Data ,AI Engineering Internship - Roxbury Community College

Roxbury Community College; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 23,000 - 32,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Pay: $20 per hour

Job summary

Roxbury Community College invites applications for a Data, AI Engineering COOP internship in the Office of the CIO. You will work on the Student Portal within a Databricks-based lakehouse, building views and AI-assisted features, touching J1, Slate, and Canvas data, and maintaining deployment pipelines.

The role emphasizes production ownership of a live system, FERPA training completion, and mentorship from the CIO. Fall 2026 start with through Jan 31, 2027 end date, paid at $20/hour.

Qualifications

• Currently enrolled in or recently completed a master's program in Data Science, Computer Science, Analytics, Information Systems, Software Engineering, or a related field.
• Strong SQL you can write, read, and debug non-trivial analytical queries.
• Python.
• Comfort with Git-based workflows and code review.
• Ability to handle student data responsibly; willingness to complete FERPA training before touching production data.
• Clear written communication—you'll be documenting and explaining decisions to non-technical stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Own and enhance the Student Portal Databricks App UI, queries, performance, and release cycle.
• Build and maintain silver and gold layer tables and Unity Catalog metric views that feed the portal.
• Write and tune SQL against the lakehouse (Serverless SQL Warehouse) for new student-facing views.
• Implement and test Unity Catalog row filters and column masks that enforce FERPA, ensuring students only see their data.
• Work with Lakeflow Connect and Auto Loader pipelines bringing in J1, Slate, and Canvas data.
• Manage code and deployments through Azure DevOps repos, pipelines, and Databricks Asset Bundles.
• Prototype AI-assisted features for the portal (RAG, natural-language query, advising nudges) as scope allows.
• Document what you build so the next person can pick it up.

Skills

SQL

Python

Git workflows

FERPA training

Written communication

Education

Master's in Data Science or related field

Tools

Databricks

Spark

Delta Lake

Azure

Job description

Roxbury Community College (RCC) is a public institution of higher education offering associate degrees, certificate programs and lifelong learning opportunities to the Greater Boston community. The Department of Education recognized RCC as a Predominantly Black Institution (PBI) and as one of the top 100 community colleges in the country for student outcomes through the Postsecondary Success Recognition Program, making it the only community college in Massachusetts with these designations.

RCC offers 24 associate degree programs, 6 credit-based certificate programs, 13 non-credit professional certification programs, 30+ lifelong learning and fitness classes, and customized incumbent worker training programs. The college hosts hundreds of civic and community events at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center each year. RCC is committed to providing all learners with the academic and non-academic support required for degree completion and long-term success.

Roxbury Community College is guided by our six core values of Accountability, Equity, Excellence, Honesty, Integrity, and Respect. RCC is also an AA/EO employer and strongly encourages applications from candidates who would enhance the diversity of its staff. Reasonable accommodation may be provided to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential job functions. The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Crime Statistics Act requires all institutes of higher education to disclose campus policy statements and crime statistics. Our annual report is available at https://www.rcc.mass.edu/explore/public-safety/index.html .

Job Description:

Job Title: Data, AIEngineering COOP, internship

Unit: Non-unit

Department: Office of the CIO. Information Technology Services

Reports to: CIO

Anticipated start date: Fall 2026

End date: January 31, 2027

About the work
RCC is standing up the Roxbury 2030 Data Portalsa governed Databricks-on-Azure data foundation running entirely
in RCC's own Azure tenant. Phase 1 delivers four read-only portals (Student Portal, SAP Portal, Finance Hub, IE/KPI
Dashboard) built on a Unity Catalog-governed lakehouse fed by Jenzabar J1, Slate CRM, and Canvas.
The Student Portal is a Databricks App that gives students a single, trustworthy view of their own academic picture.
Phase 1 is being delivered with an implementation partner; this co-op role exists to take ownership of the student
Portal in-house and extend itnew views, better data, and eventually AI-assisted featuresas the platform moves
under RCC's own team. This is real production work on a system students actually use, not a sandbox project.
What you'll do

Own and enhance the Student Portal Databricks AppUI, queries, performance, and release cycle

Build and maintain silver and gold layer tables and Unity Catalog metric views that feed the portal

Write and tune SQL against the lakehouse (Serverless SQL Warehouse) for new student-facing views

Implement and test Unity Catalog row filters and column masks that enforce FERPA verifying that everystudent sees exactly their own data and nothing else

Work with Lakeflow Connect and Auto Loader pipelines bringing in J1, Slate, and Canvas data

Manage code and deployments through Azure DevOps repos, pipelines, and Databricks Asset Bundles

Prototype AI-assisted features for the portal (RAG, natural-language query, advising nudges) as scope allows

Document what you build so the next person can pick it up

Requirements:

What we're looking for

Currently enrolled in or recently completed a master's program in Data Science, Computer Science, Analytics,

Information Systems, Software Engineering, or a related field

Strong SQLyou can write, read, and debug non-trivial analytical queries

Python

Comfort with Git-based workflows and code review

Ability to handle student data responsibly; willingness to complete FERPA training before touching productiondata

Clear written communicationyou'll be documenting and explaining decisions to non-technical stakeholders

Preferred

Hands-on exposure to Databricks, Spark, or Delta Lake (coursework counts)

Front-end work with Databricks Apps, Streamlit, Dash, or similar Python app frameworks

Dimensional modeling,medallion architecture concepts

Experience building with LLMs RAG pipelines, prompt engineering, agent frameworks

Fluency using AI coding assistants such as Claude as part of your daily workflow

Interest in higher education, student success, or public mission technology

Additional Information:

What you'll get
Production ownership of a live system serving a diverse urban community college
Working knowledge of a modern governed lakehouse Databricks, Unity Catalog, Azure at a depth that's
hard to get in coursework
Direct mentorship from the CIO and exposure to enterprise IT decision-making
A portfolio project you can point to and explain end to end

Pay: $20 per hour

ADA Compliance:

The Massachusetts Board of Higher Education - Roxbury Community College is an Equal Opportunity Employer. In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, The Massachusetts Board of Higher Education - Roxbury Community College will provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities and encourages both prospective and current employees to discuss potential accommodations with the employer.