Business Development Intern

Job Requisition: Business Development Intern

Position Information

Position Title: Business Development Intern
Department: Business Development / Growth
Reports To: Business Development Leadership
Employment Type: Paid Internship / Part-Time
Location: Arlington, Virginia – Hybrid
Work Arrangement: Approximately two weeks per month in person, with remaining work performed remotely as business needs allow
Internship Duration: [Insert Dates]
Compensation: $Insert Hourly Rate per hour
Clearance Requirement: None required

Position Summary

NALEJ is seeking motivated and intellectually curious Business Development Interns to support the company’s growth, customer engagement, and market-development activities.

This internship is designed for students interested in learning how organizations identify opportunities, build customer relationships, develop sales pipelines, and position capabilities within competitive markets.

Interns will work alongside members of NALEJ’s business development and leadership teams and receive hands-on exposure to prospect research, customer outreach, lead qualification, pipeline development, CRM administration, and business-development strategy.

This is not an internship centered on observing from the sidelines. Interns will be expected to contribute directly to ongoing growth initiatives while receiving mentorship and structured opportunities to develop their communication, research, analytical, and professional skills.

Primary Responsibilities

Prospecting and Market Research

• Research prospective customers, organizations, partners, and market opportunities.
• Gather and organize information on prospective accounts, industries, competitors, and customer needs.
• Assist in identifying potential leads and business-development opportunities.
• Develop concise account and prospect profiles to support outreach and engagement.
• Conduct research in preparation for customer meetings and business-development discussions.
• Monitor relevant industry developments and identify information that may affect current or future opportunities.

Outreach and Customer Engagement

• Assist with professional outreach to prospective customers, partners, and other stakeholders.
• Draft introductory emails, follow-up correspondence, and other business-development communications.
• Support preparation for customer calls and meetings.
• Participate in selected customer and partner engagements as appropriate.
• Maintain professional and timely follow-up with assigned contacts.
• Learn how messaging and communication approaches are adapted based on the audience and stage of engagement.

Pipeline and CRM Support

• Enter and maintain accurate prospect and opportunity information within the company’s CRM.
• Update contact information, activity notes, opportunity stages, and required follow-up actions.
• Assist with maintaining an organized business-development pipeline.
• Track outreach activities and identify outstanding follow-up actions.
• Support basic reporting on pipeline activity, lead progression, and business-development metrics.
• Help ensure customer and opportunity information remains current and actionable.

Business Development and Growth Support

• Assist the business-development team with opportunity identification and qualification.
• Support development of presentations, briefing materials, customer profiles, and internal growth documents.
• Participate in internal discussions regarding customers, markets, positioning, and business-development strategy.
• Assist with special projects involving market analysis, partnerships, customer engagement, and growth initiatives.
• Support event, conference, or networking preparation when appropriate.
• Complete additional business-development assignments based on company priorities.

Minimum Qualifications

• Currently enrolled in an accredited college or university and have completed, or will have completed, the sophomore year by the start of the internship.
• Pursuing a degree in Business, Communications, Marketing, Economics, Management, or a related field.
• Availability for the full duration of the internship.
• Ability to work in person approximately two weeks per month at the Arlington-area office or designated company location.
• Demonstrated professional written and verbal communication skills.
• Working knowledge of Microsoft Excel, email platforms, and presentation software.
• Ability to organize information, manage assignments, and meet established deadlines.
• Demonstrated professionalism and willingness to learn.

Preferred Qualifications

• Previous internship, part-time employment, customer-service, retail, hospitality, fundraising, or other customer-facing experience.
• Participation in student organizations, leadership activities, athletics, competitions, entrepreneurship, or other extracurricular activities.
• Experience conducting research or preparing presentations.
• Familiarity with Salesforce, HubSpot, or another customer relationship management platform.
• Experience using Microsoft PowerPoint, Excel, Teams, or similar productivity platforms.
• Interest in technology, government contracting, national security, federal markets, or business-to-business sales.

Prior sales or CRM experience is helpful but is not required.

Core Competencies

1. Communication

Ability to communicate clearly and professionally in writing and conversation. Candidates should demonstrate active listening skills and the ability to adjust their communication style based on the audience.

2. Resilience and Coachability

Ability to receive constructive feedback, learn from mistakes, adapt quickly, and continue performing effectively when an initial approach does not succeed.

3. Curiosity and Research Ability

Demonstrated interest in understanding companies, industries, customers, and problems. Strong candidates should be comfortable researching unfamiliar topics and asking thoughtful questions.

4. Drive and Initiative

Willingness to take ownership of assignments and pursue tasks without requiring constant direction. Evidence may include employment, leadership positions, student organizations, self-directed projects, athletics, competitions, volunteer activities, or other commitments.

5. Organization and Follow-Through

Ability to track multiple activities, maintain accurate information, meet deadlines, and ensure follow-up actions are completed.

6. Analytical Thinking

Ability to understand basic business-development data and metrics, including pipeline stages, conversion rates, customer activity, and progress toward established goals.

Internship Learning Outcomes

The Business Development Internship is intended to provide meaningful exposure to the fundamentals of professional business development and sales.

By the conclusion of the internship, interns should develop greater proficiency in the following areas:

Outreach and Professional Communication

• Crafting professional emails and business correspondence.
• Conducting initial customer and prospect outreach.
• Preparing for professional conversations and meetings.
• Tailoring communication to different audiences.
• Developing greater confidence communicating with professionals and senior leaders.

Sales Process and Pipeline Management

• Understanding how prospects progress from initial identification through qualification and opportunity development.
• Learning the purpose and structure of a sales pipeline.
• Understanding the importance of consistent follow-up.
• Maintaining accurate customer and opportunity information within a CRM.
• Understanding fundamental sales and pipeline metrics.

Business Development Thinking

• Researching markets, organizations, and prospective customers.
• Identifying potential customer needs and business opportunities.
• Understanding how companies position their capabilities.
• Learning how partnerships and relationships contribute to growth.
• Developing an understanding of how business-development decisions support broader company strategy.

Professional Development

• Developing effective presentation and briefing skills.
• Learning how to structure professional conversations.
• Receiving coaching and applying feedback.
• Managing multiple assignments and competing priorities.
• Building professional confidence and workplace judgment.

Mentorship and Development

Interns will receive regular interaction with members of the business-development team and company leadership.

Development opportunities may include:

• Participation in business-development and pipeline meetings.
• Observation of selected customer and partner discussions.
• Feedback on written communications and presentations.
• Coaching on professional communication and customer engagement.
• Exposure to opportunity-development and sales strategy.
• Opportunities to present research or recommendations to company leaders.
• Regular feedback regarding individual performance and professional development.

Performance Expectations

Successful interns will be expected to:

• Communicate professionally with internal and external stakeholders.
• Complete assignments accurately and within established timelines.
• Maintain current and accurate CRM and pipeline information.
• Demonstrate consistent follow-through on assigned actions.
• Respond constructively to coaching and feedback.
• Show curiosity and initiative when researching unfamiliar topics.
• Maintain organization across multiple concurrent assignments.
• Demonstrate professionalism during both in-person and remote work.
• Represent NALEJ appropriately when interacting with prospective customers and partners.

What the Intern Will Actually Do

On a typical week, interns should expect their work to include a combination of:

Prospecting → Research → Outreach → CRM Updates → Follow-Up → Pipeline Support

Examples could include researching 10–15 prospective organizations, identifying the appropriate contacts, preparing account summaries, drafting outreach emails, updating activity within the CRM, preparing information for an upcoming customer discussion, and ensuring required follow-ups are completed.

The intent is to provide interns with real business-development experience while creating meaningful support capacity for the growth team.