Software Systems Engineer Internships
Software systems engineer internships give university students, recent graduates, and early-career switchers hands-on project experience, mentorship from working engineers, and, at many employers, a path toward a full-time offer. Openings are concentrated in Manufacturing, with Tesla and ByteDance among the employers posting roles now.
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Showing 5 of 6+ Software Systems Engineer Internships
:
San Jose
Team
:
Infrastructure
Employment Type
:
Intern
Job Code
:
A170054A
Responsibilities
About the Team
Join ByteDance’s database R&D team, where you’ll build and own cutting-edge database products supporting ByteDance’s global infrastructure. Our diverse portfolio includes relational databases, distributed caches, key-value stores, document databases, graph databases, wide-column stores, search engines, and multi-model databases.
About the Role
We are building the next-generation AI-native database systems—intelligent, multimodal, and designed for the era of large models. Our systems are not just data stores; they’re reasoning engines, retrieval platforms, and real-time memory for AI agents. As a Software Engineer or Researcher, you will be at the forefront of rethinking how databases work when built from the ground up for AI workloads. You’ll help create infrastructure that powers intelligent systems across TikTok, CapCut, and future applications that haven’t been imagined yet.
We are looking for talented individuals to join us for an internship. Our internship program offers students hands-on experience, industry exposure, and opportunities to apply their knowledge to real-world challenges while building a strong foundation for personal and professional growth.
Interns will gain practical experience, explore potential career paths, and participate in social events, learning programs, and development workshops alongside industry professionals.
Candidates may apply to a maximum of two positions across Our Company and its affiliates globally. Applications will be considered in the order they are submitted.
Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, so we encourage you to apply early. Please clearly state your availability in your resume, including your start and end dates.
Candidates who pass resume screening will be invited to participate in Our Company's technical online assessment.
Responsibilities
- Develop kernel modules or features for AI-native database systems.
- Solve unique, large-scale, highly complex cloud infrastructure problems
- Partner with PMs and engineers from different teams on building backend support for AI-native database service products
- Participate in technical discussions related to team's product and engineering work
Minimum Qualifications
- Currently pursuing an Undergraduate/ Master's in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or other related discipline.
- Knowledge of database kernel, distributed system, query processing and optimization, multi-threaded programming
- Experience coding in C/C++, Golang, Java, Python
- Demonstrated software engineering experience from previous internship, work experience, coding competitions, or publications.
- Curiosity towards new technologies and entrepreneurship.
- High levels of creativity and quick problem-solving capabilities.
- Experience with open-source systems such as Faiss, Milvus, DuckDB, ClickHouse, TiKV, RocksDB.
- Publications at conferences (e.g., SIGMOD, VLDB, NeurIPS, MLSys, ICDE).
- Familiarity with GCP, AWS, or Azure’s database and AI integration strategies.
- Prior contributions to RAG, memory-augmented models, or self-tuning database components.
【For Pay Transparency】Compensation Description (Hourly) - Campus Intern
The hourly rate range for this position in the selected city is $45- $45.
Benefits may vary depending on the nature of employment and the country work location. Interns have day one access to health insurance, life insurance, wellbeing benefits and more. Interns also receive 10 paid holidays per year and paid sick time (56 hours if hired in first half of year, 40 if hired in second half of year). Interns who are not working 100% remote may also be eligible for housing allowance.
The Company reserves the right to modify or change these benefits programs at any time, with or without notice.
For Los Angeles County (unincorporated) Candidates:
Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with all federal, state, and local laws including the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act. Our company believes that criminal history may have a direct, adverse and negative relationship on the following job duties, potentially resulting in the withdrawal of the conditional offer of employment:
1. Interacting and occasionally having unsupervised contact with internal/external clients and/or colleagues;
2. Appropriately handling and managing confidential information including proprietary and trade secret information and access to information technology systems; and
3. Exercising sound judgment.
About Us
Founded in 2012, ByteDance's mission is to inspire creativity and enrich life. With a suite of more than a dozen products, including TikTok, Lemon8, CapCut and Pico as well as platforms specific to the China market, including Toutiao, Douyin, and Xigua, ByteDance has made it easier and more fun for people to connect with, consume, and create content.
Why Join ByteDance
Inspiring creativity is at the core of ByteDance's mission. Our innovative products are built to help people authentically express themselves, discover and connect – and our global, diverse teams make that possible. Together, we create value for our communities, inspire creativity and enrich life - a mission we work towards every day.
As ByteDancers, we strive to do great things with great people. We lead with curiosity, humility, and a desire to make impact in a rapidly growing tech company. By constantly iterating and fostering an "Always Day 1" mindset, we achieve meaningful breakthroughs for ourselves, our Company, and our users. When we create and grow together, the possibilities are limitless. Join us.
Diversity & Inclusion
ByteDance is committed to creating an inclusive space where employees are valued for their skills, experiences, and unique perspectives. Our platform connects people from across the globe and so does our workplace. At ByteDance, our mission is to inspire creativity and enrich life. To achieve that goal, we are committed to celebrating our diverse voices and to creating an environment that reflects the many communities we reach. We are passionate about this and hope you are too.
Reasonable Accommodation
ByteDance is committed to providing reasonable accommodations in our recruitment processes for candidates with disabilities, pregnancy, sincerely held religious beliefs or other reasons protected by applicable laws. If you need assistance or a reasonable accommodation, please reach out to us at
https://tinyurl.com/RA-request
:
San Jose
Team
:
Infrastructure
Employment Type
:
Intern
Job Code
:
A170054A
Responsibilities
About the Team
Join ByteDance’s database R&D team, where you’ll build and own cutting-edge database products supporting ByteDance’s global infrastructure. Our diverse portfolio includes relational databases, distributed caches, key-value stores, document databases, graph databases, wide-column stores, search engines, and multi-model databases.
About the Role
We are building the next-generation AI-native database systems—intelligent, multimodal, and designed for the era of large models. Our systems are not just data stores; they’re reasoning engines, retrieval platforms, and real-time memory for AI agents. As a Software Engineer or Researcher, you will be at the forefront of rethinking how databases work when built from the ground up for AI workloads. You’ll help create infrastructure that powers intelligent systems across TikTok, CapCut, and future applications that haven’t been imagined yet.
We are looking for talented individuals to join us for an internship. Our internship program offers students hands-on experience, industry exposure, and opportunities to apply their knowledge to real-world challenges while building a strong foundation for personal and professional growth.
Interns will gain practical experience, explore potential career paths, and participate in social events, learning programs, and development workshops alongside industry professionals.
Candidates may apply to a maximum of two positions across Our Company and its affiliates globally. Applications will be considered in the order they are submitted.
Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, so we encourage you to apply early. Please clearly state your availability in your resume, including your start and end dates.
Candidates who pass resume screening will be invited to participate in Our Company's technical online assessment.
Responsibilities
- Develop kernel modules or features for AI-native database systems.
- Solve unique, large-scale, highly complex cloud infrastructure problems
- Partner with PMs and engineers from different teams on building backend support for AI-native database service products
- Participate in technical discussions related to team's product and engineering work
Minimum Qualifications
- Currently pursuing an Undergraduate/ Master's in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or other related discipline.
- Knowledge of database kernel, distributed system, query processing and optimization, multi-threaded programming
- Experience coding in C/C++, Golang, Java, Python
- Demonstrated software engineering experience from previous internship, work experience, coding competitions, or publications.
- Curiosity towards new technologies and entrepreneurship.
- High levels of creativity and quick problem-solving capabilities.
- Experience with open-source systems such as Faiss, Milvus, DuckDB, ClickHouse, TiKV, RocksDB.
- Publications at conferences (e.g., SIGMOD, VLDB, NeurIPS, MLSys, ICDE).
- Familiarity with GCP, AWS, or Azure’s database and AI integration strategies.
- Prior contributions to RAG, memory-augmented models, or self-tuning database components.
【For Pay Transparency】Compensation Description (Hourly) - Campus Intern
The hourly rate range for this position in the selected city is $45- $45.
Benefits may vary depending on the nature of employment and the country work location. Interns have day one access to health insurance, life insurance, wellbeing benefits and more. Interns also receive 10 paid holidays per year and paid sick time (56 hours if hired in first half of year, 40 if hired in second half of year). Interns who are not working 100% remote may also be eligible for housing allowance.
The Company reserves the right to modify or change these benefits programs at any time, with or without notice.
For Los Angeles County (unincorporated) Candidates:
Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with all federal, state, and local laws including the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act. Our company believes that criminal history may have a direct, adverse and negative relationship on the following job duties, potentially resulting in the withdrawal of the conditional offer of employment:
1. Interacting and occasionally having unsupervised contact with internal/external clients and/or colleagues;
2. Appropriately handling and managing confidential information including proprietary and trade secret information and access to information technology systems; and
3. Exercising sound judgment.
About Us
Founded in 2012, ByteDance's mission is to inspire creativity and enrich life. With a suite of more than a dozen products, including TikTok, Lemon8, CapCut and Pico as well as platforms specific to the China market, including Toutiao, Douyin, and Xigua, ByteDance has made it easier and more fun for people to connect with, consume, and create content.
Why Join ByteDance
Inspiring creativity is at the core of ByteDance's mission. Our innovative products are built to help people authentically express themselves, discover and connect – and our global, diverse teams make that possible. Together, we create value for our communities, inspire creativity and enrich life - a mission we work towards every day.
As ByteDancers, we strive to do great things with great people. We lead with curiosity, humility, and a desire to make impact in a rapidly growing tech company. By constantly iterating and fostering an "Always Day 1" mindset, we achieve meaningful breakthroughs for ourselves, our Company, and our users. When we create and grow together, the possibilities are limitless. Join us.
Diversity & Inclusion
ByteDance is committed to creating an inclusive space where employees are valued for their skills, experiences, and unique perspectives. Our platform connects people from across the globe and so does our workplace. At ByteDance, our mission is to inspire creativity and enrich life. To achieve that goal, we are committed to celebrating our diverse voices and to creating an environment that reflects the many communities we reach. We are passionate about this and hope you are too.
Reasonable Accommodation
ByteDance is committed to providing reasonable accommodations in our recruitment processes for candidates with disabilities, pregnancy, sincerely held religious beliefs or other reasons protected by applicable laws. If you need assistance or a reasonable accommodation, please reach out to us at
https://tinyurl.com/RA-request
Software Systems Engineer Internship Market
Who's Hiring
Top Industries Hiring
- Manufacturing
Tips for Your Software Systems Engineer Internship Search
Apply earlier than you think necessary
Large employers open summer internship recruiting the preceding fall, sometimes as early as August. If you wait until spring, many structured cohorts are already full. Set a calendar reminder to check listings each September and apply to priority programs before October ends.
Build a portfolio before you apply
Hiring teams for software systems engineer interns assess candidates on evidence, not credentials alone. Build two or three complete projects that demonstrate systems thinking, link the code in a public repository, and document your design decisions. A visible project history gives recruiters something concrete to evaluate when your work experience is limited.
Work your campus network and apply directly at the same time
Campus career fairs surface structured programs tied to your university, and professors or career center staff often know which employers recruit from your school before roles post publicly. Applying directly to companies running smaller cohorts alongside that campus activity widens the pool of internships you can reach.
Practice the actual software systems engineer intern screen out loud
Software systems engineer intern interviews typically include a technical screen covering data structures, algorithms, and systems design concepts. Practice solving problems while explaining your reasoning aloud, since interviewers weigh how you think through a problem as much as whether you reach the correct answer.
Target structured university and rotational internship programs
Larger employers run cohort-based internship programs designed to onboard people new to the field, and these programs recruit early and fill fast. Identify which companies in your target industries run structured software engineering or systems engineering rotational programs, then apply in the first recruiting wave.
Set your work-type filter before you start
On-site roles are 100% of the software systems engineer internships listed here. Decide what you can realistically commit to before you start applying, then filter by location and work type so you are not sorting through internships that don't fit your situation.
Software Systems Engineer Internships: Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get a software systems engineer internship?
Lead with coursework, personal projects, and a portfolio rather than work history, hiring teams expect limited experience at the intern level. For software systems engineer candidates, linked code repositories give recruiters something concrete to assess. Combine direct applications with campus career fairs, where recruiters often move faster for students they meet in person.
Can a software systems engineer internship turn into a full-time job?
Many employers extend return offers to strong interns, but conversion is never guaranteed. What drives it for software systems engineer interns is performance on real project deliverables, available headcount on the team, and how early the employer communicates return-offer timelines. Treat conversion as a possibility worth working toward, not a certainty to plan around.
When should I apply for software systems engineer internships?
Earlier than most candidates expect. Large employers recruit summer interns the preceding fall, so applications at major technology and defense companies open as early as August or September. Smaller companies and co-op programs post closer to start dates, which means openings appear year-round and it pays to check listings regularly.
Are software systems engineer internships paid?
Most professional software systems engineer internships in the United States are paid. Compensation varies by company size, industry, and location. Where an employer discloses a pay range, it appears directly in the listing, so the postings themselves are the most reliable place to compare what's on offer.
What should a software systems engineer internship resume include?
Lead with projects, not work history. Include two or three complete, documented projects that name the tools and technologies used and link to the code or repository where the work is visible. Add relevant coursework in systems, software architecture, or embedded systems. Keep the resume to one page, since intern hiring teams scan quickly.
Are there remote software systems engineer internships?
Yes. Remote and hybrid roles make up 0% of the software systems engineer internship listings here, with the rest on-site. Remote cohorts fill quickly because they attract applicants from across the country, so apply early and use the work-type filter to surface them without sorting through every listing.
Can international students get software systems engineer internships?
Yes. F-1 students can intern through CPT while enrolled or through OPT work authorization after finishing a degree, and the employer does not have to file anything for either, so many companies are open to international interns. Confirm your eligibility and timing with your university's international student office before accepting an offer.
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