Year-Round Intern - Cloud Engineering

The Options Clearing Corporation; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 28,000 - 40,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work environment

Up to 2 days per week of remote work

Tuition Reimbursement

Student Loan Repayment Assistance

Technology Stipend

Generous PTO and Parental leave

401k Employer Match

Competitive health benefits

Job summary

The Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) invites applications for a year‑round internship in Cloud Engineering in Chicago. The role focuses on building security guardrails, policy‑as‑code, and cost‑control automation while contributing to org‑wide tooling and dashboards.

Interns work up to 20 hours per week during the school year and up to 40 hours in the summer, in a hybrid environment with in‑office anchor days.

Qualifications

• Rising senior or second-year graduate student, graduating December 2027 or May/August 2028.
• Majors: Computer Science, Information Systems, or related.
• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS preferred) and scripting (Python), plus basic security or cost management concepts.
• Exposure to Terraform/IaC or policy-as-code tools is a plus.
• Experience with Claude code is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Intern will build/enhance platform engineering cloud security guardrails and Open Policy Agent (OPA) policies.
• Financial Operations dashboarding and reporting, and automation for cost avoidance and reduction.
• Work with the team on real backlog items, owning monitoring and remediation tooling.

Skills

Cloud security

FinOps

Python scripting

AWS cloud

Claude code

Education

Undergraduate or graduate student

Tools

Terraform/IaC

Policy-as-code

Claude code

Job description

Location and Internship Type

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

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 December2027 or May/August2028.
• Desired Majors: Computer Science, Information Systems, or related.
• 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.

Compensation

The salary range listed for any given position is exclusive of fringe benefits and potential bonuses. If hired at OCC, your final base salary compensation will be determined by factors such as skills, experience and/or education. In addition, we believe in the importance of pay equity and consider internal equity of our current team members as part of any final offer. We typically do not hire at the maximum of the range in order to allow for future and continued salary growth. We also offer a substantial benefits package as noted on www.theocc.com/careers All employees may be eligible for a discretionary bonus. Discretionary bonuses are based on various factors, including, but not limited to, company and individual performance and are not guaranteed.

Salary Range$25.00 - $25.00

Incentive RangeThis position is eligible for an annual discretionary incentive compensation award, for which the target range is listed above (see Incentive Range). The amount of such award, if any, will be based on various factors, including without limitation, both individual and company performance.

Benefits

• A hybrid work environment
• Up to 2 days per week of remote work
• Tuition Reimbursement to support your continued education
• Student Loan Repayment Assistance
• Technology Stipend allowing you to use the device of your choice to connect to our network while working remotely
• Generous PTO and Parental leave
• 401k Employer Match
• Competitive health benefits including medical, dental and vision

Visit https://www.theocc.com/careers/thriving-together for more information.

Equal Opportunity Statement

OCC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. OCC is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion. OCC provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, citizenship status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, age, marital status, religion, veteran status, or any other characteristics protected by applicable federal, state, or local laws. Numerous studies have shown that people from certain groups are less likely than others to apply to jobs if they believe they do not meet 100% of the requirements. We encourage everyone to review our open positions and apply if you think your experience may be a match, even if you do not meet all of the qualifications. Your perspective may be an element we need to continue building innovative solutions to support the markets and market participants we serve. If you need a disability related accommodation for any part of the application process, please email [e-mail].

Recruitment Process

Interviews OCC does not utilize video chat rooms (that is, Google Hangouts) to conduct interviews. OCC will only use our approved Zoom video interview platform.