Software Engineer Intern, Infrastructure

About the role

You will architect and maintain the foundational infrastructure that powers a bi-directional interface with the brain, ensuring systems are robust, secure, and capable of restoring movement to the paralyzed and sight to the blind. You will own the end-to-end lifecycle of critical infrastructure components, from initial design and implementation through deployment, monitoring, and iterative improvement in a high-velocity environment. This role requires you to build resilient and scalable systems that serve a diverse user base, from non-technical scientists and doctors to highly proficient engineers, providing them with the reliable platforms needed for groundbreaking research. You will work closely with cross-functional teams to define, build, and validate infrastructure solutions that directly support neural recording experiments and manufacturing workflows. A significant part of your responsibility will involve developing the ground-up infrastructure for both on-premise environments and cloud architecture on AWS. You will leverage your skills to enhance developer experience by creating robust tooling and build-system infrastructure that accelerates innovation across the company. Your daily work will involve contributing to the full stack, from low-level system configurations to high-level orchestration, ensuring every layer functions seamlessly to support our mission.

Key facts

What you'll do

Architect, build, and ship foundational infrastructure from 0 to 1 rapidly and efficiently to support Neuralink's mission-critical systems.

Implement infrastructure as code using Terraform to provision and manage cloud resources on AWS with reliability and consistency.

Develop and maintain robust tooling using Rust and Python to automate deployment pipelines and streamline operations for internal teams.

Utilize Bazel and Nix to create reproducible builds and ensure deterministic, hermetic packaging across development and production environments.

Configure and manage Kubernetes clusters to orchestrate containerized services with a focus on security, scalability, and high availability.

Establish and optimize GitLab CI workflows to automate testing, validation, and deployment processes for infrastructure and application changes.

Deploy and manage systems on Ubuntu and Fedora, performing systems administration tasks across multiple operating environments.

Design and implement hardware-in-the-loop (HITL) testing infrastructure to validate firmware, BCI, and robot systems in integrated environments.

Apply deep knowledge of modern networking protocols and network architecture to troubleshoot issues and optimize system performance.

Implement security best practices using cryptographic protocols and authentication schemes such as TLS, x509 certificates, and 802.1x to protect infrastructure.

Ensure system integrity through familiarity with UEFI, TPM measured boot, Secure Boot, and Systemd for secure and reliable boot processes.

Support the deployment of physical hardware on manufacturing lines and create custom tooling to facilitate neural recordings from implants.

Collaborate closely with software, firmware, and robotics teams to provide foundational infrastructure that accelerates their development workflows.

Maintain and iterate on on-premise solutions and cloud architectures to ensure they meet evolving scalability and performance demands.

Write clean, maintainable, and well-documented code that adheres to strict engineering standards and best practices.

Proactively identify infrastructure bottlenecks and devise solutions that improve resilience, monitoring, and operational efficiency.

Participate in on-call rotations to respond to infrastructure incidents and ensure continuous system reliability.

Champion infrastructure improvements that enable non-technical users to interact with complex systems easily and safely.

Drive initiatives that bridge the gap between cutting-edge research environments and production-grade operational platforms.

Requirements

Demonstrate proficiency with Infrastructure as Code tools such as Terraform, Docker, Packer, Ansible, Cloud-Init, and Kickstart.

Possess a working knowledge of compiled languages, with demonstrated experience in Rust, Go, or C/C++.

Have a working understanding of major cryptographic protocols and authentication schemes including TLS, x509, 802.1x, U2F, and SAML.

Show familiarity with the modern Linux boot process, including UEFI, TPM measured boot, Secure Boot, and Systemd.

Have systems administration experience across Windows, macOS, and Linux platforms.

Possess an in-depth understanding of modern networking concepts, protocols, and architecture.

Exhibit the ability to architect, build, and ship infrastructure solutions from scratch quickly and efficiently.

Be eligible to work in the United States without sponsorship for this position.

Practical notes

Internship engagement.

Available to work in South San Francisco, California, United States.