Year-Round Intern - Cloud Engineering

theocc; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 28,000 - 41,000; Full time

Job summary

The Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) offers a year-round internship in Chicago within the Cloud Engineering team. Interns will build and enhance platform security guardrails, develop Open Policy Agent (OPA) policies, and contribute to FinOps dashboards and automation.

The program emphasizes real-world projects and mentorship in a hybrid setting with flexible weekly hours for students. We seek rising seniors or second-year graduate students who graduate in 2027 or 2028, with interest in cloud

Qualifications

• Rising senior or 2nd-year graduate student, graduating December 2027 or May/August 2028.
• Majors: Computer Science, Information Systems, or related.
• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS) or scripting (Python).
• Familiarity with security or cost management concepts; Terraform/IaC or policy-as-code a plus.
• Claude code experience is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Build/enhance cloud security guardrails and policy checks (OPA).
• Develop FinOps dashboards and automate cost controls.
• Work on real backlog items alongside the team and contribute to tooling.

Skills

Cloud platforms (AWS)

Python scripting

Security / FinOps concepts

Terraform / IaC

Policy-as-code tools

Claude code experience

Education

Rising senior or 2nd-year graduate student

Job description

***** INTERNS AND SEASONAL INTERNS ARE ELIGIBLE ONLY FOR PAID SICK LEAVE ACCRUED BASED ON HOURS WORKED. NO OTHER BENEFIT INCLUDING TECHNOLOGY STIPEND APPLY TO INTERNS OR SEASONAL INTERNS*****

Location

Chicago

Internship Type

Year-round intern (1,000 hours max, January 2027-December 2027)

Hybrid Work Program

OCC operates under a Hybrid Work Program which, absent an approved exception, requires employees to work from an OCC office at least 3 days per week. To maximize in-person collaboration, Tuesday and Wednesday are considered anchor days, and all employees are expected to work in the office both days. Employees meeting performance expectations are generally permitted to select 2 other days per week to work remotely if desired. When working remotely, employees are generally expected to work from the state in which they reside, absent an exception approved by Human Resources. Additionally, OCC generally does not permit employees to work while traveling internationally.

About OCC

A World Class Clearing Organization

The Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) is the world's largest equity derivatives clearing organization. Founded in 1973, OCC is dedicated to promoting stability and market integrity by delivering clearing and settlement services for options, futures and securities lending transactions. As a Systemically Important Financial Market Utility (SIFMU), OCC operates under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. OCC has more than 100 clearing members and provides central counterparty (CCP) clearing and settlement services to 21 exchanges and trading platforms.

OCC also provides free and engaging educational resources about the benefits and risks of options through its Options Industry Council (OIC ).

OCC is building a culture that empowers continued learning, authentic innovation, and constant creativity.

About the Intern Program

OCC is looking for interns who are eager to learn, humble enough to ask questions, and ready to think critically about complex problems. The OCC Internship Program equips students with the real-world skills needed to transition successfully into a career in financial services. As an intern, you will contribute to meaningful projects, applying your skills and knowledge to real challenges facing the business. Your time with us is a real opportunity to make a genuine impact on the future of OCC!

OCC's Year-Round Internship Program is a 12-month opportunity running from January through December and is open to both undergraduate and graduate students who are actively enrolled at a college or university. Interns work up to 20 hours per week during the school year and up to 40 hours per week during the summer, subject to a 1,000-hour cap. The role is based in a hybrid work environment, and overtime is not permitted.

About the Team & Role

The Cloud Engineering team owns Platform Engineering Team security guardrails, governance controls, and cost optimization (FinOps) across the AWS platform. We build and maintain policy-as-code, IAM/permission boundaries, cost anomaly detection, and tagging/chargeback tooling. The intern will support automation of security and cost controls, contributing to tools used org-wide.

Job Summary & Responsibilities

Intern will build/enhance platform engineering cloud security guardrails, as well as build and enhance Open Policy Agent (OPA) policies for security guardrail checks and for standards. Also, Financial Operations dashboarding and reporting, and automation for cleanup and alerting to help with cloud cost avoidance and reduction. Working alongside the team on real backlog items, responsibilities map directly to ownership of monitoring and remediation tooling.

Candidate Qualifications

Rising senior or second-year graduate student, graduating December 2027 or May/August 2028.

Desired Majors

• Computer Science Information Systems, or related

Technical Skills/Experience Desired

Coursework or project experience with cloud platforms (AWS preferred), exposure to scripting (Python), and familiarity with basic security or cost management concepts. Exposure to Terraform/IaC or policy-as-code tools a plus.

Experience with Claude code a plus as it is used in daily work.

Additional Qualifications

Strong analytical skills, comfort with ambiguity, interest in cloud security or FinOps as a career, and interested in developing automation to solve problems

About Us

The Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) is the world's l