Software Engineer Intern (Summer 2026)

📋 Description

• • Embark on an exciting 12-16 week hybrid internship journey during Summer 2026 with Whatnot, Inc., a trailblazer in the live shopping e-commerce revolution. As a pivotal member of our engineering team, you will immerse yourself in a dynamic, cross-functional, and multidisciplinary environment, where your contributions will directly shape the future of our rapidly expanding platform. This is a unique opportunity to tackle some of the most intricate technical challenges faced by one of the fastest-growing marketplaces globally, and to influence the direction of future engineering initiatives.
• • Your role as a Software Engineer Intern will involve hands-on coding and problem-solving, contributing to the development of innovative features that enhance the user experience during live streams. Imagine building the next generation of interactive tools that captivate audiences and foster deeper engagement between buyers and sellers. You will be instrumental in creating seamless and intuitive interfaces that make live shopping not just a transaction, but an engaging event.
• • Beyond feature development, you will play a crucial role in implementing sophisticated growth tactics and strategies designed to scale our buyer and seller flows. This involves understanding user acquisition funnels, optimizing conversion rates, and developing systems that support a burgeoning user base. You'll delve into the intricacies of marketplace dynamics, learning how to attract and retain users in a competitive digital landscape.
• • A significant aspect of your internship will be dedicated to building robust and scalable systems that underpin our commitment to a high-trust marketplace experience. This means contributing to the infrastructure that ensures security, reliability, and fairness for all participants. You will gain invaluable experience in designing and implementing solutions that can handle millions of users and transactions, learning best practices in distributed systems, database management, and performance optimization.
• • Throughout your internship, you will be exposed to the full software development lifecycle, from ideation and design to implementation, testing, and deployment. You will collaborate closely with experienced engineers, product managers, and designers, learning how to translate complex requirements into elegant and efficient code. The emphasis on a hybrid work model, with flexibility to work remotely or from one of our global hubs (New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, or Seattle), allows for a balance of focused individual work and collaborative team sessions.
• • By the conclusion of your 12-16 week program, you will not only have made tangible contributions to a leading e-commerce platform but will also have acquired essential industry skills in project ideation, agile methodologies, technical management, and effective collaboration. This internship is designed to be a launchpad for your career, providing real-world experience and mentorship that will prepare you for future success in the tech industry. You will be challenged to think critically, experiment with new technologies, and develop solutions that have a measurable impact on millions of users.
• • We are seeking individuals who are intellectually curious, possess a strong growth mindset, and demonstrate a drive for high impact. If you are eager to learn, ready to take on challenging projects, and excited by the prospect of building products used by a massive audience, this internship is an exceptional opportunity to grow your skills and make a significant contribution to the future of live commerce.