Short-term Internship - Finance Services & Transformation

Job Description:

Airbus Commercial Aircraft is looking for a Short-term Intern (approx 6 months) to join our Finance Team based in Herndon, VA.

You will gain high-impact, hands-on experience across various Airbus Services perimeters in the Americas. Working directly under the mentorship of the Head of Services Finance (Americas) and senior controllers, the intern will assist in delivering key financial analytics, cost controlling support, and performance management reporting to guide operational decision-making.

In alignment with our 2035 Services Moonshot and our transition to an optimized, digitally mature "One Roof" finance organization, this role is designed for a progressive, disruptive finance professional. The successful candidate will not only manage traditional controlling tasks but will actively champion the integration of Financial AI, automated business analytics, and generative AI use-case assessments to decouple regional business growth from manual administrative overhead.

Meet the Team:

Our Finance and Accounting team members need excellent analytical and communication skills to successfully manage our financial portfolio. Our teams provide key analytics – from month-end closing to performance management analysis for our partners. If you’re analytical, detail oriented and have a passion for numbers, you’ll enjoy working with our cross-functional global team.

Your Working Environment:

The Washington, D.C. metro area is home to multiple Airbus offices: In our nation’s capital you will find the Airbus Experience Center, a collection of interactive, multimedia exhibitions highlighting the extensive role the company plays in the aviation, aerospace and defense industries in the U.S. and around the world. The D.C. area is also home to our regional corporate headquarters – located adjacent to Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) - it makes flying in a breeze!

Your Challenges:

Primary Responsibilities:

Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A): 40%

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Comprehensively plan the growth and development of the regional Services business within the Annual Operative Planning (AOP) cycle.

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Prepare and deliver regional financial reviews, performing deep-dive root-cause analyses on budget over/under-performance. Translate raw variance data into actionable risk-mitigation or opportunity-exploitation strategies.

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Actively customize and deploy AI Use-Case Assessments for Financial Planning, Budgeting, and Forecasting to transition the department toward predictive, machine-learning-driven rolling forecasts.

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Help champion the adoption of AI-powered data retrieval systems to eliminate manual data-gathering cycles, allowing the team and operational leaders to query P&L, headcount, and KPI metrics instantaneously.

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Assist the Head of Services Finance in preparing executive-level financial briefings, metrics, and dashboards for senior management (Airbus Americas and Global Services HQ).

Finance Controller: 40%

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​Perform rigorous business controlling over an annual Operational Expenditure (OPEX) perimeter of approximately USD 50 Million. Manage, analyze, and approve procurement and headcount-hiring pipelines, securing strict alignment with the locked regional targets.

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Implement and leverage basic AI use cases for Business Analytics and Decision Support to automate transaction categorization, identify spending anomalies, and streamline monthly OPEX variance analysis.

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Monitor, track, and analyze key P&L and balance sheet items including revenue and cost accruals, regional inventories, tangible/intangible assets, accounts receivable (AR), accounts payable (AP), and customer advance payments.

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Support the expansion of our Direct "Revenue-to-Cash" Free Cash Flow (FCF) methodology. Investigate opportunities to apply predictive cash-forecasting algorithms to regional collection pipelines to improve working capital predictability.

Cost Accounting Management: 20%

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Partner closely with regional Business Operations, Accounting, Financial Systems, and Consolidation teams to ensure cost accounting structures accurately reflect business activities under both IFRS and US GAAP.

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Formulate critical business parameters, such as unit costing models and effective hourly rates (operational and comprehensive), to support commercial teams in designing competitive pricing strategies.

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Develop transparent, robust overhead allocation methodologies to ensure equitable distribution of support function costs among diverse regional legal entities.

Qualified Experience / Skills / Training:

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Currently enrolled in, or recently graduated from, a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree program in Finance, Accounting, Data Analytics, Economics, Business Administration, or a related quantitative discipline.

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Solid foundational understanding of corporate finance concepts, financial statement analysis (P&L, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow), and basic cost accounting principles.

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Ability to analyze structured dataset metrics and summarize complex quantitative information into concise presentation slides.

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Digital Literacy & Applied Financial AI:

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Strong enthusiasm for modern FinTech, data visualization, and financial automation.

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High proficiency in Microsoft Excel / Google Sheets (VLOOKUPs, Index/Match, Pivot Tables, basic macros). Prior exposure to PowerBI, SQL, or SAP is a strong plus.

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Familiarity with leveraging Generative AI tools (Gemini, custom prompts) for data extraction, research, and drafting.

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Behavioral Competencies & Airbus Alignment:

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Natural inclination to act as a visible team player of finance and cultural "change" in both domestic and international settings.

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Strong interpersonal and communication skills appropriate for a senior executive audience.

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Excellent knowledge of, or ability to rapidly master, Airbus Corporate Units' strategy, policies, processes, and ERP tools (SAP, etc.).

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Absolute commitment to the Airbus Integrity Principles, demonstrating ethical leadership and compliance-first behaviors at all times.

Your Boarding Pass:

Required:

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Must be currently local to the Washington DC/Northern Virginia metro area

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Enrolled or recently graduated Bachelor/Master’s Degree in Commerce, Business Administration, Finance or a related field

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0–2 years of previous internship or academic project experience in finance, accounting, or quantitative analytics.

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Financial, Planning and Analysis competences

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Demonstrated in-depth knowledge of Corporate Finance and organizational governance principles

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Strong understanding and ability to apply Project, Program and Portfolio Management Principles

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Finance Inventory and Supply Chain Management

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Performance Management KPI design and reporting knowledge and experience

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Demonstrated track record of delivering value through continuous improvement and cost saving initiatives

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Fluent English

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Expert user of Gsuite, Microsoft Office Suite, including SharePoint, Access, Project, Visio, Excel and PowerPoint

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Advanced knowledge of enterprise systems, including SAP and associated transactional systems