We’re on a mission to deliver riveting storytelling for all of America. At The Washington Post, you’ll help reinvent news. Our work is driven by a deep investigative spirit and enhanced by innovation to bring audiences closer to the stories that matter most.
The Washington Post is powered by the passion and talent of our people. It takes all of us to reinvent news. Beyond our award-winning Newsroom and Opinions teams, we work across many departments, including Brand & Events, Communications, Customer Care, Engineering & Product, Finance, Human Resources, Legal, Marketing & Advertising, Print Operations, and Sales.
The Washington Post’s Site Engineering department is seeking a Software Engineering Intern who is excited about using technology to build ways for our readers to interact with our journalistic content and each other.
You’ll join a collaborative engineering team that works across frontend and backend systems to deliver a quality commenting experience for our readers. You will contribute to real production systems and help ensure our site is fast, reliable, and visually compelling.
You love learning, experimenting, and building.
You’re motivated by opportunities to improve performance and to come up with creative solutions to tackle new problems.
You enjoy working on both frontend and backend components.
You are committed to ensuring quality across our product.
Collaborate with engineers to build and test commenting systems for our readers.
Contribute to frontend development using React, CSS, and JavaScript.
Contribute to backend systems using Python and NodeJS.
Participate in code reviews, technical discussions, and iterative development cycles.
Experience with modern web technologies (React, CSS, JavaScript).
Experience with Python.
Curiosity about large-scale systems, performance optimization, and digital media platforms.
Strong problem-solving skills and willingness to learn from mentorship and feedback.
Comfort working in a collaborative, fast-moving environment.
Interns are paid hourly and expected to work 35-40 hours per week.
Our internship program is based out of our D.C. office, so you are expected to be on-site for the summer and follow The Washington Post’s in-person work policy. We do not provide housing, but can suggest options upon request. You must be enrolled in a degree-seeking program at the time of submitting this application. We encourage you to apply if you are currently a student, regardless of your background or experience with engineering and/or journalism.
Foreign nationals can apply for internships. All work samples must be submitted in English. If selected, the required documentation to verify U.S. work authorization must be provided. The Post is unable to provide visa sponsorship for internships. If you have any questions, please reach out to life@washpost.com
We will review all applications and invite a subset of applicants to the next process, which includes live coding and interviews with team leads.
Our program provides a meaningful learning experience for engineers who support The Washington Post's mission. Our interns work directly with our full-time engineers on real production features.
Additionally, you'll be invited to exclusive events like our annual intern hackathon and lunch seminars from leaders across the company.
This internship is not a guarantee of a job at The Post. We have hired from our internship classes in the past, and we hope to continue this trend in the coming years. Note our internship program is not a binding contract — you can take a full-time job elsewhere or from your (or another!) team at The Post before the internship ends.
Learn more about The Post at careers.washingtonpost.com.