Intern, Bioinformatics Data Engineer (BS)
Who We Are:
Calico (Calico Life Sciences LLC) is an Alphabet-founded research and development company whose mission is to harness advanced technologies and model systems to increase our understanding of the biology that controls human aging. Calico will use that knowledge to devise interventions that enable people to lead longer and healthier lives. Calico’s highly innovative technology labs, its commitment to curiosity-driven discovery science, and, with academic and industry partners, its vibrant drug-development pipeline, together create an inspiring and exciting place to catalyze and enable medical breakthroughs.
Position description:
Calico is seeking an intern to join the Translational Data Sciences team. The Translational Data Sciences team bridges the gap between basic science and clinical application to further Calico’s mission of extending healthy lifespan. It accelerates Calico's translational research and empowers data-driven decision-making by transforming complex data into actionable insights grounded in biology. The successful candidate will be an enthusiastic team player, detail-oriented, extremely organized and comfortable working on complex problems across a wide range of biological contexts. In this position you will extend Calico’s internal AI infrastructure to interface with internal and external sources of single cell sequencing data to enable and accelerate bioinformatics analyses of large-scale datasets for nontechnical users. The successful candidate will work closely with members of the Translational Data Sciences and collaborators in Discovery Technologies and Software Engineering on a broad range of discovery-stage and translational research questions.
Responsibilities:
- Build and/or refine AI agents to enable Calico scientists to query and analyze internal and external data sources of interest
- Coordinate with Software Engineering and relevant stakeholders to deploy the agents on Calico infrastructure for internal usage by Calico scientists
- Demonstrate accelerated AI capacity to compile reference single cell datasets to answer relevant scientific questions such as the determination of an expression profile of aging of brain microglia and elucidation of disease-specific genetic signatures of fibrosis
- Maintain clear and concise documentation of code, project materials, and analysis results
- Concisely communicate intermediate and final results to relevant stakeholders in Calico Computing and Calico R&D
Position requirements:
- Currently pursuing a BS degree in a computationally intensive field (Mathematics, Computer Science, Bioinformatics, Statistics) or related field
- Experience working with Python, Git, Docker, Terraform, and cloud computing platforms such as Google Cloud
- Knowledge of best practices for software development, project management, and code versioning
- Detail-oriented and organized
- Strong teamwork and sharp verbal and written communication skills
- Self-motivated, driven, and intellectually curious with a “can-do” attitude
- Flexible, able to respond quickly to shifting priorities, and able to multitask
Nice to have:
- Experience with prompt engineering and designing AI agents is a plus
About our Program:
Calico’s internship program is a paid 12-week program over the summer for students interested in understanding the fundamental science of aging and finding treatments for the associated and intractable diseases. Working in a collaborative environment and fully embedded in one of our labs/teams, Calico interns tackle a unique project under the mentorship of at least one of our scientists or engineers.
Program Features:
- 3-month summer timeline
- In-person experience at our offices in South San Francisco
- Matching with at least one Calico mentor
- Group supplemental activities weekly featuring guest speakers, Senior Leadership spotlights, and discussion groups on aging science, our drug development approach, and more
- End-of-summer company-wide project showcase and poster session
- Competitive compensation ($45 - $70/hour) and monthly living expenses stipend
Program Eligibility:
- Able to work in-person at our offices in South San Francisco
- Free for a consecutive period of 11-12 weeks in June, July, and August
- Not graduating before December 2026
- Exception for students enrolling into a graduate degree program in Fall 2026
- Must be enrolled in a US university
- Must apply by application deadline: February 1, 2026.