Internship, Operational Automation Engineer, Residential Energy (Fall 2026)

Description:
Please consider before submitting an application:
This position is expected to start August 2026 and continue through the entire Fall term (i.e., through December) or into early Spring 20267 if available. We ask for a minimum of 12 weeks, full-time, for most internships. Please consider before applying.
International Students: If your work authorization is through CPT, please consult your school on your ability to work 40 hours per week before applying. Again, please do not apply until you know you can work 40 hours per week. This is required for external applicants. Many students will be limited to part-time during the academic year.
Internship Program at Tesla
The Internship Recruiting Team is driven by the passion to recognize emerging talent. Our year around program places the best students in positions that they will grow both technically and personally through their experience working closely with their Manager, Mentor, and team. We provide an experience that allows for the intern to experience life at Tesla by giving them projects that are critical to their team’s success.
We're hiring an Operational Automation Software Engineer (Intern) to build and maintain backend services that automate high-volume, multi-step operations for Tesla Energy. You'll work directly in our Python/FastAPI codebase—building API integrations, writing tests, managing CI/CD pipelines, and shipping containerized services to production. The first interview is a live, hands-on coding session via screen share. The internship is on-site and open to any US location where Tesla has an Operations center (Northern California preferred). Candidates with relevant professional or top-tier internship experience preferred.

Responsibilities:

Build and extend Python backend services (FastAPI) that orchestrate multi-step workflows end-to-end
Integrate REST APIs with authentication, schema validation, and resilient I/O (timeouts, retries/backoff, structured error handling)
Own CI/CD workflows: manage Jenkins pipelines, review and merge PRs with branch protection and Jira validation, troubleshoot failing checks, and coordinate deployments
Create web automation tools when APIs are not available
Orchestrate LLMs and AI agents for automation: practical use of tool-calling/agents to execute deterministic tasks with guardrails (prompt design, error handling, trace/logging, fallback paths)

Requirements:

Currently pursuing a degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering or a equivalent experience

Compensation & Benefits:

Benefits

As a full-time Tesla Intern, you will be eligible for:
Medical plans > plan options with $0 payroll deduction
Family-building, fertility, adoption and surrogacy benefits
Dental (including orthodontic coverage) and vision plans. Both have an option with a $0 payroll contribution
Company Paid (Health Savings Account) HSA Contribution when enrolled in the High Deductible Medical Plan with HSA
Healthcare and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
401(k), Employee Stock Purchase Plans, and other financial benefits
Company Paid Basic Life, AD&D, and short-term disability insurance (90 day waiting period)
Employee Assistance Program
Sick and Vacation time (Flex time for salary positions), and Paid Holidays
Back-up childcare and parenting support resources
Voluntary benefits to include: critical illness, hospital indemnity, accident insurance, theft & legal services, and pet insurance
Commuter benefits
Employee discounts and perks program