MIT- Software Engineer Intern | Engine
About SingleStore
SingleStore is a cloud-native distributed SQL database built for real-time applications, analytics, and AI. Our platform unifies transactions and analytics so organizations can work with data quickly, reliably, and at scale.
About the Engine Team
The Database Engine team builds the core technology behind SingleStore, including query processing, optimization, storage, data ingestion, distributed systems, reliability, and performance.
As an intern, you will join a small, collaborative engineering team and contribute to meaningful projects that move from design to production through our regular release cycles. You will learn from experienced engineers while developing a strong foundation in systems and database engineering.
About the Role
As a Software Engineer Intern, you will design, implement, test, and improve production-quality software for the SingleStore database. You will work on well-scoped projects, participate in technical discussions and code reviews, and gain hands-on experience solving challenging problems in large-scale software systems.
Your work may include:
Developing new features and improvements across the SingleStore database
Working on SQL query processing and query optimization
Improving storage engines, indexing, and data management
Building reliable distributed-system components
Working with concurrency, multithreading, and fault tolerance
Investigating performance, scalability, and correctness issues
Writing production code, tests, documentation, and technical designs
Collaborating with engineers, product managers, and cross-functional partners
Depending on the team and project, you may also work with performance engineering, SIMD, LLVM-based code generation, search, vector search, cloud infrastructure, or AI data workloads.
Required Qualifications
Currently pursuing a bachelor’s or master’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related field
Strong foundation in data structures, algorithms, operating systems, and computer architecture
Understanding of concurrency, multithreading, and server-based systems
Programming experience in C++ or C
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
Ability to communicate clearly and collaborate effectively with teammates
Curiosity, ownership, and willingness to learn
Prior professional experience is not required. We welcome candidates who have developed their skills through coursework, research, projects, internships, or open-source contributions.
Preferred Qualifications
Coursework or project experience in databases, distributed systems, operating systems, compilers, networking, or storage systems
Experience debugging or optimizing systems-level software
Familiarity with Linux or Unix-based systems
Experience with performance profiling, memory management, or low-level programming
Experience contributing to production software or substantial technical projects
What You’ll Gain
Hands-on experience building software for a production distributed database
Mentorship from experienced database and systems engineers
Exposure to database internals, query processing, storage, reliability, and performance engineering
Opportunities to collaborate across engineering and product teams
A supportive environment focused on technical growth and meaningful ownership
A deeper understanding of how software is designed, tested, released, and operated