Software Engineering Intern

The Opportunity

As a Software Engineering Intern at Sift, you’ll join one of our engineering teams (examples include data science/ML, core infra/devops platform, or backend/frontend applications) and collaborate with full-time engineers, a mentor, and a manager to deliver meaningful features and improvements.

Term: Summer 2026, full-time (approx. 10-12 weeks). This position is ideally suited for students who may receive course credit for on-the-job experience.

This role is a great fit for students who are excited about data science, machine learning, and/or modern software engineering in one or more of these areas:

• Data & ML: data pipelines, experimentation, model training and evaluation

• Backend: Java-based services, APIs, and large-scale distributed systems

• Frontend: React user interfaces and data-rich web apps

• DevOps / Platform: Terraform, cloud infrastructure, CI/CD, and developer tooling

Interns who demonstrate strong knowledge and capability will have the opportunity to work on production code that powers our fraud detection platform. Past interns have contributed to machine learning models and pipelines, distributed systems and infrastructure, and our customer-facing web console.

What You’ll Do

• Design, build, and ship production-quality code as part of an agile engineering team.

• Write tests, debug issues, and iterate quickly based on code reviews and feedback.

• Use GitHub as part of your daily workflow (branches, pull requests, reviews, CI).

• Collaborate with engineers, product managers, and data scientists to scope and implement features from concept to deployment.

• Help improve our engineering practices, tools, and documentation so future interns and engineers can move faster.

You’ll leave the summer with concrete portfolio projects, experience working in a modern engineering org, and a clearer sense of which areas of software engineering you enjoy most.

What We’re Looking For

Minimum qualifications

• Currently pursuing a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related technical field.

• Strong programming fundamentals and confidence coding, testing, and debugging in at least one of:

  • Python (data, ML, or backend)

  • JavaScript/TypeScript + React (frontend)

  • Java (backend services)

  • DevOps/IaC tools such as Terraform, plus scripting in a mainstream language

• Familiarity with Git/GitHub and collaborative development (e.g., pull requests, code reviews).

• Ability to work full time (40 hours/week) during the summer term.

• Clear written and verbal communication; you can explain your ideas and ask great questions in a team setting.

• Strong organization and time management skills.

Preferred qualifications

• Coursework or hands-on projects in data science, machine learning, distributed systems, web development, or cloud infrastructure.

• Experience building something substantial outside of class (e.g., open-source contributions, hackathons, personal projects).

• Comfort reading and working with APIs, data models, and modern testing frameworks.

Location & Work Mode

• This internship is limited to candidates based in the San Francisco Bay Area or Seattle metro area.

• Interns are expected to work in person at least one day per week in a Sift office or approved co-working space alongside other Sift colleagues.

• The remainder of the week can be worked remotely within SF or Seattle, subject to team norms and manager approval.

Why You’ll Love Interning at Sift

At Sift, interns are treated as full members of the engineering team. You’ll:

• Work on real features and services used by global customers.

• Get dedicated support from a manager, including regular check-ins during the summer, as well as the ability to engage with and learn from the larger engineering organization.

• Join a culture that v