PhD Machine Learning Software Engineer Intern (Summer 2027)

Location: San Francisco, CA Department: Early Talent

At Lyft, our purpose is to serve and connect. We aim to achieve this by cultivating a work environment where all team members belong and have the opportunity to thrive.

With over half a billion rides and counting, Lyft is solving hard problems in a flourishing domain with a lot of data and creative solutions in Marketplace, Mapping, Fraud, Growth and beyond. We're actively building the next-generation Machine Learning (ML) platform for low-cost, ultra-immersive transportation to improve people’s lives using modern ML with petabyte-scale data. Our Machine Learning Engineers are excited to work on these challenging problems and redefine solutions to directly impact various aspects of Lyft's primary business.

As a PhD Machine Learning Engineer Intern on our Applied AI team, you'll take on an open research problem tied to product experiences used by millions of riders. Working closely with a Staff ML Engineer mentor, you'll scope the problem, develop and evaluate new methods on real data, and take the work far enough that it can be shared with the research community, with the goal of a paper submission to a top ML venue.

If you are a PhD student who enjoys turning open-ended research questions into working systems, and you want your research to be tested against real users and real data, this opportunity is for you!

Responsibilities

Own a research project from start to finish: frame the problem, review related work, propose new methods, and design rigorous offline and online evaluations

Design, build, train and test ML models in areas such as reinforcement learning, sequential decision-making, personalization

Write production-quality code that turns research prototypes into working pipelines on Lyft's data and ML infrastructure

Partner with Product Managers, Data Scientists, and fellow ML Engineers to frame research questions within the business context

Analyze experimental and observational data, and communicate findings clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences

Write up results for publication at a peer-reviewed venue, with support from your mentor and the team

Participate in code and spec reviews to ensure code quality and distribute knowledge

Experience

Currently pursuing a PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Statistics, Operations Research, Applied Mathematics, or a related technical field, and returning to your program after the internship, with a graduation date between December 2027 and Summer 2028 (required)

A track record of ML research, shown through publications, preprints, or substantial research projects

Strong foundation in reinforcement learning and sequential decision making, especially problems with delayed or long-horizon rewards

Solid grounding in both causal inference and counterfactual evaluation

Good understanding of ML libraries like PyTorch, TensorFlow, or JAX

Strong programming skills in Python or a similar language

Proven ability to effectively turn research ML papers into working code

Curiosity and ability to quickly learn new concepts and technologies

Strong problem solving mindset, resourcefulness, and willingness to figure things out independently through research or collaboratively through brainstorming

Demonstrated oral and written communication skills

Bonus Points

Publications at venues such as NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, KDD, WWW, RecSys, or AAAI

Experience with offline reinforcement learning, off-policy evaluation, or learning from logged interaction data, recommender systems or personalization

Practical knowledge of how to build efficient end-to-end ML workflows on large-scale data (for example Spark or SQL)

Familiarity with online experimentation and A/B testing

Benefits

Great medical, dental, and vision insurance options

Mental health benefits

In addition to holidays, interns receive 2 days paid time off and 3 days sick time off

401(k) plan to help save for your future

Subsidized commuter benefits

Lyft Pink - Lyft team members get an exclusive opportunity to test new benefits of our Ridership Program

Lyft is an equal opportunity employer committed to an inclusive workplace that fosters belonging. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regards to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, age, genetic information, or any other basis prohibited by law. We also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories consistent with applicable federal, state and local law.

Lyft highly values having employees working in-office to foster a collaborative work environment and company culture. This role will be in-office on a hybrid schedule — Team Members will be expected to work in the office 3 days per week on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Lyft considers working in the office at least 3 days per week to be an essential function of this hybrid role. Your recruiter can share more information about the various in-office perks Lyft offers.

The expected base pay range for this position in the San Francisco area is $65-$68/hour. Salary ranges are dependent on a variety of factors, including qualifications, experience and geographic location. Your recruiter can share more information about the salary range specific to your working location and other factors during the hiring process.

Total compensation is dependent on a variety of factors, including qualifications, experience, and geographic location. Your recruiter can share more information about the salary range specific to your working location and other factors during the hiring process.