CircleCI Associate Rotation Program (New/Recent Grads)

CircleCI Associate Rotation Program (CARP) — Cohort 2

Ship Smarter. Build Faster. Join the team that makes AI-written code actually work.

AI is writing code. A lot of it. But generating code and shipping reliable software are two very different things, and that gap is exactly where CircleCI lives. We're the CI/CD backbone that ensures AI-generated code gets tested, validated, and deployed safely at scale. If you want to build critical infrastructure at the intersection of AI and DevOps, you've found your people.

What is CARP?

The CircleCI Associate Rotation Program is a 12-month, 2-rotation deep-dive into engineering at a company where AI isn't a buzzword…it's the job! You'll rotate through real teams, own real work, and build real things that engineers at companies like yours use every single day. No coffee runs. No shadowing. Actual building.

You’re not just a builder, you’re an advocate. The future of work includes not just the ability to build alongside AI, but speak to the future among your peers and customers. Your work doesn’t end with your deliverable, it continues with your own feature, data, or product communication and advocacy!

12 months · 2 rotations · 1 career-defining move

Real Work. Real Impact.

Don't take our word for it — here's what Cohort 1 actually shipped:

• GTM & Customer Success: Built an AI enablement framework adopted by our Customer Success org, led cross-functional data alignment sessions at GTM events, and contributed directly to the FY26 account accuracy used by the Sales team.


• Product Engineering: Shipped a customer-facing credit comparison tool — available to users across all plans — that surfaces spending trends across billing periods. Real customers, real usage, from day one.


• Platform Engineering: Defined how CircleCI natively manages iOS code signing certificates, partnering across Engineering, Design, and Product to scope and deliver a foundational capability for mobile CI customers.


• Data & ML Engineering: Built a more reliable AI/ML signal flag that's now driving smarter customer engagement decisions and informing product roadmap prioritization across the org.


• Product Engineering: Shipped production features end-to-end — from implementing nav bar updates to building an entirely new CLI tool (Chunk CLI) that customers use in their workflows today.


• Revenue & Sales Ops: Analyzed historical lost deal data and built an AI-powered pipeline hygiene report that helps sales reps prioritize the deals most likely to convert — from raw data to a tool the Revenue team relies on.

You're the one if...

• You think of AI as a collaborator, not a threat


• You thrive in ambiguity and you see an unclear problem and think "ooh, interesting" not "I'll wait for instructions"


• You move fast, iterate faster, and ask for forgiveness over permission


• You have strong opinions, loosely held and you can defend your ideas in a room full of sharp engineers


• You're a recent grad ready to define what software development looks like in the AI era


• You genuinely love building things and want to see your work used in production, not a slide deck

The Engineering Track

This cohort is built for engineers. You'll rotate across our core technical teams, the folks keeping millions of builds humming and building the AI-native features that are changing how developers work. Here's what your rotation menu looks like:

🏗 Platform Engineering The foundation everything else runs on. You'll work on the systems that handle millions of AI-generated commits at a scale most engineers never get to touch.

• Design and build infrastructure that validates AI-written code at machine speed


• Work on intelligent resource allocation that adapts dynamically to AI workload patterns


• Help make sub-second response times the norm, not the goal


• Debug problems that literally no textbook covers yet

⚙️ Product Engineering Where the user-facing magic gets made. You'll build features that developers interact with every day, powered by AI, designed for speed.

• Build AI-powered features that predict build failures before they blow up


• Create natural language interfaces so developers can configure pipelines through conversation


• Ship seamless integrations with AI coding assistants like Cursor, Copilot, and Claude


• Turn vague product ideas into shipped code fast

📊 Data & ML Engineering Billions of build events. Real-time. You'll build the data systems that surface the insights our customers and product teams can't live without.

• Build pipelines processing billions of AI-generated build events in real time


• Develop ML models that identify patterns in how AI agents write, test, and break code


• Create analytics products that help customers understand their AI-augmented dev velocity


• Turn raw signal into decisions that actually move the needle

We Take AI Fluency Seriously

Not "have you used ChatGPT" seriously. We're talking about engineers who understand AI as a development paradigm, not just a productivity shortcut. Here's what being AI-fluent looks like at CircleCI:

• Use AI tools natively in your workflow — You prompt, iterate, and ship with AI assistance as a default, not an afterthought


• Understand the limitations — You know when AI-generated code needs extra scrutiny and why that matters at scale


• Think about AI as a system actor — You can reason about autonomous agents interacting with DevOps infrastructure


• Stay curious about what's next — The AI landscape changes weekly — you're keeping up, not catching up

What You Get

The Money & Gear

• $105,000 salary


• MacBook Pro + full tech stack access


• Latest AI tool subscriptions, including Cursor, Claude, and whatever comes out next that's worth it


• Health, dental, vision, unlimited PTO, wellness perks

The Growth

• Production AI/ML systems experience (not toy projects, real scale)


• Mentorship from engineers who've been building in this space before it was cool


• A network inside the AI + DevOps ecosystem that will follow you everywhere


• A genuine shot at a full-time role after your rotations wrap up

FAQs

Can I extend my rotation? Yes! During your second rotation, we'll explore whether additional 6-month rotation opportunities make sense for you and the team.

Is there a path to full-time? Absolutely. Based on your contributions and growth, we actively discuss full-time indefinite placement. We want to keep people who want to stay.

Do I have to be in San Francisco? Yes — this is an in-person role. You'll be in our SF headquarters at least Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday each week. We believe in the energy of working alongside your team, especially early in your career.

Ready?

By 2030, most code will be AI-generated. The question is who ensures it actually works. That's us. Come build it with us.

Program Dates: August 3, 2026 - July 30, 2027 

Location: San Francisco, CA (in-person; AI still needs humans nearby) 

Application Deadline: June 30, 2026