Aviation Analyst Intern
About Cignus
Cignus Consulting is an SBA 8(a)-certified, MBE/DBE aviation technology and engineering firm headquartered in Leesburg, Virginia. Since 2007 we have supported the FAA, NASA, DoD, airport authorities, and aviation clients with systems engineering, airspace and airside simulation, aviation data analytics, and software products built on standards like SWIM, ADS-B, and ARINC 424. Our work ranges from federal task orders and SBIR research to commercial simulation and digital twin platforms.
We are a small team doing technically serious work, which means the person in this role will do real research, not observe it.
The Role
We are looking for an Aviation Analyst Intern to support our research in runway and surface safety. One effort extends runway incursion and approach risk monitoring across major airports. The other brings surface surveillance to the many U.S. towered airports that cannot justify the cost of ASDE-X.
This role supplies the operational aviation judgment the research depends on. Our engineers build the models, but deciding whether a controller's instruction was actually complied with takes someone who understands how the operation works.
What You Will Do
- Review archived ground and tower audio, correct model transcriptions, and annotate what was said (callsigns, taxi routes, runway assignments, hold-short instructions, crossing authorizations) to build the evaluation sets our speech models are measured against
- Annotate aircraft and vehicle movements in recorded surveillance and camera data, identifying what each target was doing and where the evidence becomes ambiguous
- Compile a register of runway incursions and anomalous events from ASRS, NTSB, ASIAS, and FAA Runway Safety sources, and assess which ones can be reconstructed from our archives
- Produce the ground-truth datasets used to measure detection rate, false alert rate, and alert lead time
- Coordinate quarterly reviews with our expert panel of controllers, pilots, and airport operations staff, including scheduling, pre-read materials, and records
Required Qualifications
- Current student or recent graduate in aviation management, aerospace engineering, professional flight, air traffic management, or a related discipline
- Aviation background through flight training, ATC coursework or training, or work experience at an airport, airline, FBO, or flight school
- Enough operational familiarity to follow a ground control frequency and anticipate what should happen next. A pilot certificate or ATC coursework is the strongest indicator we look for
- Consistency and attention to detail across long annotation tasks. Labeling is the foundation the research rests on, and inconsistency propagates silently into every downstream result
- Working comfort with Python notebooks, or the ability to get there quickly. Substantial programming experience is not required
- U.S. work authorization
Preferred Qualifications
- Private pilot certificate or higher, or completion of an FAA AT-CTI or comparable ATC program
- Familiarity with ASDE-X, ADS-B, NOTAM, ATIS, or METAR data
- Experience with video or audio annotation tools
- Prior exposure to FAA or NASA datasets
- Interest in a career in aviation safety, air traffic management, or aviation technology
Work Structure
Remote or hybrid. Remote candidates are welcome, and candidates in the DC region are invited to work from our Leesburg office. You will need to be available for regular working sessions during U.S. Eastern business hours.
Compensation
$20 to $30 per hour, depending on academic level and aviation experience.
To Apply
Send a resume and a short note on one aviation experience (a flight lesson, a tower visit, a class project, an airport job) where you had to figure out what was really happening in the operation, and how you figured it out.