Raftern Refferal Program

This is a U.S. based position. All of the programs we support require U.S. citizenship to be eligible for employment. All work must be conducted within the continental U.S.

About Rafterns: 

We’re building our next cohort of Rafterns and we’re challenging you to help us find exceptional talent.

Raft’s Raftern Program is a high-impact internship designed for outstanding undergraduate and graduate students ready to work on real mission-critical systems. This is not a passive internship. Rafterns are embedded directly with engineering teams and contribute to production environments supporting DoD and IC customers from day one.

We are looking for highly capable early-career technologists who want to tackle complex challenges in software, DevOps, AI/ML, and platform engineering.

If you know someone who is sharp, technically strong, and ready to operate in high-accountability environments submit a referral and help us shape the next generation of builders at Raft.

Internship Tracks & Technical Focus Areas

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  Software Engineering (Backend / Full Stack)

  
  
  
  
  • Production-grade backend systems
  
  
  • API development and services architecture
  
  
  • Frontend + backend integration
  
  
  • Full stack platform development
  
  
  
  

  DevOps & Platform Engineering

  
  
  
  
  • Kubernetes and containerized environments
  
  
  • CI/CD pipelines
  
  
  • Infrastructure as Code
  
  
  • Cloud-native system deployment and automation
  
  
  
  

  AI / Machine Learning

  
  
  
  
  • Applied ML pipelines
  
  
  • Data processing and model integration
  
  
  • AI-enabled mission workflows
  
  
  
  

Qualifications:

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  • Currently pursuing or recently completed a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, or related field
  
  
  • Strong programming foundation (Java, Python, Go, TypeScript, or similar)
  
  
  • Solid understanding of data structures, systems design, and core software fundamentals
  
  
  • Able to commit to 20 hours per week
  
  
  • Ability to work on-site in a classified or controlled environment
  
  
  • U.S. Citizenship required
  
  
  • Undergraduate or graduate students nearing graduation preferred
  
  
  
  

Preferred 

• Looking for Rafterns who can work this summer, in office in either DC, Tampa, Hawaii, Boston, and/or Wright Patterson (Ohio)


• Seniors or Grad students who can be hired on full time following internship

Clearance Requirements:

• Ability to obtain and maintain an active security clearance

Work Type:

• Onsite work at one of the following locations: Honolulu, Hi; Wright-Patterson, Oh; Hanscom, Ma; Tampa, Fl; McLean,Va
  

Our Vision Statement: 

We bridge the gap between humans and data through radical transparency and our obsession with the mission. 

Our Customer Obsession: 

We will approach every deliverable like it's a product. We will adopt a customer-obsessed mentality. As we grow, and our footprint becomes larger, teams and employees will treat each other not only as teammates but customers. We must live the customer-obsessed mindset, always. This will help us scale and it will translate to the interactions that our Rafters have with their clients and other product teams that they integrate with. Our culture will enable our success and set us apart from other companies.

How do we get there? 

Public-sector modernization is critical for us to live in a better world. We, at Raft, want to innovate and solve complex problems. And, if we are successful, our generation and the ones that follow us will live in a delightful, efficient, and accessible world where out-of-box thinking, and collaboration is a norm. 

Raft’s core philosophy is Ubuntu: I Am, Because We are. We support our “nadi” by elevating the other Rafters. We work as a hyper collaborative team where each team member brings a unique perspective, adding value that did not exist before. People make Raft special. We celebrate each other and our cognitive and cultural diversity. We are devoted to our practice of innovation and collaboration. 

We’re an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.