AI Developer Intern

Why Bird Rock Systems

At Bird Rock Systems, we take pride in being named one of the Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Private Companies. Our dynamic journey to success is fueled by a team of passionate individuals who thrive in a fast-paced environment. We're more than a workplace; we're a community of fun-loving people dedicated to excellence.

What Sets Us Apart:

• Best Workplace Awards: Bird Rock Systems is proud to be recognized for our commitment to fostering a positive, collaborative, and innovative culture. Our honors include:
  • Inc.’s Best Workplaces
  • San Diego Business Journal’s Best Places to Work
  • San Diego SHRM Workplace Excellence Award

• Fast-Paced Growth: As an Inc. 5000 honoree, we're committed to driving innovation and pushing boundaries. Join us to be part of a dynamic and ever-evolving company.
• Vibrant Company Culture: We believe in creating an environment where work feels like fun. Our team is more than colleagues – we're friends who collaborate, support, and celebrate together.
• Core Values: Our values define us. Loyalty, work/life balance, kaizen (continuous improvement), unwavering integrity, exceptional customer service, and giving back to our community are the cornerstones of Bird Rock Systems.

Location Requirements

• Must be based in San Diego or Orange County
• Can be called into our San Diego office at managers discretion.

Position Summary

We are building an applied AI practice and looking for a small group of Junior AI Developers who are hungry to learn, build, experiment, and grow quickly.

This is not an internship where you spend a semester observing from the sidelines.

You’ll work alongside other early-career developers and receive hands-on mentorship from our AI Architect, learning how modern AI solutions are designed, built, deployed, and operated. You'll have room to experiment, make mistakes, learn from them, and steadily take on more challenging work.

We care much more about curiosity, technical fundamentals, initiative, and learning speed than an impressive resume or years of professional experience.

What You’ll Work On

• Depending on your skills and the projects underway, you’ll have opportunities to:
• Build software applications and services that incorporate LLMs and generative AI
• Prototype AI solutions and turn promising prototypes into working applications
• Work with APIs, structured and unstructured data, and modern AI development frameworks
• Assist with development and DevOps activities in Azure and/or Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
• Use Git and GitHub as part of a collaborative software development workflow
• Learn the fundamentals of deploying, monitoring, troubleshooting, and improving AI-enabled applications
• Work closely with another junior developer so you can solve problems, learn, and progress together
• Participate in real customer and internal projects as your capabilities grow

What We're Looking For

You do not need to be an AI expert. We expect you to have a lot to learn.

• Current enrollment in the final year of a bachelor’s program, recent graduation, or equivalent hands‑on experience in computer science, software engineering, data science, or a related technical field
• Solid programming fundamentals in a language such as Python, JavaScript/TypeScript, C#, or Java
• Familiarity with Git and GitHub
• A basic understanding of large language models (LLMs) and enthusiasm for building software with them
• Some exposure to machine learning, model building, data platforms, cloud computing, or AI application development through coursework, personal projects, research, hackathons, or internships
• A willingness to work in Azure and/or GCP, even if you haven't worked extensively with them yet
• The ability to investigate a problem, try solutions, ask good questions, and keep moving when the answer isn't obvious

What Matters Most

We're interested in people who:

• Are genuinely fascinated by AI and are already learning outside of required coursework
• Learn quickly and actively seek feedback
• Have a strong bias toward building and experimenting, not just studying concepts
• Take ownership of problems instead of waiting for detailed instructions
• Are comfortable failing, debugging, learning, and trying again
• Want to become excellent software engineers, not simply learn how to prompt an LLM
• Enjoy collaborating closely with another developer and sharing what they learn
• Are ambitious about developing their skills and want meaningful responsibility as they earn it

What You’ll Get

This role is deliberately designed as a learn‑by‑building environment.

You’ll receive:

• Direct mentorship and technical guidance from an experienced AI Architect
• Hands‑on experience with modern AI application development
• Exposure to Azure and GCP environments
• Real‑world software and AI engineering problems
• A peer developer to learn and build alongside
• Significant room to experiment and learn from failure
• Increasing responsibility as your technical abilities develop
• The opportunity to build valuable experience in one of the fastest‑moving areas of software development

The Person Who Will Thrive Here

You may be a great fit if you've ever:

• Built an AI project simply because you wanted to see if you could
• Spent a weekend teaching yourself a new framework or API
• Used an LLM API to build something beyond a basic chatbot
• Created a GitHub project that wasn't required for a class
• Experimented with models, embeddings, RAG, agents, data pipelines, or cloud services
• Encountered a technical problem you didn't understand and kept working until you figured it out

We’re not looking for someone who already knows everything. We’re looking for someone who is excited by how much there is to learn.

Internship Details

• Hybrid role with a mix of on‑site and remote work.
• Expected commitment is approximately 10-20 hours per week. Scheduling can accommodate academic commitments, but candidates must have consistent availability during normal weekday business hours to participate in collaborative development, mentorship, and project work.

Compensation

• Expected Pay: $25 Hourly