Software Engineer Intern (Database Engineering) - Fall 2026

At Snowflake, we are powering the era of the agentic enterprise. To usher in this new era, we seek AI-native thinkers across every function who are energized by the opportunity to reinvent how they work. You don’t just use tools; you possess an innate curiosity, treating AI as a high-trust collaborator that is core to how you solve problems and accelerate your impact. We look for low-ego individuals who thrive in dynamic and fast-moving environments and move with an experimental mindset — who rapidly test emerging capabilities to discover simpler, more powerful ways to deliver results. At Snowflake, your role isn't just to execute a function, but to help redefine the future of how work gets done.

Snowflake started with a clear vision: develop a cloud data platform that is effective, affordable, and accessible to all data users. Snowflake developed an innovative new product with a built-for-the-cloud architecture that combines the power of data warehousing, the flexibility of big data platforms, and the elasticity of the cloud at a fraction of the cost of traditional solutions. We are now a global, world-class organization with offices in more than a dozen countries and serving many more.

We’re looking for dedicated students who share our passion for ground-breaking technology and want to create a lasting future for you and Snowflake.

What We Offer:

• Paid, full-time internships in the heart of the software industry

• Post-internship career opportunities (full-time and/or additional internships)

• Exposure to a fast-paced, fun and inclusive culture

• A chance to work with world-class experts on challenging projects

• Opportunity to provide meaningful contributions to a real system used by customers

• High level of access to supervisors (manager and mentor), detailed direction without micromanagement, feedback throughout your internship, and a final evaluation

• Stuff that matters: treated as a member of the Snowflake team, included in company meetings/activities, flexible hours, casual dress code, accommodations to work from home, swag and much more

• When return to office in effect, catered lunches, access to gaming consoles, recreational games, happy hours, company outings, and more

What We Expect:

• Must be actively enrolled in an accredited college/university program during the time of the internship

• Desired class level: 3rd/4th year Undergraduates, Masters, or PhD

• Desired majors: Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Physics, Math, or related field

• Required coursework: algorithms, data structures, software engineering, and operating systems

• Recommended coursework: cloud computing, compilers, database systems, distributed systems, functional PL, networking

• Bonus experience: research or publications in databases or distributed systems, and contributions to open source

• Experience working with big data (engineering / processing)

• When: Fall 2026

  • Eligible start date options: August 17, August 31, September 14

  • Eligible end date options: November 6, November 20, December 4, December 18

• Duration: 12 week minimum, 16 weeks recommended (12 month maximum)

• Excellent programming skills in C++ or Java

• Preferred knowledge of C++20 or C++17, Java 20 or Java 17

• Knowledge of data structures and algorithms

• Systems programming skills including multi-threading, concurrency, etc.

• Strong problem solving and ability to learn quickly in a dynamic environment

• Experience with working as a part of a team

• Dedication and passion for technology

What You Will Learn/Gain:

• How to build enterprise grade, reliable, and trustworthy software/services

• Exposure to SQL or other database technologies (e.g., Spark, Hadoop)

• Understanding of database internals, large-scale data processing, transaction processing, distributed systems, and data warehouse design

• Implementation, testing of features in query compilation, compiler design, query execution

• Experience working with cloud infrastructure, AWS, Azure, and/or Google Cloud in particular

• Learning about cutting edge database technology and research

Possible Teams/Work Focus Areas:

• Various spaces within Database Query Engine (such as the compiler, query optimization, query execution & performance, SQL frameworks, etc..), FoundationDB key-value store (FDB storage, FDB Performance, etc..), and Hybrid Transactional & Analytical Processing (Unistore)