Agentic Development Intern

Carnegie Mellon University; Pittsburgh (Allegheny County); On-site; USD 21,000 - 34,000; Part time

Job summary

The Software Engineering Institute (SEI) at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh is offering a Fall 2026 internship in the Cyber Mission Readiness Directorate within CERT. Trainees will collaborate with software engineers, learning engineers, and cybersecurity experts to build the software and automation behind cyber training, exercises, and assessments.

You will contribute to agentic AI workflow development, CI/CD and GitOps automation, and infrastructure as code with containerized

Qualifications

• Enrolled in a degree granting program.
• Willingness to travel to various locations to support the SEI’s mission (within SEI and CMU community).
• Eligible to work in the United States without Visa sponsorship.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and evaluate agentic AI workflows with human review checkpoints.
• Develop and maintain CI/CD pipelines and GitOps automation.
• Develop infrastructure as code and containerized environments for training and labs.
• Write tests and documentation, and demonstrate solutions to the team.

Skills

Critical thinking

Programming basics

Git workflows

Linux basics

Collaboration

Willingness to learn

Documentation

Education

Enrolled in a degree granting program

Tools

Git

Docker

CI/CD platforms

GitLab CI

GitHub Actions

Job description

What We Do

The SEI helps advance software engineering principles and practices and serves as a national resource in software engineering, computer security, and process improvement. The SEI works closely with defense and government organizations, industry, and academia to continually improve software-intensive systems. Our core purpose is to help organizations improve software engineering capabilities and develop or acquire the right software, defect free, within budget and on time, every time.

Position Summary

You will work as a part of the Cyber Mission Readiness Directorate within CERT and will collaborate with a team of software engineers, learning engineers, and cybersecurity experts focused on building the software and automation behind cyber training, exercises, and assessments. You will assist members of the Operational Readiness and Evaluation team in developing agentic AI workflows that help research, generate, and review curriculum, with source traceability and human approval built in. You will build and maintain GitOps pipelines that lint, test, package, and deploy training content, web applications, and virtual lab environments. You will research and prototype new approaches to automation, leveraging both AI and traditional software engineering practices to deliver reliable, repeatable systems. This internship begins in Fall 2026, with the option to continue through the Spring 2027 semester.

You will contribute to a variety of core functions including:

• Agentic AI workflow development and evaluation
• CI/CD and GitOps automation
• Infrastructure as code and containerized environments
• Test automation and developer tooling

Requirements

• Enrolled in a degree granting program.
• Willingness to travel to various locations to support the SEI’s overall mission. This includes within the SEI and CMU community.
• You will be subject to a background check and must be eligible to work in the United States without Visa sponsorship.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Ability to critically think and problem solve
• Familiarity with a programming or scripting language, such as Python, JavaScript/TypeScript, or Bash
• Familiarity with Git and collaborative workflows, such as branching and merge requests
• Basic knowledge of Linux, the command line, and containers (e.g., Docker)
• Ability to collaborate internally and externally with professional engineers, instructional designers, and subject matter experts
• Willingness to learn new technologies with cross-functional teams
• Must be organized, detail-oriented, and have the capacity to clearly document and communicate any findings

Desired Experience

• Experience building with large language model APIs or agent frameworks, including tool use or Model Context Protocol (MCP)
• Experience with CI/CD platforms, such as GitLab CI or GitHub Actions
• Experience with infrastructure as code or GitOps tools, such as Terraform, Packer, Ansible, or Argo CD
• Experience writing automated unit, integration, or end-to-end tests
• These experiences may also come from education-driven experiences or extracurriculars.

Job Function Breakdown

• Design, build, and evaluate agentic AI workflows with human review checkpoints: 35%
• Develop and maintain CI/CD pipelines and GitOps automation: 30%
• Develop infrastructure as code and containerized environments for training and labs: 20%
• Write tests and documentation, and demonstrate solutions to the team: 15% TOTAL = 100%

Position Type Intern (Fixed Term)

Full time/Part time Part time Pay Basis Hourly

Part-time, Fully Onsite Position

This is a part-time, fully onsite position based in our Pittsburgh office.

Location

Pittsburgh, PA

Equal Opportunity Employer

Carnegie Mellon University is an Equal Opportunity Employer/Disability/Veteran.

Carnegie Mellon University is an Equal Opportunity Employer/Disability/Veteran.

More Information

Please visit “Why Carnegie Mellon” to learn more about becoming part of an institution inspiring innovations that change the world.

About

Always focused on the future, the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) advances software as a strategic advantage for national security. We lead research and direct transition of software engineering, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence technologies at the intersection of academia, industry, and government. We serve the nation as a federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and are based at Carnegie Mellon University, a global research university annually rated among the best for its programs in computer science and engineering.

Our people apply special knowledge and skills and are part of an elite research university. We perform research and apply our expertise every day to foresee problems and exploit opportunities in software engineering, AI engineering, and cybersecurity. Quality software that is secure will control the future. At CMU SEI, we are engineering that ever-greater software-fueled future.

Support

Need Help? For technical assistance, email [e-mail] or call 412-268-5072. We are committed to providing an accessible experience throughout our recruitment process. If you need assistance or a reasonable accommodation at any stage of the application, interview, or hiring process, please contact Equal Opportunity Services by email at [e-mail] or by phone at 412-268-3930.