Federal Data Scientist Intern 2027

IBM; Herndon (VA); On-site; USD 47,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

IBM is offering a Federal Data Scientist Intern position in Herndon, Virginia, within IBM Consulting-Federal. This 10-week internship exposes you to government data projects and real client work.

You will build data pipelines with Python, explore NLP/GenAI, and prepare analyses for both technical and non-technical audiences while growing through mentorship.

Eligible students must be able to obtain a federal security clearance, and travel up to 100% may be required during project assignments.

Qualifications

• Pursuing a quantitative degree in CS, statistics, mathematics, engineering, or related field.
• Strong collaboration and ability to manage dynamic workloads in an agile environment.
• Growth mindset with ownership of tasks and willingness to learn and adapt.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a Federal security clearance.
• Willing to travel up to 100%.

Responsibilities

• Work on client projects to build portfolio and skills.
• Develop data pipelines and model insights using Python.
• Communicate analytical results to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Contribute to data integration, ETL processes, and cloud exposure.

Skills

Python

Interpersonal skills

Leadership experience

Agile environment

Travel readiness

Education

Bachelor’s Degree

Tools

SQL

Spark

Job description

Introduction

Launch your Career Like an IBMer

Every IBMer has a story. For many, it started with an internship.

As an IBM intern, you won’t just gain experience - you’ll start thinking, working, and growing like an IBMer. From day one, you’ll contribute to real client projects across diverse industries, working alongside experienced IBMers who are invested in your success. You’ll be challenged, supported, and inspired, often all in the same day. You’ll develop technical expertise and consulting skills in a culture built on continuous learning, mentorship, and coaching. High-performing interns have a clear pathway into IBM’s Associate Program, launching careers at one of the world’s most innovative technology and consulting companies.

About the Team

In this role, you will join IBM’s US Federal team to deliver secure, mission-critical technology solutions for government agencies. You’ll work with federal, state, and local clients while developing specialized expertise in government compliance and security standards. This role offers unique career growth in a high-demand sector where your contributions directly impact public services and government missions.

Your role and responsibilities

During your internship, you can enhance your knowledge and gain professional experience by working on client projects. This role provides an exceptional opportunity to build a compelling portfolio, acquire new skills, gain insights into diverse industries, and embrace novel challenges for your future career.

At IBM, we prioritize continuous learning, skill development, and personal growth within a culture of coaching and mentorship. As an intern, you’ll experience this culture and have the opportunity to advance to our associate program based on results and performance.

Work experiences you could be exposed to:

• Mentored Analytical Support : Receive mentorship from diverse professionals in science engineering and consulting applying analytical rigor and statistical methods to predict behaviors.
• Data Integrations : Develop skills in writing efficient and reusable programs to cleanse integrate and model data. Evaluate model results contributing to data-driven insights.
• Effective Communication : Assist in conveying analytical results to both technical and non-technical audiences, refining your ability to communicate complex findings.
• Tech-Driven Data Transformer : Utilize program languages like Python to build data pipelines, extracting and transforming data from repositories to consumers. Gain exposure to cloud platforms, ETL tools, and data integration, expanding your tech toolkit.

The primary internship program dates are May 24, 2027 - July 30, 2027 (10 weeks).

Candidates must have the ability to obtain and maintain a Federal security clearance while in IBM Consulting-Federal.

Required education

Bachelor’s Degree

Required technical and professional expertise

• Currently pursuing a quantitative degree in Computer Science, Statistics, Mathematics, Engineering, or a related field
• Strong Interpersonal skills that enhance collaboration and relationship building, while also managing dynamic workloads in an agile environment
• Have initiative and passion to actively seek new knowledge and improve skills while embracing a growth mindset to assimilate diverse viewpoints
• Demonstrate leadership experience and ability to communicate effectively through active listening; while also be willing to adapt and have a readiness to take ownership of tasks and challenges
• Familiarity with one or more scripting languages (Python preferred), or a proven computer science foundation
• Willing to travel up to 100%.

Preferred technical and professional experience

• Demonstrate familiarity or interest in statistical analysis or data mining through previous internships, personal/academic projects, hackathons, and/or publications
• General familiarity with databases, data-engineering tools (SQL, spark) and cloud platforms (e.g., IBM Cloud, Azure, AWS). Experience with NLP/LLM/GenAI is a plus
• Experience using machine-learning/data science libraries in python (scikit-learn, SciPy, pandas, PyTorch) is a plus

ABOUT BUSINESS UNIT

IBM Consulting is IBM’s consulting and global professional services business, with market leading capabilities in business and technology transformation. With deep expertise in many industries, we offer strategy, experience, technology, and operations services to many of the most innovative and valuable companies in the world. Our people are focused on accelerating our clients’ businesses through the power of collaboration. We believe in the power of technology responsibly used to help people, partners and the planet.

YOUR LIFE @ IBM

In a world where technology never stands still, we understand that, dedication to our clients success, innovation that matters, and trust and personal responsibility in all our relationships, lives in what we do as IBMers as we strive to be the catalyst that makes the world work better.

Being an IBMer means you’ll be able to learn and develop yourself and your career, you’ll be encouraged to be courageous and experiment everyday, all whilst having continuous trust and support in an environment where everyone can thrive whatever their personal or professional background.

Our IBMers are growth minded, always staying curious, open to feedback and learning new information and skills to constantly transform themselves and our company. They are trusted to provide on-going feedback to help other IBMers grow, as well as collaborate with colleagues keeping in mind a team focused approach to include different perspectives to drive exceptional outcomes for our customers. The courage our IBMers have to make critical decisions everyday is essential to IBM becoming the catalyst for progress, always embracing challenges with resources they have to hand, a can-do attitude and always striving for an outcome focused approach within everything that they do.

Are you ready to be an IBMer?

ABOUT IBM

IBM’s greatest invention is the IBMer. We believe that through the application of intelligence, reason and science, we can improve business, society and the human condition, bringing the power of an open hybrid cloud and AI strategy to life for our clients and partners around the world.

Restlessly reinventing since 1911, we are not only one of the largest corporate organizations in the world, we’re also one of the biggest technology and consulting employers, with many of the Fortune 500 companies relying on the IBM Cloud to run their business.

At IBM, we pride ourselves on being an early adopter of artificial intelligence, quantum computing and blockchain. Now it’s time for you to join us on our journey to being a responsible technology innovator and a force for good in the world.

IBM is proud to be an equal-opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, pregnancy, disability, neurodivergence, age, or other characteristics protected by the applicable law. IBM is also committed to compliance with all fair employment practices regarding citizenship and immigration status.

OTHER RELEVANT JOB DETAILS

IBM offers a competitive and comprehensive benefits program. Eligible employees may have access to:

• Healthcare benefits including medical & prescription drug coverage, dental, vision, and mental health & well being
• Financial programs such as 401(k), cash balance pension plan, the IBM Employee Stock Purchase Plan, financial counseling, life insurance, short & long- term disability coverage, and opportunities for performance based salary incentive programs
• Generous paid time off including 12 holidays, minimum 56 hours sick time, 120 hours vacation, 12 weeks parental bonding leave in accordance with IBM Policy, and other Paid Care Leave programs. IBM also offers paid family leave benefits to eligible employees where required by applicable law
• Training and educational resources on our personalized, AI-driven learning platform where IBMers can grow skills and obtain industry-recognized certifications to achieve their career goals
• Diverse and inclusive employee resource groups, giving & volunteer opportunities, and discounts on retail products, services & experiences

We consider qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable law.

This position was posted on the date cited in the key job details section and is anticipated to remain posted for 21 days from this date or less if not needed to fill the role.

The compensation range and benefits for this position are based on a full-time schedule for a full calendar year. The salary will vary depending on your job-related skills, experience and location. Pay increment and frequency of pay will be in accordance with employment classification and applicable laws. For part time roles, your compensation and benefits will be adjusted to reflect your hours. Benefits may be pro-rated for those who start working during the calendar year.

Job Title

Federal Data Scientist Intern 2027

Date posted

07-Aug-2026

Job ID

127795

City / Township / Village

Herndon

State / Province

Virginia

Country

United States

Work arrangement

Onsite

Area of work

Data & Analytics

Employment type

Co-Op (Fixed Term)

Contract type

Internship

Projected Minimum Salary per year

46,620.00

Projected Maximum Salary per year

85,470.00

Position type

Internship

Travel required

Up to 100% or 5 days a week (home on weekends - based on project requirements)

Company

(0147) International Business Machines Corporation

Shift

General (daytime)

Is this role a commissionable/sales incentive based position?

No