What are the responsibilities and job description for the Data Science Intern position at Proofpoint?
About Us
Proofpoint is a global leader in human- and agent-centric cybersecurity. We protect how people, data, and AI agents connect across email, cloud, and collaboration tools. Over 80 of the Fortune 100, 10,000 large enterprises, and millions of smaller organizations trust Proofpoint to stop threats, prevent data loss, and build resilience across their people and AI workflows. Our mission is simple safeguard the digital world and empower people to work securely and confidently. Join us in our pursuit to defend data and protect people.
How We Work
At Proofpoint you’ll be part of a global team that breaks barriers to redefine cybersecurity guided by our BRAVE core values
Bold in how we dream and innovate
Responsive to feedback, challenges and opportunities
Accountable for results and best in class outcomes
Visionary in future focused problem-solving
Exceptional in execution and impact
Data Science Intern (Summer, 10 weeks)
Join our AI team building next-gen Digital Communications Governance features, including LLM tuning, vectorization/embeddings for semantic search, automated redaction, and Supervision reviewer recommendation workflows for investigations and compliance.
What you’ll do
At Proofpoint, we believe that an exceptional career experience includes a comprehensive compensation and benefits package. Here are just a few reasons you’ll love working with us
Our culture is rooted in values that inspire belonging, empower purpose and drive success-every day, for everyone.
We encourage applications from individuals of all backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. If you need accommodation during the application or interview process, please reach out to accessibility@proofpoint.com.
How To Apply
Interested? Submit your application along with any supporting information- we can’t wait to hear from you!
Proofpoint is a global leader in human- and agent-centric cybersecurity. We protect how people, data, and AI agents connect across email, cloud, and collaboration tools. Over 80 of the Fortune 100, 10,000 large enterprises, and millions of smaller organizations trust Proofpoint to stop threats, prevent data loss, and build resilience across their people and AI workflows. Our mission is simple safeguard the digital world and empower people to work securely and confidently. Join us in our pursuit to defend data and protect people.
How We Work
At Proofpoint you’ll be part of a global team that breaks barriers to redefine cybersecurity guided by our BRAVE core values
Bold in how we dream and innovate
Responsive to feedback, challenges and opportunities
Accountable for results and best in class outcomes
Visionary in future focused problem-solving
Exceptional in execution and impact
Data Science Intern (Summer, 10 weeks)
Join our AI team building next-gen Digital Communications Governance features, including LLM tuning, vectorization/embeddings for semantic search, automated redaction, and Supervision reviewer recommendation workflows for investigations and compliance.
What you’ll do
- Prototype and evaluate embedding retrieval pipelines (chunking, indexing, reranking) for investigation-grade semantic search
- Assist with LLM tuning approaches (prompting, lightweight fine-tuning, eval harnesses) for classification, summarization, and recommendation tasks
- Build/extend redaction models/rules (PII/entity detection), and measure precision/recall tradeoffs
- Design experiments, create metrics, and document findings; ship working code and repeatable notebooks/pipelines
- Strong Python and practical ML/data wrangling (pandas, numpy; PyTorch or similar)
- Solid understanding of NLP/LLMs embeddings, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), evaluation methods
- Experience with at least one vector databases (FAISS, Milvus, Pinecone, Elasticsearch/OpenSearch vector), or building ANN search
- Comfort with experimentation offline evaluation, A/B-style thinking, error analysis
- Clear communication and ability to deliver in short iterations
- 10-week summer internship (Location Sunnyvale)
- You’ll deliver a working prototype evaluation report by the end of the internship
At Proofpoint, we believe that an exceptional career experience includes a comprehensive compensation and benefits package. Here are just a few reasons you’ll love working with us
- Competitive compensation
- Comprehensive benefits
- Career success on your terms
- Flexible work environment
- Annual wellness and community outreach days
- Always on recognition for your contributions
- Global collaboration and networking opportunities
Our culture is rooted in values that inspire belonging, empower purpose and drive success-every day, for everyone.
We encourage applications from individuals of all backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. If you need accommodation during the application or interview process, please reach out to accessibility@proofpoint.com.
How To Apply
Interested? Submit your application along with any supporting information- we can’t wait to hear from you!