About the Department

The Aviation Planning Intern is a developmentally focused position designed to assist students with learning their trade. Learn on the job by providing support to the Transportation/Land Use Planning division and the Planning & Development Department as a whole, broadly focused on project development, facility planning; land use permitting and entitlements, policy research, regulatory compliance, and GIS mapping. Join a fun team and learn as you go!

To be considered for this intern position you must be a current student enrolled in an Oregon/Washington school for the duration of employment. Spring 2026 graduates will not be eligible for this internship unless documentation of continued educational classes (graduate school documentation related to the field) can be provided at the time of application.

Duration: Expected sunset date on or around May 31, 2027, with full-time work during school breaks and part-time during the school year. 

Compensation is determined by school year and experience.

Position Duties

• Public and Stakeholder Engagement
  • Support public engagement efforts related to advisory committees and other public events and Port initiatives. 
  • Work could include assistance with meeting planning and staffing, creating engagement materials, visual content and presentations and assisting with tours.     
• Research
  • Conduct research and prepare findings on relevant policy and regulatory issues related to aviation. Examples could include researching land use and zoning code, FAA regulations, best practices from other airports and facilities, and researching and developing data related to transportation demand management.  
• GIS
  • Using GIS tools, the intern will assist with conducting research, data gathering and syntheses regarding utilization of airport facilities to help create tools to better track how airport assets are used. 
  • The intern may also synthesize data to create GIS layers to improve internal GIS tools and use GIS tools to create maps for presentations and reports. 
• Land Use and Development Review
  • Assist in site plan review, data gathering, data synthesis and report writing to prepare findings and respond to proposed land uses and developments near Port-owned airports for dissemination to relevant agencies and internal stakeholders.  
• Site observation and reporting, fieldwork, research, support wayfinding/signage projects, and other support of planning-related initiatives. 

Minimum Qualifications

Education and Experience: 

• Currently enrolled in an Oregon/Washington accredited college or university and seeking a degree in Urban Planning, Environmental Sciences, Landscape Architecture, Public Administration or related field.
• Student must also provide current unofficial transcript at time of application.
• Maintenance of a minimum 2.5 grade point average and continued enrollment in classes pertinent to the internship is required.
• Ability to pass and maintain a Criminal History Records check and Security Threat Assessment for a PDX Security Badge is required.
• Working knowledge of: 
  • Microsoft Office Suite
  • ArcGIS 
  • AutoCAD, is desired 
  • Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator, is desired 

Demonstrated Skills & Abilities:

• Demonstrate commitment to valuing differences among individuals and a passion for being inclusive. 
• Promote safety as a guiding principle and a regular practice in accomplishing work, focus on safety. improvements, and comply with safety and health policies and procedures. 
• Proven team player that shows the utmost respect for others. 
• Organize workload to meet changing priorities and deadlines. 
• Express ideas clearly in written and oral communication. 
• Create and use spreadsheets for data analysis and reporting. Entry Work collaboratively with all staff at the Port. 
• Demonstrate professional work behaviors. 
• Demonstrate interest in Port business lines. 

Other Qualifications

SELECTION PROCESS (tentative schedule):

1. A minimum qualification evaluation of education, training, and experience of submitted application packets will take place by Human Resources the week of May 18, 2026.
   
   
2. A Subject Matter Expert (SME) Panel will perform an evaluation of experience and training taken from your employment application materials including any responses to the supplemental questionnaire.
   
   
3. Our goal is to schedule panel interviews with candidates that successfully passed the SME evaluation as soon as possible. The successful candidate will be notified after interviews are complete, with a tentative start date in June 2026.