Summer Intern 2026 - Design and Strategy

Steampunk • McLean, VA

22h • Onsite

About The Position

Be an agent of change on a team committed to achieving client-focused, mission-driven excellence. Steampunk is the explosive collision of customer-centered design and traditional government contracting. We are an employee-owned company with a startup mindset and time-tested approaches tailored for the federal government. We’re passionate about creating solutions that are impactful, practical, and scalable while meeting our clients’ ever-changing needs. We believe in empowering our teams to find creative solutions to intractable problems. We believe the best environment in which to grow and thrive is outside our comfort zone. We believe that while good design makes for a good product, customer-centered design makes for an excellent one.
As a Design & Strategy intern, you will learn about our Design Intelligence® framework and how to incorporate customer-centered methods to deliver a quality experiences at speed.

Requirements

• This internship is in person; you must be able to work from our Design Intelligence studio in Tysons Corner, Virginia at least 3 days/week
• Rising third year student or above with a concentration in UX Design, User Interface/Interaction Design, Product Design, Service Design, Organizational Change, or Instructional Design
• Critical thinking skills, a collaborative nature, and a curiosity for solving complex problems
• Local to the DMV area

Responsibilities

• Planning and conducting user research including user and stakeholder interviews, facilitated workshops, and co-creation sessions
• Synthesizing research to develop artifacts like personas and journey maps
• Developing and iterating on possible solutions through prototyping and wireframing
• Planning and conducting user-testing sessions
• Organizing your work in Agile sprints and attending daily stand ups to coordinate with project manager and/or design lead
• Preparing artifacts and deliverables for presentations and feedback sessions

What This Job Offers

• Career Level: Intern
• Education Level: No Education Listed