Applied Science Intern - PhD - 2027 - Austin, San Jose, Seattle

11105 Expedia, Inc.; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 64,000 - 91,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation support

Health care benefits

Hybrid Work Policy

Travel discounts

Job summary

Expedia Group Internship Program in Austin offers hands-on experience in machine learning within a global travel technology environment. You will work on real-world projects, prototype ML models, and participate in structured onboarding and mentorship.

The program emphasizes collaboration across data scientists, engineers, and product partners while providing support to develop your skills from day one. You will gain exposure to AI-driven workflows, experiment with model design, and learn to

Qualifications

• PhD in a technical subject (e.g., AI/ML, data science, math, physics, engineering).
• Strong programming skills in Python and at least one JVM language (Scala/Java).
• Experience with SQL and data querying; familiarity with ML concepts.

Responsibilities

• Design, prototype, and evaluate ML models under supervision of senior ML scientists.
• Implement clean, maintainable model training and inference code with tests.
• Contribute to data modeling, APIs, and production-ready ML solutions.
• Explore data using basic statistical techniques to improve model quality.
• Collaborate with peers across data science, engineering, and product teams.

Skills

Python

Scala

SQL

Java

R

Education

PhD in technical subject

Tools

Spark

Hadoop

AWS

Job description

At Expedia Group, we help travelers explore the world, one journey at a time. As a global travel company powered by passionate people, trusted partnerships, and leading technology, we connect travelers, partners, and advertisers through our consumer brands, B2B network, and travel advertising business. Here, you’ll do meaningful work that helps millions of people discover, book, and experience travel with more ease, confidence, and joy. Our five Behaviors-Traveler First, Think Big, Operate with Excellence, Ownership Mindset, and Succeed Together-help foster a supportive environment where people can grow their careers and have the flexibility, benefits, and support to do their best work. Join us and build for travelers everywhere.

*Note: Applications will remain live for at least 5 business days when the role is posted. The post will be removed when application targets are met. By joining the Expedia Group 2027 Global Summer Internship Program as a Applied Science Intern you’ll fully integrate into our inclusive community and gain a well-rounded experience of life at Expedia Group. Our global program offers an exciting opportunity to contribute to business-critical projects by developing your skills through tailored learning and training, providing ongoing support, and offering insightful intern-specific events to build knowledge and community. We’re building a more open world. Join us.

Internship Program Highlights:

• Start strong from day one: Your first week is designed to help you build connections, settle in quickly, and get set up for success through cohort orientation, support, and structured onboarding.
• Learn the skills that matter: You will take part in role-specific technical and professional skills learning, delivered through a mix of in-person and virtual sessions, to help you build confidence and capability from the start.
• Work on meaningful projects: Interns join Expedia Group teams and contribute to real business priorities and workstreams. At the end of the internship, you will showcase your work to team members and senior leaders.
• Grow beyond your day job: Our Learning Series includes interactive workshops focused on professional development and workplace skills, with topics such as personal branding, communication, and presentation skills.
• Gain exposure to leaders: Through our Leadership Series, interns take part in exclusive events with Travel Leadership Team leaders to hear about their career journeys, learn more about the business, and ask questions directly.
• Build your network and community: You will join an intern cohort and take part in regular social events designed to help you build relationships, experience Expedia Group culture, and have fun along the way.
• Receive dedicated mentorship: Every intern is paired with a mentor to support development, learning, and career exploration throughout the program, while also helping expand your network across Expedia Group.
• Feel supported throughout the experience: Interns receive ongoing coaching and guidance from managers, team navigators, and a dedicated Emerging Talent & Careers contact, so there is always a strong support system in place.

In this role, you will:

Travel is so much more than simply reaching your destination. Along the way you will make an immediate impact on reimagining the way people search for travel with our awesome team by inventing brand-new techniques to power global travel for everyone, everywhere. From building pipelines and prototyping new ML models with A/B testing, to applying new techniques to services that run tens of thousands of requests per second, there is no shortage of opportunities for technical innovation at Expedia Group - the sky's the limit!

• Design, prototype, and evaluate machine learning models under the guidance of more experienced machine learning scientists, contributing to well-scoped research and product-focused experiments.
• Implement clean, maintainable model training and inference code using standard software engineering practices, including basic unit testing, code reviews, and reproducible experimentation workflows.
• Participate in low-level system design, API design, and data modeling for ML-powered features, learning how to translate product and data requirements into robust, production-aware ML solutions.
• Explore, analyze, and prepare data using fundamental statistical and ML techniques to improve model quality, robustness, and fairness, including feature engineering and basic error analysis.
• Collaborate with peers, mentors, data scientists, engineers, and product partners to understand problem spaces, define success metrics, and iterate on ML solutions that deliver measurable impact across different product domains.
• Learn to work with AI-driven systems, tools, or workflows and applying AI/ML concepts to real world products, including safely integrating and operating AI/ML-enabled solutions that improve outcomes within defined guidance and scope.

Who You Are:

• Must be available to commit to the full program dates: May 24th - July 30th or June 21st - August 27th
• Must be graduating with a PhD degree in a technical subject (e.g. PhD degree in a technical, or analytical-related, subject such as Computer Science (with focus in areas like Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, Data Mining, Data Science), Mathematics, Physics, Statistics, Operations Research, Electrical & Computer Engineering, or any Engineering degree) between December 2027 and July 2028
• Must be willing to relocate to city of job location if outside commuting distance
• Must have Python and/or Scala, SQL knowledge
• Must be graduating from university in the same country of internship location
• Helpful to have theoretical understanding various machine learning topics like Regression, Naïve Bayes, Deep Learning, Gradient Boosting, Random Forests, SVMs, Neural Networks
• Helpful to have experience with programming, statistical, and querying languages like Python, R, SQL/Hive, Java
• Helpful to have understanding of distributed file systems, scalable datastores, distributed computing and related technologies (Spark, Hadoop, etc.); implementation experience of MapReduce techniques, in-memory data processing, etc.
• Helpful to be familiar with cloud computing, AWS specifically, in a distributed computing context
• Helpful to be able to effectively communicate and engage with a variety of partners (e.g., internal, external, technical, non-technical people)
• Helpful to have Java, R, C++, Hive, Hadoop, Microsoft SQL Server knowledge

What We Offer:

Successful candidates will receive a competitive compensation package including the benefits below and others:

• The compensation for this position in Seattle is $56 p/h for candidates with a PhD degree.
• The compensation for this position in Austin is $56 p/h for candidates with a PhD degree.
• The compensation for this position in San Jose is $61 p/h for candidates with a PhD degree.
• As this is an intern role, this compensation is fixed.
• Health care benefits: medical, dental & vision options
• Hybrid Work Policy
• Travel discounts
• Opportunity to receive a full-time permanent offer after graduation and 12 months of customized support from our Emerging Talent & Careers team
• Community support through Expedia Group’s Inclusion Business Groups
• Relocation support (if eligible)

Benefits and perks

Expedia Group offers benefits and perks designed to support employees and their families, including medical, dental, and vision coverage, paid time off, an Employee Assistance Program, wellness and travel reimbursement, travel discounts, and International Airlines Travel Agent Network (IATAN) membership.

Accommodation requests

Expedia Group is committed to providing an inclusive and accessible recruiting experience. If you need an accommodation or adjustment due to a disability during the application or recruiting process, please submit a request at https://expedia.service-now.com/askeg?id=job_accommodation.

About Expedia Group

Expedia Group includes three flagship consumer brands - Expedia, Hotels.com, and Vrbo - along with a leading B2B travel business and travel advertising offerings. Across our brands and business, we help travelers explore the world with confidence and ease.

Important notice

Employment opportunities and job offers at Expedia Group will always come from Expedia Group's Talent Acquisition and hiring teams. Never share sensitive personal information unless you are confident of the recipient. Expedia Group does not extend job offers via email or messaging tools to individuals with whom we have not made prior contact. Our email domain is @expediagroup.com. The official place to find and apply for roles is https://careers.expediagroup.com/jobs/.

Equal Opportunity

Expedia is committed to creating an inclusive work environment with a diverse workforce. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. This employer participates in E-Verify. The employer will provide the Social Security Administration (SSA) and, if necessary, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with information from each new employee's I-9 to confirm work authorization. Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) is the global travel marketplace with one purpose: to help travelers explore the world, one journey at a time. Expedia Group™ connects travelers, partners, and advertisers through its trusted brands, leading technology, and rich first-party data, delivering predictive, personalized experiences that shape the future of travel. Expedia Group’s ecosystem includes three flagship consumer brands – Expedia®, Hotels.com®, and Vrbo® – the largest B2B travel business, and a premier advertising network. Guided by an experienced and passionate global team, Expedia Group helps millions of travelers in more than 70 countries explore the world with confidence and ease.