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Performance Engineering Internship Jobs in California

Arcturus

Engineering Internship

Los Angeles, CA · On-site

$18 - $23.50/hr

Our technology is designed to significantly improve the performance of electric motors for drones ... Purpose We are seeking a Research and Prototyping Engineer Co-op who can support the technical team ...

OpenAI

Performance Modeling Engineer ~2

Los Angeles, CA · On-site

$266 - $445/hr

Internship or early professional experience in performance engineering, infrastructure, or systems design Equal Opportunity We are an equal opportunity employer, and we do not discriminate on the ...

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Performance Engineering Internship information

What is a performance engineering internship?

A Performance Engineering Internship is a temporary position where students or recent graduates work with engineering teams to analyze, test, and optimize the performance of software, hardware, or systems. Interns typically assist in identifying bottlenecks, conducting performance tests, and implementing solutions to improve system speed, scalability, and reliability. This role provides hands-on experience with performance monitoring tools, coding, and collaboration with experienced engineers. It is an excellent opportunity to develop technical skills and gain insight into the field of performance engineering.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a performance engineering intern?

To thrive as a Performance Engineering Intern, you need a background in computer science or related fields, strong analytical skills, and familiarity with programming languages like Java, Python, or C++. Experience with performance testing tools (such as JMeter or LoadRunner), monitoring systems, and understanding of performance metrics is often expected. Attention to detail, problem-solving ability, and effective communication help interns collaborate with teams and identify optimization opportunities. These skills are essential for analyzing system performance, diagnosing bottlenecks, and supporting efficient, scalable solutions.

What types of projects or tasks can I expect to work on during a performance engineering internship?

As a Performance Engineering Intern, you’ll typically be involved in analyzing and optimizing software or system performance through tasks like load testing, benchmarking, and profiling applications. You might assist in identifying bottlenecks, tuning configurations, and collaborating with development teams to implement improvements. Interns often work closely with mentors and team members, gaining hands-on experience with a variety of tools and methodologies. This role offers valuable exposure to both technical problem-solving and cross-functional teamwork, providing a strong foundation for future opportunities in performance engineering or related fields.

What are the most commonly searched types of Performance Engineering jobs in California?

The most popular types of Performance Engineering jobs in California are:

What cities in California are hiring for Performance Engineering Internship jobs?

Cities in California with the most Performance Engineering Internship job openings:

Performance Engineering Internship jobs near you

Software Engineering Internship

Hypercubic, Inc

San Francisco, CA • On-site

Full-time

This job post has expired today. Applications are no longer accepted.

Job description

The world's most critical infrastructure-banking, airlines, utilities-is held together by millions of lines of COBOL and mainframe logic written decades ago. The engineers who built it are retiring and the documentation is fading. These systems are "too big to fail" and "too complex to change," leaving global infrastructure frozen in the 1970s.
At Hypercubic, we're building AI systems that can understand, reason about, and rearchitect large-scale legacy applications. We work at the intersection of program analysis, knowledge extraction, and agentic systems, applied to some of the most critical enterprise software in the world.
Learn why we're excited about mainframe modernization.
About the Role
We are looking for students with unusually high slope and strong engineering taste. You will work directly with the CTO to design, prototype, and productionize AI-powered systems from first principles.
You'll start by owning a well-scoped project that ships to production. As you demonstrate strong judgment and execution, you'll take on broader ownership. Interns who perform well may receive an offer to join Hypercubic full-time.
This role is suited for someone with strong fundamentals who learns quickly and is comfortable working across abstraction layers, from low-level system reasoning to high-level product interactions.
What You'll Do
  • Own and ship a high-impact engineering project end to end.
  • Rapidly prototype new concepts and features to validate ideas before full implementation.
  • Build AI-driven systems, including agent workflows, evaluations, program-analysis tooling, backend infrastructure, and user-facing features.
  • Translate ambiguous problems into concrete experiments, constraints, and working systems.
  • Contribute to engineering standards around testing, reliability, and code quality.
  • Work directly with the CTO on technical and product decisions, taking on greater ownership as you earn trust.
  • Collaborate with subject-matter experts and customers across industries including banking, insurance, airlines, and utilities.

You are a Fit if...
  • You care deeply about your work and the product you are building.
  • You have strong programming fundamentals and can learn unfamiliar tools and systems quickly.
  • You have demonstrated your abilities through ambitious projects, research, open-source contributions, internships, or exceptional coursework.
  • You are comfortable with uncertainty and enjoy figuring out what to build before determining how to build it.
  • You think in systems and feedback loops, not just features.
  • You can move fast and slow-prototyping ideas in hours, then developing the most promising ones to a high-quality bar.
  • You can reason clearly about technical decisions and communicate your thinking.
  • You want to become world-class at AI engineering.
  • You have a bias for action and thrive in fast-moving environments.
Nice to Have
  • Experience building complex agentic products, infrastructure, or autonomous systems.
  • Strong testing intuition, including experience with TDD or property-based testing.
  • Experience building and maintaining production-grade software.
  • Exposure to legacy systems (especially mainframes or COBOL), compilers, program analysis techniques, or high-performance computing (HPC).
  • Familiarity with enterprise software constraints.
Logistics
  • Eligibility: Open to currently enrolled undergraduate and graduate students of any year, degree program, or major.
  • Location: This is a full-time, in-person role based in San Francisco, California.
  • Timing: Start dates are flexible and applications are considered on a rolling basis. We can accommodate summer internships, semester-long internships, and co-op schedules.
  • Relocation: Relocation support is available as needed.
  • Work authorization: Candidates must already be authorized to work in the United States. We can support CPT and OPT, but cannot sponsor new visas.

Apply