Privacy and Civil Liberties Software Engineer, Internship

Core Responsibilities

As an PCL Engineer Intern, you’ll work in small teams with minimal supervision and own end-to-end execution of high stakes projects. No two projects are the same: you might work as a software engineer improving core products in our platform, as a forward-deployed engineering using our platform to improve our customers workflows, or as a policy researcher understanding the impacts of the latest developments in law and policy. PCL Engineer Interns are treated just like full time PCL Engineers, with significant freedom and ownership over their work. Interns take responsibility for real-world projects and outcomes that our customers rely on.

Our Principles

PCL Impact: We work on challenging problems at the intersection of technology and ethics. We reject the idea that technology alone is the appropriate fit for every problem, especially socio-technical challenges, and we work to understand where our customers can better leverage technology to improve accountability, governance, privacy and related fundamental rights. We often take on projects that are completely novel and often resist simple framings, as long as we believe pursuing the work will change the world for the better.

Ownership: We see projects through from beginning to end, working through any obstacles we may encounter, using an array of engineering tools that are best suited for the task at hand. We trust each other to effectively handle time and priorities and give people the space to think for themselves.

Collaboration: We work internally with people from a variety of backgrounds — such as forward-deployed engineers, deployment strategists, product teams, and lawyers. We also work externally with our customers, often on site, to understand and tackle their problems.

What We Value

Interest in both understanding the impact of technology in society and working to address it

Ability to continuously learn, work independently, and make decisions with minimal direction

Ability to collaborate in teams of technical and non-technical individuals, and comfortable working in a constantly evolving environment with dynamic objectives and iteration with users

An eagerness to creatively solve technical problems with data structures, storage systems, cloud infrastructure, front-end frameworks, and other technical tools

Experience or curiosity in any of the following domains is a plus: privacy, data protection, AI governance, AI testing & evaluation, national security, technology policy, technology ethics

What We Require

Engineering background, preferred in fields such as Computer Science, Mathematics, Software Engineering, Physics, and Data Science

Proficiency with one or more programming languages, such as Python, Java, C++, TypeScript/JavaScript, or similar

Must be planning on graduating in 2027. This should be your final internship before graduating.