AI Engineer Internship

Harkness AI; Christchurch; On-site; NZD 6,000 - 9,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

All subscriptions covered

Job summary

Harkness AI is a Christchurch AI consultancy developing AI systems for NZ businesses. This summer we run a funded R&D project and seek one student to help build it. You will work directly with the founder on a real NZ SME workflow automation effort.

Over ten weeks you will build AI agents, benchmark architectures, and ship an analytics module on our internal dashboard while documenting patterns for reuse in future client projects.

Qualifications

• Currently studying or recently finished a NZ qualification in STEM or business.
• Eligible to work full-time in NZ for the 10-week internship.
• Experience building full-stack web apps with TypeScript/NextJS and Python.

Responsibilities

• Build two to three AI agents for real NZ SME workflows.
• Design and run benchmarks comparing architectures, prompting strategies and integrations.
• Ship an analytics module on our internal operations dashboard (NextJS, Supabase, Vercel).
• Document the patterns so the work gets reused across future client projects.
• Sit in on real client meetings and see how AI projects are scoped, sold and delivered.
• Present your work at a Young Kiwis in AI meetup, if you want to.

Skills

TypeScript

NextJS

Supabase

Vercel

Python

Education

NZQA Level 6-10 qualification

Tools

Claude

Claude Code

Codex

Cursor

Job description

• Work on solving real world business problems with AI
• Work directly with the founder

Harkness AI is a Christchurch AI consultancy. We have built AI systems for more than 30 New Zealand businesses, from mortgage brokers to plumbers to power companies. This summer we are running a funded R&D project and we want one student to help build it.

THE PROJECT

Building and benchmarking AI agents for New Zealand SME workflows. AI is moving fast, but nearly every benchmark out there is built on US data, US businesses and US workflows. There is almost nothing for New Zealand. That gap is what you will be working on.

Over 10 weeks you will:

• - Build two to three AI agents for real NZ SME workflows (think trades job intake, proposal drafting, inventory triage)
• - Design and run benchmarks comparing architectures, prompting strategies and integrations
• - Ship an analytics module on our internal operations dashboard (NextJS, Supabase, Vercel)
• - Document the patterns so the work gets reused across future client projects
• - Sit in on real client meetings and see how AI projects are scoped, sold and delivered
• - Present your work at a Young Kiwis in AI meetup, if you want to

Tools: Claude and Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, TypeScript or Python, the full modern SaaS stack. All subscriptions covered.

WHO THIS IS FOR

• - Studying, or finished within the last 12 months, a science, technology, engineering, design or business qualification at a NZ tertiary institution (NZQA Level 6 to 10)
• - Legally able to work full‑time in NZ for the whole internship
• - Real experience building full‑stack web software (TypeScript, NextJS, Supabase, Vercel or close equivalents) and writing Python
• - Has used Claude, Cursor, Claude Code or similar for more than chat
• - Self‑directed. This is a real project, not a shadowing role
• - Available full‑time, on site in Christchurch, for the whole 10 weeks

THE PROCESS

Shortlisted applicants get a 30‑minute chat, a practical discussion on how you would approach a small agent problem, and a reference check.

This position is supported by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment's R&D Experience Grant.