Innovation Research & Development Lab Intern

Location: Irvine, CA, United States Department: Internships

Who is Trace3?

Trace3 is a leading Transformative IT Authority, providing unique technology solutions and consulting services to our clients. Equipped with elite engineering and dynamic innovation, we empower IT executives and their organizations to achieve competitive advantage through a process of Integrate, Automate, Innovate.

Our culture at Trace3 embodies the spirit of a startup with the advantage of a scalable business. Employees can grow their career and have fun while doing it!

Trace3 is headquartered in Irvine, California. We employ more than 1,200 people all over the United States. Our major field office locations include Denver, Indianapolis, Grand Rapids, Lexington, Los Angeles, Louisville, Texas, San Francisco.

Ready to discover the possibilities that live in technology?

Come Join Us!

Street-Smart - Thriving in Dynamic Times

We are flexible and resilient in a fast-changing environment. We continuously innovate and drive constructive change while keeping a focus on the “big picture.” We exercise sound business judgment in making high-quality decisions in a timely and cost-effective manner. We are highly creative and can dig deep within ourselves to find positive solutions to different problems.

Juice - The “Stuff” it takes to be a Needle Mover

We get things done and drive results. We lead without a title, empowering others through a can-do attitude. We look forward to the goal, mentally mapping out every checkpoint on the pathway to success, and visualizing what the final destination looks and feels like.

Teamwork - Humble, Hungry and Smart

We are humble individuals who understand how our job impacts the company's mission. We treat others with respect, admit mistakes, give credit where it’s due and demonstrate transparency. We “bring the weather” by exhibiting positive leadership and solution-focused thinking. We hug people in their trials, struggles, and failures – not just their success. We appreciate the individuality of the people around us.

JOB SUMMARY

Trace3 is an innovation partner to more than 2,000 companies and has been growing at a double-digit rate for over a decade.  Trace3 Innovation collaborates with the industry, VC and start-up community, clients, and internal Trace3 teams to identify, analyze, and offer insights into emerging technology areas such as private/public cloud, data intelligence, security, application/development, and operations.  The Trace3 Innovation Team identifies macro technology trends, technology practice areas, use cases, and solutions across the market landscape.  Solution partners, from new start-ups to industry incumbents, are evaluated.

Under the general direction of the Senior Director, Research & Development, the Innovation R&D Lab Intern supports the Innovation R&D Lab by building and maintaining Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud environments that support incubator prototypes, proofs of concept, minimum viable products (MVPs), and technical reviews of emerging solutions. The intern works alongside R&D engineers, building from existing designs and templates, and develops practical cloud engineering skills on the job with training and guidance. Prior professional AWS experience is not required.

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT TO LEARN

Build and configure AWS environments from engineer-provided designs, templates, and checklists to support prototypes, proofs of concept, and MVPs

Learn core AWS lab standards, such as compute, storage, networking, and identity and access management, with training and guidance from R&D engineers

Deploy vendor and open-source technologies under evaluation, including security, identity, data, and AI tools, in lab environments for technical review

Prepare test environments, sample data, and basic validation scripts for proofs of concept and technical reviews, and capture the results

Automate small, well-scoped lab tasks with scripting, and learn infrastructure as code tools alongside engineers

Document build steps, configurations, and lessons learned, with R&D engineers reviewing and owning the final runbooks

Track and report resource usage and cost for assigned environments, and shut down or remove resources that are no longer needed

Troubleshoot environment issues, and escalate blockers promptly to R&D engineers

Observe team meetings, technical reviews, and vendor briefings, and prepare notes with takeaways and follow-up questions

Complete a capstone project near the end of the internship, such as a documented test environment for a technology under evaluation, and present it to the team

R&D engineers own security, access, and cost controls, and the intern works within them in approved lab accounts only; the intern does not use client data or engage clients or vendors directly without approval

May perform other duties as assigned by supervisor

ELIGIBILITY AND PREFERRED SKILLS

Enrollment in the Junior or Senior year of an undergraduate program at an accredited college or university

Candidates should be pursuing a field of study applicable to the Innovation R&D Lab internship, such as computer science, information technology, cybersecurity, cloud computing, or a related field

Fundamental understanding of cloud computing concepts, such as virtualization, storage, networking, and the shared responsibility model; coursework or personal projects are acceptable

Basic familiarity with Linux, the command line, and at least one scripting language, such as Python, Bash, or PowerShell

Hands-on AWS experience or a foundational certification, such as AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner, is ideal but not required; training will be provided

Familiarity with Git and infrastructure as code tools is a plus

Interest in cybersecurity, identity, AI, or agentic technologies is a plus

Excellent technical documentation and artifact creation skills

Excellent oral and written communication skills

Cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or better