Forward Deployed Operations Intern

Fenwick & West LLP; Palo Alto (CA); Hybrid; USD 29,000 - 34,000; Part time

Job summary

Fenwick & West LLP is seeking a high-impact technology intern to design, build, and ship AI-native workflows for business development, intelligence, and legal operations. The role is part-time and non-exempt, running through fall 2026 and into winter 2027, with opportunities to work across one of our US offices.

Ideal candidates are enrolled in a CS or related program, can commit 16+ hours weekly, and can work with Python, APIs, LLMs, and related tools. Some in-office presence will be required.

Qualifications

• Currently enrolled in CS, data science, industrial engineering, quantitative social science or related technical degree program.
• Able to work a minimum of 16 hours a week and commute to an office.
• Hands-on experience with programming (Python preferred) and comfort with APIs, LLMs and coding tools.

Skills

Python

APIs

LLMs

Jupyter/VS Code

Education

CS/Data Science/Engineering degree

Tools

Azure Databricks

Microsoft Fabric

AWS

Job description

Job Description Summary

Fenwick is looking for a high-impact technology intern who will design, build, and ship AI-native and agentic workflows to support how one of the country’s leading technology law firms operates and grows. This isn’t a support role. It’s a founding team experience. You’ll work alongside leadership to work with non-technical domain experts to design and engineer workflows that drive business development, intelligence, and legal operations strategy across the firm. This position can be based in any of our US offices. This is a part-time, non-exempt role expected to run through fall of 2026 and into winter of 2027.

What We're Looking For

• Currently enrolled in a CS, data science, industrial engineering, quantitative social science such as economics, or related technical BA, BS, or MS degree program.
• Is able to work a minimum of 16 hours a week and is commuting distance and able to come into one of our offices on occasion.
• Hands‑on experience with programming (Python preferred) and comfort working with APIs, LLMs, agentic coding tools, MCPs, Jupyter Notebook/VS Code.
• Experience translating ideas into working prototypes and measuring whether they actually work; you run experiments, check results, and iterate based on evidence.
• Demonstrated ability to work with non-technical users; you can explain what you’re building, gather feedback, and translate stakeholder needs into technical requirements.
• Cloud platform experience (Azure Databricks, Microsoft Fabric, or similar) preferred.
• Most people applying will have AWS experience which is translatable to Microsoft/Azure.
• Demonstrated interest in learning about current and emerging technologies; you stay up to date with the newest industry developments.
• Action-oriented and focused on execution; you prefer delivering solutions and iterating on them rather than over‑planning.

Why Fenwick

Fenwick has served the world’s most innovative technology and life sciences companies for over 50 years. You'll be working at the intersection of law, business, and cutting‑edge AI, with direct visibility into how a premier firm operates and grows. Your work will have a tangible impact. You'll see ideas move quickly from concept to implementation and into the hands of those who use them. The anticipated pay rate is $21 to $25 per hour.

Benefits and Compensation Details

• At Fenwick, we believe that our partners and employees are our most important asset. Helping you and your families achieve and maintain good health - physical, emotional, and financial - is the reason we offer a comprehensive benefit program.
• We provide benefits to eligible employees under plans such as Healthcare, Life Insurance, Health Savings Accounts, Flexible Spending Accounts, and Wellbeing. Except as otherwise required by law, temporary employees are generally not entitled to these benefits.
• The anticipated range for this position is: $1 - $1,500,000.
• Depending on the role, the actual base salary offered may depend upon a variety of factors, including without limitation, the qualifications of the individual applicant for the position, years of relevant experience, level of education attained, certifications or other professional licenses held, and if applicable, the location in which the applicant lives and/or from which they will be performing the job.
• A discretionary bonus for eligible employees may also be available based on performance. Additional information about employee eligibility for benefits and discretionary bonus will be made available upon request.

Our Story

For more than five decades, Fenwick & West has helped some of the world’s most recognized companies become, and remain, market leaders. From emerging enterprises to large public corporations, our clients are leaders in the technology, life sciences and cleantech sectors and are fundamentally changing the world through rapid innovation. Having worked alongside such progressive and cutting‑edge companies for so long, our culture has come to reflect the entrepreneurial spirit of our client base. Unlike traditional law firms, we move at our clients’ speed and have earned the reputation as a go‑to law firm for growing companies that need insightful, strategic counsel to help tackle the challenging issues that arise when the law cannot keep up with their pace of innovation.

With the same passion for excellence and innovation reflected in our client base, our firm is making revolutionary changes to the practice of law through substantial investments in proprietary technology tools and processes. Our clients demand—and deserve—new ways to receive best‑in‑class legal services more effectively. At Fenwick, we are proud to be shaping our legal services to do just that. We are proud to have been named one of the Best Places to Work in the Bay Area for the twelfth year.

Equal Opportunity

Fenwick & West LLP is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and, as such, conducts all employment‑related activities without regard to unlawful consideration of race, religion, color, marital status, national origin, age, sex, disability, sexual orientation or gender identity, gender, genetic characteristics or any other classification protected by applicable local, state or federal employment discrimination laws. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities for all.