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Internship Performance Engineer Jobs in Seattle, WA

OpenAI

Performance Modeling Engineer ~2

Seattle, WA · On-site

$266K - $445K/yr

Internship or early professional experience in performance engineering, infrastructure, or systems design About OpenAI OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company dedicated to ensuring that ...

Amazon

Software Dev Engineer, EC2 Nitro

Seattle, WA · On-site

$159.30K/yr

We're seeking an exceptional Software Development Engineer to build and optimize the performance ... BASIC QUALIFICATIONS - 3+ years of non-internship professional software development experience - 2+ ...

Amazon

Software Dev Engineer, EC2 Nitro

Seattle, WA · On-site

$159.30K/yr

We're seeking an exceptional Software Development Engineer to build and optimize the performance ... BASIC QUALIFICATIONS - 3+ years of non-internship professional software development experience - 2+ ...

Exos

Performance Coach

Mountlake Terrace, WA · On-site

$15.50 - $30/hr

At least 6 months of industry experience, including relevant internships. * Proven experience in ... As an elite coaching company, Exos applies its evidence-based methodology to programming designed ...

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How much do internship performance engineer jobs pay per hour?

As of May 28, 2026, the average hourly pay for internship performance engineer in Seattle, WA is $68.40, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $56.06 and $77.40 per hour, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as an Internship Performance Engineer, and why are they important?

To thrive as an Internship Performance Engineer, you need a solid foundation in computer science principles, programming (often in Java, C++, or Python), and performance analysis concepts, typically supported by ongoing studies in a related degree. Familiarity with profiling tools (such as JProfiler, Perf, or VisualVM), benchmarking suites, and version control systems is usually required. Strong analytical thinking, problem-solving abilities, and effective communication are important soft skills in this role. These competencies enable interns to identify bottlenecks, collaborate with teams, and optimize systems for enhanced efficiency.

What types of projects and responsibilities can an Internship Performance Engineer expect during their internship?

As an Internship Performance Engineer, you can expect to work on projects focused on analyzing and optimizing the performance of software applications or systems. Typical responsibilities include running benchmarks, identifying bottlenecks, tuning system configurations, and collaborating with software developers to implement improvements. Interns often use performance monitoring tools and may assist in scripting automated performance tests. This role provides hands-on experience with troubleshooting and performance optimization, while also offering exposure to best practices in scalability and efficiency within a collaborative engineering team.

What is an Internship Performance Engineer?

An Internship Performance Engineer is a student or recent graduate working temporarily with a company to assist in analyzing, testing, and improving the performance of software or hardware systems. Their responsibilities often include identifying bottlenecks, running benchmarks, collecting data, and helping to optimize system efficiency under the supervision of experienced engineers. This role provides hands-on experience in performance analysis tools, scripting, and collaboration within engineering teams, serving as a valuable stepping stone toward a career in performance engineering.

What is the difference between Internship Performance Engineer vs Performance Engineer?

AspectInternship Performance EngineerPerformance Engineer
CredentialsRelevant coursework, internship experienceBachelor's or higher in CS/Engineering, certifications optional
Work EnvironmentInternship projects, entry-level tasksFull-time, ongoing performance optimization projects
Employer & IndustryTech companies, startups, software firmsSame as internship, but with more responsibility

The Internship Performance Engineer is an entry-level role focused on learning and supporting performance testing and optimization tasks. In contrast, a Performance Engineer is a full-time professional responsible for designing and implementing performance solutions. The internship provides foundational experience, while the full-time role involves more complex projects and greater responsibility.

What are the most commonly searched types of Performance Engineer jobs in Seattle, WA? The most popular types of Performance Engineer jobs in Seattle, WA are:
What cities near Seattle, WA are hiring for Internship Performance Engineer jobs? Cities near Seattle, WA with the most Internship Performance Engineer job openings:
Internship Performance Engineer jobs near you
Performance Modeling Engineer ~2

Performance Modeling Engineer ~2

OpenAI

Seattle, WA • On-site

$266K - $445K/yr

Full-time

Posted 6 days ago

Job description

About the Team
OpenAI's Hardware organization develops system and infrastructure solutions designed for the unique demands of advanced AI workloads. We work closely with architecture, infrastructure, and vendor teams to evaluate system performance and guide critical design decisions.
Our team focuses on building and applying performance modeling frameworks to understand system behavior, quantify tradeoffs, and support next-generation infrastructure design.
About the Role
We are seeking an Performance Modeling Engineer to support the development and application of modeling tools used to evaluate AI system performance and inform architectural decisions.
In this role, you will partner closely with Senior Performance Modeling Engineers and the Performance Modeling Lead to analyze system behavior, run simulations and analytical models, and help evaluate tradeoffs across compute, memory, networking, and storage. You will contribute to building modeling frameworks while developing a strong foundation in system architecture and AI infrastructure.
This role is ideal for early-career engineers with 1-2 years of experience in software engineering, systems analysis, or performance modeling who are excited to grow in large-scale infrastructure and hardware/software systems.
This role is based in San Francisco, CA. We use a hybrid work model of 3 days in the office per week and offer relocation assistance.
Key Responsibilities
  • Support the development and maintenance of performance modeling tools and frameworks
  • Assist in building models to evaluate system behavior across compute, memory, networking, and interconnect subsystems
  • Help analyze distributed system scaling behavior and identify performance bottlenecks
  • Run simulations and analytical models to support architecture and infrastructure decisions
  • Partner with senior engineers to evaluate design tradeoffs across hardware and system components
  • Interpret modeling outputs and help translate findings into clear recommendations
  • Validate models using benchmarking data and real system performance measurements
  • Improve modeling workflows, documentation, and usability for broader team adoption
  • Collaborate cross-functionally with hardware, infrastructure, and architecture teams
  • Continuously build technical depth across AI infrastructure, system architecture, and performance analysis

Qualifications
  • 1-2 years of experience in software engineering, systems modeling, performance analysis, or related technical work
  • Strong programming skills and experience building technical tools, scripts, or frameworks
  • Familiarity with system architecture fundamentals such as compute, memory, and networking
  • Ability to reason about system performance, bottlenecks, and scaling behavior
  • Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with comfort working in quantitative environments
  • Ability to learn quickly and work effectively across technical teams

Preferred Skills
  • Exposure to AI/ML workloads, distributed systems, or large-scale infrastructure
  • Experience with simulation tools, benchmarking, profiling, or performance analysis
  • Familiarity with data center systems, server architecture, or hardware platforms
  • Interest in system architecture and hardware/software co-design
  • Internship or early professional experience in performance engineering, infrastructure, or systems design

About OpenAI
OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company dedicated to ensuring that general-purpose artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity. We push the boundaries of the capabilities of AI systems and seek to safely deploy them to the world through our products. AI is an extremely powerful tool that must be created with safety and human needs at its core, and to achieve our mission, we must encompass and value the many different perspectives, voices, and experiences that form the full spectrum of humanity.
We are an equal opportunity employer, and we do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, disability, genetic information, or other applicable legally protected characteristic.
For additional information, please see OpenAI's Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity Policy Statement.
Background checks for applicants will be administered in accordance with applicable law, and qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment consistent with those laws, including the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, and the California Fair Chance Act, for US-based candidates. For unincorporated Los Angeles County workers: we reasonably believe that criminal history may have a direct, adverse and negative relationship with the following job duties, potentially resulting in the withdrawal of a conditional offer of employment: protect computer hardware entrusted to you from theft, loss or damage; return all computer hardware in your possession (including the data contained therein) upon termination of employment or end of assignment; and maintain the confidentiality of proprietary, confidential, and non-public information. In addition, job duties require access to secure and protected information technology systems and related data security obligations.
To notify OpenAI that you believe this job posting is non-compliant, please submit a report through this form. No response will be provided to inquiries unrelated to job posting compliance.
We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities, and requests can be made via this link.
OpenAI Global Applicant Privacy Policy
At OpenAI, we believe artificial intelligence has the potential to help people solve immense global challenges, and we want the upside of AI to be widely shared. Join us in shaping the future of technology.

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