience the many different facets and phases of digital production.

The internship is structured to provide aspiring professionals with practical experience and hard-skill building, and add content to their professional portfolios.

HOW TO APPLY

Interested applicants should submit a cover letter, resume, and a link to a portfolio or samples of past work. Finalists will be asked for references. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Support the development team with data visualizations, data entry, quality assurance, and bug testing;
• Support with content management for separate project websites and digital reports for CSIS.org;
• Assist our developers, producers, and designers as needed.

KNOWLEDGE, EDUCATION, AND EXPERIENCE:

• B.A./B.S in relevant field (or rising senior) or some relevant work experience, including bootcamp training or freelance work;
• Basic working knowledge of HTML and CSS;
• Experience with JavaScript or other programming languages a huge plus;
• Basic working knowledge of spreadsheets and data management using Excel or Google Sheets;
• Strong organizational, communication, and interpersonal skills, including operating in a fast-paced environment and managing competing priorities;
• Strong attention to detail, initiative, and follow through skills;
• Eligible to work in the United States.

SOME TECHNOLOGIES WE USE AT THE iDEAS LAB

• HTML5, CSS3/SASS, JavaScript, PHP, Ruby, Python
• JS libraries and frameworks like React, Vue, Highcharts, D3, and jQuery
• Content management systems (WordPress, Drupal, Forestry)
• Build tools like Gulp, Webpack, and Parcel
• Mapping tools like Mapbox, Carto, and Leaflet
• GitHub
• Sketch
• Adobe Creative Suite for design, motion, and video

You don’t need to be proficient in all of these, but you should be familiar with a section of them, and be willing and able to learn others.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS AND WORK CONDITIONS:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to use hands to finger, handle, or feel. The employee is frequently required to stand, walk, sit, reach with hands and arms and talk or hear. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and ability to adjust focus. 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 cover letter, resume, and a link to a portfolio or samples of past work. Please apply through the CSIS website at https://careers.csis.org/internships.