Internship - Software Engineer

About the Role

EngineeRD Solutions, LLC (EngineeRD) is developing AIRA (AI-Assisted RMF Pre-Adjudication), an intelligent software system that automates the mapping of cybersecurity control evidence to NIST SP 800-53 requirements and packages adjudication packages for United States Department of War (DoW) Risk Management Framework (RMF) review.

This is a funded DoW Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I effort executed under a Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) award. The Software Engineer Intern will work directly with the Director of AI Research and Development, on prototype development, data pipeline construction, and evaluation of AI/ML components.

This is a hands-on engineering role, not a research-only position — the intern will write and test real code that feeds into a DoW deliverable.

Key Responsibilities

• Support development of the AIRA prototype, including NLP/ML pipelines for control-to-evidence mapping and knowledge graph construction using document inputs (System Security Plans, POA&Ms, NIST SP 800-53 control families).
• Assist in building and evaluating large language model (LLM) prompting strategies and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) pipelines for cybersecurity document analysis.
• Write Python scripts for data ingestion, preprocessing, validation, and structured output generation from RMF artifact corpora.
• Conduct reproducible experiments and track results against defined Phase I evaluation criteria; contribute to performance benchmarking documentation.
• Assist in preparing technical deliverables, including mid-project briefings and the Phase I Final Report, under direction of the Senior Technical Lead and PI.
• Participate in regular team standups with EngineeRD staff and George Mason University subcontractor research team
• Maintain clean, documented code in the project repository and adhere to established version control and code review practices. Required Qualifications
• Currently enrolled in or recently completed an undergraduate or graduate program (B.S., M.S. or equivalent) in Computer Science, Data Science, Software Engineering, Information Systems, Cybersecurity, or a related technical field.
• Proficiency in Python, including experience with data science libraries (pandas, scikit-learn) and ability to write clean, testable code.
• Demonstrated experience with data analysis, data cleaning, and structured query workflows (SQL or equivalent).
• Familiarity with schematics and diagraming, SDLC and Business Process Model Notation
• Strong analytical and written communication skills; ability to document methods and findings clearly for a technical audience.
• Ability to work independently, manage deliverable timelines, and communicate progress proactively in a small-team environment.
• U.S. Citizenship required (DoW facility clearance environment; no clearance required of candidate at time of hire).

Preferred Qualifications

• Coursework or project experience in machine learning, natural language processing, or knowledge representation.
• Familiarity with LLM frameworks (Lang. Chain, Llama. Index, or similar) or vector database / RAG architectures.
• Exposure to federal IT governance frameworks — NIST SP 800-37 (RMF), NIST SP 800-53, FedRAMP, or FISMA — through coursework, project work, or prior employment.
• Experience working with unstructured document corpora (e.g., PDF/DOCX ingestion, entity extraction, text classification).
• Familiarity with Azure or AWS cloud platforms, particularly ML/AI services (Azure AI Studio, Sage. Maker, Bedrock).
• Prior internship, research assistantship, or capstone project experience in a government, defense, or regulated healthcare IT environment.
• Experience with R for statistical analysis or evaluation reporting. What You Will Gain This internship is structured to maximize your technical depth and professional exposure within a funded DoW program:
• Real DoW program experience. AIRA is a live SBIR Phase I effort with a Defense Logistics Agency customer — not a simulated project.
• AI/ML engineering in a compliance context. You will work at the cutting edge of applied NLP and LLM engineering applied to a rigorous, high-stakes federal use case.
• Cross-disciplinary mentorship. You will receive direct mentorship from EngineeRD leaders and collaborate with George Mason University research faculty.
• Publication and presentation potential. Depending on results, there is potential for co-authorship on Phase I findings and/or conference presentation through the GMU research partnership.
• Pathway to continued engagement. Strong performers will be considered for Phase II roles should the program advance. Salary $22 - $25 per hour