AI Research Intern

About the AI Research Intern Role at Atlassian

Working at Atlassian means you have the flexibility to choose your work location – whether in an office, from home, or a blend of both. This approach empowers Atlassians to better support their families, personal goals, and other priorities. As a distributed-first company, all interviews are conducted virtually, and we hire in any country where we have a legal entity. Learn more about our work model at go.atlassian.com/distributed.

This role specifically requires you to be willing and able to work out of the Australian Eastern Standard (AEST) time zone. Applications are welcome from Australian and New Zealand Citizens, Australian Permanent Residents, and those holding appropriate student visas allowing full working rights in Australia after graduation.

Your Future Team

Join Atlassian’s cutting-edge Machine Learning Research team as a PhD Research Intern. This is an unparalleled opportunity to immerse yourself in advanced machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. Your work will particularly focus on critical areas such as Large Language Models (LLMs), Generative AI, Conversational Agents, and AI Optimization. You’ll be part of a team dedicated to pioneering innovations that tackle complex real-world challenges, developing state-of-the-art AI solutions designed to significantly impact Enterprises.

As a PhD intern, you will gain invaluable hands-on experience in both foundational research and practical applications. You'll contribute to the training, evaluation, and optimized inferencing of AI models that have the potential to be used by millions of customers. Expect to collaborate closely with experienced researchers and engineers, pushing the boundaries of what’s achievable with AI, while simultaneously gaining deep insights into industrial research and development.

This internship is ideal for individuals passionate about exploring new frontiers in AI and machine learning research. You'll thrive in a stimulating environment alongside some of the brightest minds in the field, gaining exposure to both academic and applied research challenges. We are committed to fostering a supportive and inclusive work environment where interns are empowered to make significant contributions to ongoing research that enhances teamwork and collaboration within an Enterprise setting.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate cross-functionally with Research Scientists and Machine Learning Engineers to design, implement, and evaluate experiments that enhance the performance, efficiency, and scalability of modern ML and LLM systems for our AI products.
• Curate, preprocess, and manage large-scale datasets for training and evaluation, ensuring data quality, diversity, and reproducibility across experiments.
• Conduct continued training, fine-tuning, and alignment of large language models for specialized applications, including conversational AI, summarization, generative search, and multimodal agents.
• Evaluate cutting-edge ML algorithms through rigorous experimentation and deliver detailed analyses, highlighting performance insights, identifying failure modes, and uncovering opportunities for improvement.
• Contribute to publications and presentations at internal workshops or top-tier academic venues, helping to drive innovation in Enterprise AI and large-scale ML systems.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

• Willingness and ability to work in the Australian Eastern Standard (AEST) time zone.
• Eligible to apply as an Australian/New Zealand Citizen, Australian Permanent Resident, or International Student with appropriate work rights post-graduation.
• Completed Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science or a related field.
• Currently pursuing a PhD in Computer Science or a related field, at any stage of doctoral studies.
• Strong foundational knowledge in AI/ML, LLMs, modeling, and/or optimization techniques.

Preferred Qualifications

• Exhibit a solid grasp of algorithms and data structures.
• Demonstrate proficiency in Python programming and ability to write clean, efficient, and well-documented code.
• Experience working with large-scale datasets, including data preprocessing, augmentation, and scaling techniques.
• Expertise in managing data using Python libraries such as NumPy, Pandas, Matplotlib, and leveraging models from Hugging Face, along with practical knowledge of applied machine learning and deep learning frameworks, like PyTorch.
• Demonstrated exposure to Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Computer Vision (CV).
• Familiarity with state-of-the-art research in machine learning and AI, as evidenced by relevant coursework, publications, or projects.
• Publications in top-tier AI conferences or journals are considered a significant asset. Please include a publications list (if applicable) to help us assess your research depth and systematic thinking.
• Strong communication skills to articulate complex ideas and collaborate with multidisciplinary teams.

Benefits & Perks

Atlassian provides a comprehensive range of perks and benefits designed to support you, your family, and your engagement with the local community. Our offerings include health and wellbeing resources, paid volunteer days, and much more. To discover more, visit Atlassian Internships: Students and New Grads.

About Atlassian

At Atlassian, our core motivation is to unleash the potential of every team. Our software products empower teams globally, with solutions crafted for all types of work. Through our tools, team collaboration transforms what might be impossible alone into collective achievement. We believe that the unique contributions of all Atlassians are the bedrock of our success. To ensure our products and culture consistently reflect diverse perspectives and experiences, we uphold a strict policy against discrimination based on race, religion, national origin, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, or marital, veteran, or disability status. All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines. To ensure the best experience, we can provide accommodations or adjustments at any stage of the recruitment process; simply inform our Recruitment team during your conversation with them. Learn more about our culture and hiring process at go.atlassian.com/crh.

Key skills/competency

• AI Research
• Machine Learning (ML)
• Large Language Models (LLMs)
• Generative AI
• Conversational Agents
• AI Optimization
• Data Preprocessing
• PyTorch
• Python Programming
• Natural Language Processing (NLP)