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IT & Engineering
Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) | Service canadien du renseignement de sécurité (SCRS)
Ottawa
On-site
CAD 46,000 - 67,000
Full time
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Job summary
A federal security agency in Canada is offering summer student positions from May to August 2027. Students will work in various streams including Database Administration, Embedded Systems, IT Security, and more. Additionally, opportunities to enhance skills through mentorship and hands-on projects are available. Applicants must be full-time students in relevant fields such as Computer Science, Engineering, or IT. The position promotes a diverse work environment and encourages applicants from equity-seeking groups.
Benefits
Qualifications
- Must be registered full‑time in an accredited institution.
- Experience in school, volunteering, or projects is acceptable.
- Competence in relevant fields like Computer Science or Engineering is needed.
Responsibilities
- Work in streams such as Database Administration and Network Security.
- Gain hands-on experience with technologies and project management.
- Contribute to team projects and develop technical skills.
Skills
Education
Tools
Work Term: Summer 2027 (May - August)
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) is seeking to hire students who are looking for a work term opportunity from May 2027 to August 2027.
CSIS is committed to building a workforce that is truly representative of the Canadians it serves by cultivating a diverse and inclusive workplace environment. This will be achieved by increasing employment equity group representation (including persons with disabilities, visible minorities, Indigenous peoples and women) at all levels within the organization through hiring and talent management practices.
If you require accommodation in relation to a disability, please notify us during the recruitment process, as we will ensure that appropriate accommodations are made (e.g., specialized equipment, changes to the physical workspace) to provide employment opportunities for all qualified candidates.
CSIS Offices in Canada are located on various ancestral and traditional lands. In the spirit of reconciliation, we acknowledge all Indigenous People across Canada and their connection to these lands.
CSIS offers opportunities for students to gain valuable experience in science and technology, with the possibility to return for multiple placements within the directorate.
Students will be given the opportunity to cultivate their skills and knowledge by being paired with experienced employees who will provide feedback during the work term. They will have the opportunity to broaden their knowledge and experience before choosing a career specialization.
The system will allow you to select only one location of work. If you are interested to be considered for various locations of work as mentioned above, please highlight, in your cover letter, the additional locations you would like to apply to.
- Hands on work experience with projects;
- Teamwork and individual contributions;
- Exposure to knowledgeable and passionate subject matter experts;
- Collaborative work environments;
- Improve time and project management skills;
- Diverse workforce.
Students can cultivate their skills and gain valuable experience in the following fields:
- Install, configure, monitor and support databases, performing database backups, restores/refreshes;
- Advise/assist developers in database design and queries best practices.
- Work with analog and digital electronic circuits and troubleshooting hardware/software/firmware within embedded systems;
- Assist with testing and evaluation of systems to ensure they meet their functional and operational requirements;
- Analyze test results and track issues resolution to ensure that systems can be successfully deployed operationally with high confidence;
- Gain experience with microcontroller architecture (Raspberry Pi, Arduino), embedded PC hardware or VME based single board computers, and ARM architectures.
- Provide operational infrastructure services that enable the collection of intelligence in order to advance CSIS’ investigations;
- Create and sustain a centralized operational environment that offers high performance and high-speed networks through the development of a core set of services of cost-effective, scalable and adaptive infrastructure;
- Maintain, support and administer elements in an Enterprise environment such as: Linux/Windows servers, virtualization technologies (VMware, OpenStack); storage technologies (Storage Area Network, Network Attached Storage, backups/restores); identity and access management (LDAP, Active Directory); web infrastructure.
- Desktop software and hardware (Operating system (OS), firmware, group policies and SSCM).
- Research latest security practices. Validate operational tools and make recommendations for improvements to standard practices;
- Apply network security best practices involving commercial hardware and software;
- Develop and maintain SOC, software tools and scripts for system security audits;
- Assess/provide/use/validate secure network infrastructure for technical solutions;
- Test vulnerability of products or software, proof of concepts, refine requirements and conduct research;
- Perform vulnerability assessments, provide reports and recommendations;
- Install, configure and support security related products;
- Conduct in depth security assessments including but not limited to Statements of Sensitivity (SOS), Security Reviews, Threat and Risk Assessments (TRA) and Certification & Accreditations (C&A) or Security Assessment and Authorization (SA&A);
- Obtain solid foundation of Government of Canada IT Security standards;
- Learn how to work in a Security Operations Center environment;
- Familiarize oneself with Wireless Intruder Detection Systems (WIDS) and their role in IT Security;
- Participate in the forensic acquisition and analysis of various equipment using modern tools and techniques.
- Develop tools for the delivery and processing of telecommunications data;
- Test and maintain mobile devices using networking protocols and software development tools;
- Analyze and configure LAN/WAN communications networks and appliances;
- Maintain, support and administer of LAN/WAN including switches, firewalls, routers etc.;
- Installation and cabling of IT hardware and desktop PCs.
- Use programming language such as, but not limited to: Java, C#, Javascript, Python, C/C++ and Go;
- Perform development and integration of software systems using Pega Business Process Management (BPM) rules engine;
- Build tools, APIs, native or web-based frontends;
- Interact with end users and provide recommendations;
- Participate in designing, programming, testing, documenting and optimizing solutions;
- Learn best practices through mentorship and code review;
- Support or modernize legacy applications.
- Validate the functionality of technical solutions to ensure the capabilities will be effective in an operational environment;
- Provide/use/validate secure network infrastructure for technical solutions;
- Investigate, troubleshoot and determine remedial action to issues reported by clients;
- Configure and deploy various solutions involving networking equipment, computers, software applications and tools.
- Hardware repairs / setup (computer, printer, mouse, keyboard, etc.);
- Application Support (Troubleshoot / Resolve software issues, Assist with software installations and updates);
- Passwords Resets;
- Samsung Cell Phone Troubleshooting / Install;
- Network/ Connectivity Issues;
- Video Conference Support;
- File Transfers or Restoration (Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.);
- Telephone and Fax Support;
- General IT Questions / Support.
- Ensure data quality and data assurance in a processing system for collection, organization, filtering, triaging, and reporting of data types, collected using various techniques on a big data system in a complexly distributed mission critical system;
- Assist with testing and evaluation of systems to ensure they meet user requirements;
- Coordinate with development and operational teams to identify valuable tests and writing/developing new test cases and participate in continuous improvement testing;
- Analyze test results and track issues until resolution;
- Use tools and systems that directly support the collection, processing, storage, handling and safeguarding.
- Support in developing and implementing strategic plans to achieve organizational goals and objectives;
- Contribute to establish and track key measures to track progress towards strategic objectives;
- Participate in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data to inform strategic decisions;
- Support in developing reports and communicating progress and results to stakeholders, including senior management, executives, and external partners;
- Develop and maintain relationships with stakeholders, including team members, program managers, and partners.
- Support in developing and implementing strategic plans to achieve organizational goals and objectives;
- Contribute to establish and track key measures to track progress towards strategic objectives;
- Participate in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data to inform strategic decisions;
- Support in developing reports and communicating progress and results to stakeholders, including senior management, executives, and external partners;
- Develop and maintain relationships with stakeholders, including team members, program managers, and partners.
- Work under the guidance of a Senior Project Manager from the Portfolio Management Office, who will mentor and support in learning the fundamentals of project coordination and technology solution delivery, providing hands‑on experience and exposure to the project management lifecycle;
- Assist in basic project administration tasks, such as updating project schedules, tracking progress, and maintaining project documentation;
- Learn the fundamentals of project risk management and assist in identifying potential issues;
- Help maintain project records, including project plans, status reports, and meeting minutes.
- Work under the guidance of a Senior Project Manager from the Portfolio Management Office, who will mentor and support in learning the fundamentals of project coordination and technology solution delivery, providing hands‑on experience and exposure to the project management lifecycle;
- Assist in basic project administration tasks, such as updating project schedules, tracking progress, and maintaining project documentation;
- Learn the fundamentals of project risk management and assist in identifying potential issues;
- Help maintain project records, including project plans, status reports, and meeting minutes.
- Plan, research, and conduct comprehensive security assessments, including security categorizations, threat and risk assessments, and certification and accreditation activities to ensure the security of systems and services;
- Evaluate and assess security requirements for systems and services, and develop expertise in security risk assessment methodologies and best practices to inform security decision‑making;
- Develop a deep understanding of the cyber security threat landscape, including government standards and requirements, and gain hands‑on experience working in a Security Operations Center environment, utilizing tools such as Wireless Intruder Detection Systems (WIDS) to support IT security operations;
- Participate in security operations, risk management, and compliance activities, including forensic analysis and stakeholder collaboration;
- Assist in developing and maintaining security‑related documentation, ensuring compliance with industry standards and regulatory requirements, and communicating security updates and standards to stakeholders in order to improve the organization’s security posture.
- Design, develop, and deploy machine learning models using frameworks such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, and MLflow;
- Apply data science techniques such as data ingestion, data quality checking, data preprocessing, feature engineering, data transformation, data splitting, and model evaluation;
- Perform file format analysis, metadata and content extraction using tools such as Apache Tika;
- Use IDEs and Notebooks such as VS Code and Jupyter for the development of data science and machine learning applications;
- Work with NVIDIA hardware and technologies such as Triton and AI Enterprise to configure and deploy training and inferencing infrastructure;
- Participate in designing, testing, and optimizing AI/ML models and systems;
- Explore and apply AI/ML technologies and techniques such as natural language processing, Computer Vision, Large Language Models, Facial Recognition, and Neural Optical Character Recognition;
- Fine‑tune pre‑trained models.
- Registered full‑time in one of the following academic paths at the time of placement:
- College Diploma student in their 3rd year;
- Undergraduate degree student in their 3rd year or higher;
- Graduate‑level student (Master’s or Ph.D.).
- Must be in a field of study relevant to the functions of the position for which the candidates apply to; e.g., Computer Science, Computer and Electrical Engineering, Engineering in technical areas, Mechanical Engineering, Network Security, Information Technology, Telecommunications, Software Engineering, Informatics.
Applicants must be registered as a full‑time, post‑secondary student in an accredited academic institution recognized in Canada during their work term.
Experience may have been acquired through formal and informal settings (e.g., school, volunteer work experience or projects).
- Develop on mobile platforms (iOS / Android) with one or more mobile applications focused programming languages (e.g., Java, Kotlin, Objective C, Swift);
- Develop Web application components such as frontend or backend;
- Desktop application development;
- Linux environments and Bash scripting (Ubuntu, Mint, Debian, Fedora, etc.);
- Encryption technologies (SSL, RSA, AES, etc.);
- Use programming language such as, but not limited to: Java/Kotlin, C#, Javascript/Typescript, Python, C/C++ and Go;
- Processus d’intégration continuet deploy continu (CI/CD), technologies de conteneurs et orchestration (Kubernetes, Docker).
- Data collection, data analytics and dashboard reporting;
- Leadership and stakeholder management skills;
- Experience in reporting tools like PowerBI, Tableau;
- Familiarity or experience in ServiceNow platform, including, but not limited to, Strategic Planning workspace.
- Problem Solving
- Analytical Skills
- Teamwork
- Client Service
- Initiative
Applicants must include the following information in their cover letter in order to be given further consideration:
Graduation date:
- Indicate your desired location of work if applicable.
- Travel costs benefits may apply. Further information will be disclosed during the interview process.
- Specify if you are enrolled in a co‑op placement, internship, or student job.
- Availability: What is the length of your term (4, 8, 12 or 16 months)?
- Your current year of study and expected graduation date.
- Tell us your story: why do you want to work for CSIS?
- Work objectives.
- Technical abilities (where applicable).
- Volunteer or work Experience (where applicable).
- Projects (where applicable).
While we continue to explore opportunities for flexible work arrangements, the majority of work in our organization must be done in the office and cannot be performed at home.
Annual Rate: $46,548–$66,035
Hourly Rate: $23.79–$33.75
Annual Rate: $53,220–$67,151
Hourly Rate: $27.20–$34.32
- Hourly salary
- Public Service Commission Approved CO‑OP (Co‑operative Education)/Internship Programs
- Self‑assessment language tests
Candidates must be eligible to receive an Enhanced Top Secret security clearance. The process involves a security interview, a polygraph, and a background investigation that includes credit and financial verifications. The use of illegal drugs is a criminal offense. Drug use is an important factor considered in your reliability and suitability assessment during the selection process. Therefore it is important not to use any illegal drugs from the time you submit your application.
Applicants must clearly demonstrate in their application how they meet each Education and Experience criteria. Failure to do so will result in the applicant being screened out of the career opportunity.
CSIS is a separate employer and is not subject to the Public Service Employment Act (PSEA). CSIS has its own classification, compensation system, and a different staffing regime. As such, we use a different staffing process and terminology.
CSIS is committed to building a workforce that is truly representative of the Canadians it serves by cultivating a diverse and inclusive workplace environment. This will be achieved by increasing employment equity group representation (including persons with disabilities, visible minorities, Indigenous peoples, and women) at all levels within the organization through hiring and talent management practices. Gaps have been identified among Indigenous peoples and visible minorities for this position. We will also ensure that appropriate accommodations are made (e.g., specialized equipment, changes to physical workspace) to provide employment opportunities for all qualified candidates. In support of achieving a greater, diverse and skilled workforce, we strongly encourage those individuals who belong to one or more of the employment equity groups to self‑identify when applying.
Should you require accommodation in relation to a disability, please tell us at the beginning of the selection process. This information will be kept confidential.
CSIS Offices in Canada are located on various ancestral and traditional lands. In the spirit of reconciliation, we acknowledge all Indigenous People across Canada and their connection to these lands.
The personal information provided in your application is protected under the Privacy Act and will be held in Personal Information Bank SIS/P‑PU‑025.
We thank all applicants for their interest in CSIS. However, only those who are selected for further consideration will be contacted.
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