Innovation Research & Development Lab Intern

JOB SUMMARY:

Trace3 is an innovation partner to more than 2,000 companies and has been growing at a double-digit rate for over a decade.  Trace3 Innovation collaborates with the industry, VC and start-up community, clients, and internal Trace3 teams to identify, analyze, and offer insights into emerging technology areas such as private/public cloud, data intelligence, security, application/development, and operations.  The Trace3 Innovation Team identifies macro technology trends, technology practice areas, use cases, and solutions across the market landscape.  Solution partners, from new start-ups to industry incumbents, are evaluated. 

Under the general direction of the Senior Director, Research & Development, the Innovation R&D Lab Intern supports the Innovation R&D Lab by building and maintaining Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud environments that support incubator prototypes, proofs of concept, minimum viable products (MVPs), and technical reviews of emerging solutions. The intern works alongside R&D engineers, building from existing designs and templates, and develops practical cloud engineering skills on the job with training and guidance. Prior professional AWS experience is not required.

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT TO LEARN:

• Build and configure AWS environments from engineer-provided designs, templates, and checklists to support prototypes, proofs of concept, and MVPs
• Learn core AWS lab standards, such as compute, storage, networking, and identity and access management, with training and guidance from R&D engineers
• Deploy vendor and open-source technologies under evaluation, including security, identity, data, and AI tools, in lab environments for technical review
• Prepare test environments, sample data, and basic validation scripts for proofs of concept and technical reviews, and capture the results
• Automate small, well-scoped lab tasks with scripting, and learn infrastructure as code tools alongside engineers
• Document build steps, configurations, and lessons learned, with R&D engineers reviewing and owning the final runbooks
• Track and report resource usage and cost for assigned environments, and shut down or remove resources that are no longer needed
• Troubleshoot environment issues, and escalate blockers promptly to R&D engineers
• Observe team meetings, technical reviews, and vendor briefings, and prepare notes with takeaways and follow-up questions
• Complete a capstone project near the end of the internship, such as a documented test environment for a technology under evaluation, and present it to the team
• R&D engineers own security, access, and cost controls, and the intern works within them in approved lab accounts only; the intern does not use client data or engage clients or vendors directly without approval
• May perform other duties as assigned by supervisor
  
  

ELIGIBILITY AND PREFERRED SKILLS:

• Enrollment in the Junior or Senior year of an undergraduate program at an accredited college or university
• Candidates should be pursuing a field of study applicable to the Innovation R&D Lab internship, such as computer science, information technology, cybersecurity, cloud computing, or a related field
• Fundamental understanding of cloud computing concepts, such as virtualization, storage, networking, and the shared responsibility model; coursework or personal projects are acceptable
• Basic familiarity with Linux, the command line, and at least one scripting language, such as Python, Bash, or PowerShell
• Hands-on AWS experience or a foundational certification, such as AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner, is ideal but not required; training will be provided
• Familiarity with Git and infrastructure as code tools is a plus
• Interest in cybersecurity, identity, AI, or agentic technologies is a plus
• Excellent technical documentation and artifact creation skills
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or better; People and Organizational Health may require a copy of the applicant’s transcript
• Academic or professional/internship experience working in a professional setting is a plus
• Ability to work independently on assigned tasks and accepts direction on given assignments
• Willingness to learn new technologies on the job and to ask questions early
• Self-motivated individuals with a customer mindset and desire to help people
• Enthusiasm for technical problem solving with attention to detail and strong communication skills
• Availability to work 40 hours per week throughout the internship