Learning Engineering Intern

What We Do: The SEI helps advance software engineering principles and practices and serves as a national resource in software engineering, computer security, and process improvement. The SEI works closely with defense and government organizations, industry, and academia to continually improve software-intensive systems. Our core purpose is to help organizations improve software engineering capabilities and develop or acquire the right software, defect free, within budget and on time, every time.

Position Summary

You will work as a part of the Cyber Mission Readiness Directorate within CERT and will collaborate with a team of learning engineers, software developers, and cybersecurity experts focused on developing training, exercises, and assessments that improve cyber mission readiness.

You will assist members of the Operational Readiness and Evaluation team in applying learning science to the design, delivery, and evaluation of hands-on cybersecurity courses.

You will help connect mission tasks to learning objectives, practice activities, and performance-based assessments, and use learner data to measure whether training produces observable skill.

You will evaluate and help improve AI-assisted curriculum development workflows, ensuring that generated content is accurate, aligned to objectives, and reviewed by subject matter experts.

This internship begins in Fall 2026, with the option to continue through the Spring 2027 semester.

You will contribute to a variety of core functions including:

• Learning experience and assessment design
• Learning analytics and xAPI/cmi5 instrumentation
• AI-assisted curriculum development and quality review
• Training effectiveness evaluation

Requirements:

• Enrolled in a degree granting program.
• Willingness to travel to various locations to support the SEI’s overall mission. This includes within the SEI and CMU community.
• You will be subject to a background check and must be eligible to work in the United States without Visa sponsorship.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Ability to critically think and problem solve
• Familiarity with learning science principles, such as active learning, deliberate practice, and feedback
• Ability to write measurable learning objectives and align them with instruction and assessments
• Familiarity with a scripting language or data analysis tool, such as Python, R, or SQL
• Ability to collaborate internally and externally with professional engineers, instructional designers, and subject matter experts
• Willingness to learn new technologies with cross-functional teams
• Must be organized, detail-oriented, and have the capacity to clearly document and communicate any findings

Desired Experience:

• Coursework or experience in instructional design, learning sciences, or human-computer interaction
• Experience with learning management systems, xAPI, cmi5, or learning analytics
• Experience using generative AI tools to create or evaluate educational content
• Cybersecurity coursework or hands-on experience (e.g., capture-the-flag competitions)

These experiences may also come from education-driven experiences or extracurriculars.

Job Function Breakdown:

• Design and align learning objectives, practice activities, and performance-based assessments: 30%
• Instrument learning experiences and analyze learner data (xAPI/cmi5) to evaluate training effectiveness: 25%
• Evaluate and refine AI-assisted curriculum workflows and the content they produce: 25%
• Document findings and present recommendations to instructors, developers, and stakeholders: 20%

TOTAL = 100%

This is a part-time, fully onsite position based in our Pittsburgh office.

Carnegie Mellon University is an Equal Opportunity Employer/Disability/Veteran.

Location

Pittsburgh, PA

Job Function

Non-CMU Students

Position Type

Intern (Fixed Term)

Full time/Part time

Part time

Pay Basis

Hourly

More Information:

• Please visit “Why Carnegie Mellon” to learn more about becoming part of an institution inspiring innovations that change the world.
• Click here to view a listing of employee benefits
• Carnegie Mellon University is an Equal Opportunity Employer/Disability/Veteran.
• Statement of Assurance