Government Affairs Intern

About Us At Antares, our long-term mission is to make clean energy abundant from Earth to the Asteroid Belt. We’re fueled by the belief that advanced nuclear energy can strengthen our military, solve the climate crisis, elevate global living standards, and expand humanity's presence in outer space. To achieve our mission, we’re building mass-producible, inherently safe, deployable microreactors that can be used terrestrially, underwater, and in space. The Antares team hails from SpaceX, the White House, the Pentagon, the Department of Energy, MIT, Rigetti Computing, General Atomics, Relativity Space, Ursa Major, and National Laboratories like Idaho, Oak Ridge, Los Alamos, and Savannah River. Antares has raised over $600M in venture capital from top-tier investors and has hundreds of million-dollars on contract with the military services, NASA, and the Department of Energy. ABOUT THE SUMMER INTERNSHIP PROGRAM Internships at Antares are anything but ordinary. You'll work alongside our team as we design, build, and test fission microreactors built to deliver reliable energy for critical missions on Earth, in space, and underwater. Our interns contribute to real work from day one. Depending on your role, you may touch hardware, write and test software, support manufacturing and operations, or help build the systems that allow Antares to move quickly as we scale. You'll work alongside engineers, operators, and other experts solving challenging problems—and you'll leave your internship with hands-on experience that's difficult to find anywhere else. We work hard, move quickly, and take pride in what we're building. If you're excited to learn by doing and want to contribute to the next generation of nuclear energy, we'd love to have you join us next summer.   We will be running two separate cohorts to accommodate students on both semester and quarter schedules: Cohort #1 Monday, May 17 – Friday, August 13 Cohort #2 Monday, June 14 – Friday, September 10   All internship roles are based at one of our offices (Torrance/Idaho Falls/Washington D.C.) and require interns to work onsite five days per week. We will not be considering candidates for remote or hybrid arrangements. Interns will receive a relocation and housing stipend as part of their offer package if eligible. ABOUT THE ROLE Antares Nuclear is seeking a highly motivated and resourceful Government Affairs Intern to support the company's government affairs, communications, international business development, and commercial business development efforts from our Washington, D.C. office. This position offers a unique opportunity to work on emerging national security and energy policy issues while helping advance the commercialization and international deployment of next-generation nuclear technology. The intern will support research, stakeholder engagement, strategic planning, and business development initiatives, working closely with Antares leadership and cross-functional teams. The ideal candidate is an excellent writer and researcher, has a strong interest in national security, energy, public policy, or emerging technologies, and thrives in a fast-paced environment where initiative and attention to detail are essential. ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: - Monitor congressional activity, federal legislation, appropriations, defense authorization, and executive branch initiatives relevant to advanced nuclear energy and microreactor deployment. - Research and analyze policy developments across the Pentagon, Department of Energy, Department of State, Department of Commerce, NASA, and other relevant federal agencies. - Assist in preparing briefing materials, talking points, policy memoranda, presentations, and other materials for meetings with government officials and congressional offices. - Track engagement with congressional offices, federal agencies, military services, and other key stakeholders. - Identify opportunities to advance policies, programs, and funding initiatives that support microreactor deployment for national security and commercial applications. - Support the development of strategic communications materials that articulate Antares’ mission, technology, and value proposition to government, commercial, and international audiences. - Draft and edit executive talking points, briefing materials, presentation content, website copy, and other communications products. - Monitor media coverage, industry developments, and public discourse related to advanced nuclear energy, national security, and microreactor deployment. - Help translate complex technical and policy issues into clear, accessible messages tailored to different audiences, including policymakers, prospective customers, strategic partners, and the general public. - Assist in developing communications strategies for key company milestones, government announcements, industry events, and strategic partnerships. - Identify opportunities to raise awareness of Antares’ work through relevant publications, industry forums, conferences, and other external channels. - Research international markets and identify countries, government agencies, utilities, defense organizations, and other prospective customers for Antares microreactors. - Assess country-level opportunities based on energy demand, national security priorities, regulatory frameworks, financing mechanisms, and government support for nuclear energy. - Support engagement with U.S. embassies, the State Department, the Foreign Commercial Service, international partners, and prospective overseas customers. - Research foreign government procurement processes, export requirements, financing options, and other factors affecting international reactor deployment. - Prepare country profiles, market assessments, customer briefings, and presentations to support Antares' international growth strategy. - Identify prospective commercial customers and strategic partners across sectors such as data centers, critical infrastructure, industrial facilities, remote power systems, and other energy-intensive applications. - Research customer power requirements, market dynamics, competing energy technologies, and potential use cases for microreactors. - Assist with developing customer presentations, market analyses, business cases, and strategic partnership proposals. - Maintain and update business development pipelines, stakeholder databases, and opportunity trackers. - Support preparation for customer meetings, industry conferences, and strategic partner engagements. BASIC QUALIFICATIONS: - Currently pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree in public policy, international relations, political science, economics, business, engineering, energy policy, or a related field. - Strong research, analytical, and written communication skills. - Demonstrated interest in national security, energy, emerging technologies, international affairs, or commercial strategy. - Ability to synthesize complex information into clear, concise briefings and recommendations. - Strong organizational skills, attention to detail, and the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously. - Proficiency in Microsoft Office, particularly PowerPoint, Word, and Excel. - A proactive, intellectually curious approach and willingness to take ownership of assignments. PREFERRED SKILLS & EXPERIENCE: - Sound judgment, discretion, and the ability to manage sensitive matters and competing priorities in a fast-moving environment. - Experience with congressional offices, federal agencies, think tanks, political campaigns, consulting, or business development. - Familiarity with U.S. national security policy, federal appropriations, international trade, or the energy sector. - Experience conducting market research, developing presentations, or preparing policy and business memoranda. - Foreign language proficiency or international experience. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS: - Ability to travel as needed for government, regulator, supplier, customer, and international partner engagements. - Ability to support time-sensitive milestones or incidents outside standard business hours when necessary. LOCATION - We are located in downtown Washington, DC in a space designed for team collaboration and easy access to Capitol Hill, federal government offices, foreign embassies, and DC-based think tanks. Culture At Antares, we like to specifically tie each role to our founding document’s set of values–here are the top five cultural values we think you should believe at your core to be successful: - Think in Systems - Energy and Defense are complex ecosystems with numerous stakeholders with competing priorities, conflicting policies, perverse incentives, and emergent and path-dependent properties. First principles thinking alone is insufficient. Think probabilistically and then take action. “If you want to be certain, then you are apt to be obsolete.” Over-optimizing the components often degrades the system - Obsess over the End User - The customer and end user are often not the same. We will never build globally competitive commercial products if we lose sight of our end users and their entire interaction with the product life cycle - Be Unconstrained by Convention - Our only limits are the laws of physics. Many, even experts, will say what we are working on is impossible. They said the same about SpaceX reusing rockets. Generationally impactful companies, by definition, must accomplish the seemingly impossible. If it were easy, it would have already been done. Never shy away from a solution because it has never been tried before, and never choose to do something because that's “how it's always been done” - Go Where the Work Is - Never miss a chance to meet a customer, user, or stakeholder face to face, even if that means hopping on a plane. If you can’t make it, find a teammate who can channel your intentions and go in your place. Deep work can be done from anywhere, but we believe teams are built in person, and aim to maximize our time together - Operate in the Grey - Embrace nuance in pursuit of truth. Question every fundamental assumption Equal Opportunity Antares is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment decisions are based solely on merit, competence, and qualifications, without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability, or any other legally protected status. ITAR REQUIREMENTS To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here https://www.pmddtc.state.gov/?id=ddtc_kb_article_page&sys_id=24d528fddbfc930044f9ff621f961987.