Software Engineer Intern

Software Engineer Intern at Dropbox

Please note: Dropbox currently only offers Summer internships May - September and cannot accommodate off cycle internships at this time. Please inform your recruiter if you have upcoming deadlines for Summer 2026 internships.

This application is for current underclassmen with anticipated graduation dates between Fall/Winter 2027 - Spring 2028.

As a Software Engineer Intern, you'll work alongside seasoned professionals, diving deep into real-world challenges and pioneering solutions that impact millions. With a focus on the future of collaboration, you'll have the opportunity to work on high-impact projects that define the next chapter of Dropbox. In our Virtual First work culture, you'll connect with Dropboxers virtually and in-person to build the foundation of a strong professional network. As a Summer intern, you will also have the opportunity to attend our Emerging Talent Summit, where participants from our intern and early-career programs come together in person to build lasting relationships, explore learning and development opportunities, and prepare for their career journey ahead.

For Summer 2026, we offer two start dates culminating in a 12-week internship:

• May 26 - August 14, 2026
• June 30 - Sep 18, 2026

Responsibilities

• Create Impact: Ship a high-priority project from start to finish, directly contributing to mission-critical software development. Along the way, build AI proficiency by leveraging tools like Copilot to boost productivity and code quality.
• Innovative Development: Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams to design, develop, and deploy next-gen features for Dropbox's suite of products.
• Agile Learning: Immerse yourself in rapid prototyping, iterative development, and harness the power of structured feedback from your host team.
• User-Centric Focus: Ensure solutions are designed with the end-user in mind, emphasizing usability and intuitive design.
• Tech Exploration: Participate in tech talks, professional development workshops, to explore new technologies and tools.

Team Matching & Mentorship

• Team Matching: You play an active part in the team matching process. Prior to final round technical interviews, we’ll send you a detailed survey to understand your interests and strengths. These criteria as well as current business needs and your location are all factors we consider to match you closely with a host team.
• Mentorship: Receive 1:1 mentorship and guidance from your team, a mentor, and a peer mentor. These dedicated industry professionals help you gain insights into the tech world while enabling your success through meaningful work, clear guidance, and a supportive environment.
• Continuous Feedback: Receive real time and written actionable feedback and reviews on a regular cadence to help drive your development over the course of the internship.

Here are some examples of the numerous types of roles and teams that you can have an impact on:

• Product Engineering - Product Engineers thrive working across technologies and codebases, and are also involved in various product development cycle stages. Along the way they represent users needs through close partnership with product, design, and user research. In this role you will deliver best-in-breed software by building robust systems that power optimized user experiences on marquee projects like Dropbox PaperTransferor Family.
• Dash - Help build and scale Dropbox Dash one of our fastest-growing AI products. Our team is tackling complex challenges across distributed systems, data platforms, and AI-powered experiences. You’ll join a high-impact, collaborative environment where engineers partner closely with Product and Design to shape what we build and how we build it. Ideally, you are at your best when you are in fast-paced and startup-like teams, building customer-facing products and having a deep curiosity which leads you to build side projects of your own.
• Infrastructure Engineering - The Infrastructure Engineering team designs products for vast scale. We craft components for millions of connections, oversee billions of files, and manage hundreds of petabytes of data. Our rigorous approach addresses edge cases and errors. Through refined code and thorough testing, we prioritize data integrity and security.
• Customer Experience (CX) - The CX Technology team enhances our business through innovative technology. You'll convert our service strategy into tools for customers and agents, advancing technical support capabilities. Your role simplifies problem-solving for our team, refines user interaction on our support site, integrates ticketing with internal systems, promotes secure development, and creates self-help tools for users.
• Mobile Engineering - Our Mobile team builds products and features that drive the core experience on the Dropbox mobile application. We enable users to easily manage their content, collaborate with their peers and work effortlessly with others. This position will play a key role in building and supporting mobile features.
• Security Engineering - People trust Dropbox to keep their data secure, and at Dropbox we rely on our security engineers to make our products safe. You are a software engineer with a deep interest in building software that is secure yet easy to use. Security engineers collaborate with product teams to secure our software, production infrastructure, website, desktop and mobile apps and our corporate infrastructure and devices.

Requirements

• Currently pursuing a BS or MS in Computer Science or related technical field involving coding (e.g., physics or mathematics), graduating in Fall/Winter 2027 or Spring 2028
• Experience writing or shipping software as part of coursework, personal projects, internships, coding competitions or research
• Experience coding in programming languages, such as Python, Go, JavaScript, or similar languages
• Passion for learning, solving problems, and challenging the status quo
• Available for Summer 2026 full-time internship (40 hours per week /12 weeks)

Compensation

US Pay Range

$8,000—$9,500 USD

The rate listed above is the expected monthly rate for this role, subject to change.

Dropbox is a Virtual First company and is open to hiring candidates in all authorized locations.

Company Description

Read more about our benefits here.

Dropbox isn’t just a workplace—it’s a living lab for designing a more enlightened way of working. We’re a global community of bold visionaries and resourceful doers shaping the future of Dropbox and, in turn, the future of work. Our Virtual First model combines the autonomy of a distributed workplace with the power of human connection, creating space for meaningful work and lasting relationships. With a startup mindset and enterprise-level opportunities, we expect Dropbox employees to think critically, stay curious, and use modern tools, including AI, to improve how work gets done. Here, you can be who you are and grow into who you’re meant to be. You own your impact, helping make work more intuitive, joyful, and human for yourself and hundreds of millions of people worldwide. If you’re ready to push boundaries and challenge yourself, Dropbox is ready for you.

Team Description

Our Emerging Talent program helps participants grow through mentorship, curated development opportunities, and being a part of a vibrant community. We offer a 12-week summer program where interns can build their technical and non-technical skills, hone their career goals, and connect with peers and leaders at our annual Summit.

Virtual First

Dropbox’s Virtual First way of working is designed to help people do their best work with flexibility, autonomy, and connection. Day to day, teams work remotely with nonlinear schedules and core collaboration hours that support deep focus and individual working styles. We prioritize asynchronous communication to improve clarity, respect deep work time, and reduce unnecessary meetings. While remote work is the primary experience for our employees, we also prioritize intentional, in-person connection. We bring teams together through regular team gatherings, on-demand workspaces, and Dropbox Neighborhood events in order to strengthen team cohesion, foster creativity, and enhance momentum. Virtual First is built to provide the same access to opportunity, growth, and impact for everyone, regardless of location.

This role requires travel to offsites and various other team gatherings (approximately 5-10% of the year or 2-3 days per quarter). We provide advance notice when possible and encourage candidates to discuss any accommodation needs during the interview process.

Dropbox supports responsible use of AI for preparation, but misrepresentation of skills or experience is not permitted. See our AI Principles.

Dropbox is an equal opportunity employer. We are a welcoming place for everyone, and we do our best to make sure all people feel supported and connected at work.

Key skills/competency

• Software Development
• AI Tools
• Product Engineering
• Infrastructure Engineering
• Mobile Development
• Security Engineering
• Python Programming
• Go Programming
• JavaScript Programming
• Agile Methodologies