Intern Infrastructure Engineer - Internationally-Based Applicants
About Toptal
Toptal is a global network of top freelance talent in business, design, and technology that enables companies to scale their teams, on-demand. With $200+ million in annual revenue and over 40% year-over-year growth, Toptal is the world’s largest fully remote company.
We take the best elements of virtual teams and combine them with a support structure that encourages innovation, social interaction, and fun. We see no borders, move at a fast pace, and are never afraid to break the mold.
Position Description
This is a remote position.
Join our team as an Infrastructure Intern and gain hands-on experience in designing, deploying, and maintaining robust production systems. In this role, you will have the opportunity to work closely with our experienced Infrastructure teams, who are looking for individuals with a passion for learning and a drive to excel. We are seeking candidates who are interested in developing their skills in Linux debugging, networking, cloud platforms, automation tools, and monitoring systems. This internship is designed to provide you with a solid foundation for a successful career in infrastructure management and DevOps, and the foundational knowledge needed to design, deploy, and maintain resilient systems.
We are unable to provide visa sponsorship. Resumes and communication must be submitted in English.
Responsibilities:
As an Infrastructure Intern, you will play a crucial role in supporting the deployment and maintenance of highly available production systems across hundreds of servers. Working closely with the Infrastructure team and development teams, you will contribute to designing, building, and deploying resilient systems while sharing ownership and collaborating on the software development lifecycle.
Embracing DevOps practices, you will assist in developing systems, automation, tooling, and workflows. You will have the opportunity to implement monitoring solutions for automated system health checks, contribute to the development of procedures, and assist in maintaining system troubleshooting and maintenance documentation.
Your day-to-day work as an intern will involve regular collaboration with engineering teams, where you will actively participate in improving the company’s engineering tools, systems, procedures, and data security. Additionally, you will join daily scrum standups and engage in pair programming and peer code reviews, utilizing collaboration tools like Slack and Zoom.
In the first week, expect to:
- Meet experienced team members to understand their roles and responsibilities.
- Begin learning about the tools and technologies used in infrastructure management, such as Linux, networking, automation tools, and monitoring systems.
In the first month, expect to:
- Get acquainted with the company’s infrastructure setup, including servers, networks, and cloud platforms.
- Familiarize yourself with the company’s development and deployment processes.
- Deepen your understanding of Linux debugging, networking, and cloud platforms through guided learning materials and hands-on exercises.
In the first three months, expect to:
- Start working on small infrastructure-related tasks under the guidance of the Infrastructure team.
- Support development teams to gain exposure to the software development lifecycle and understand their infrastructure requirements.
- Assist in the deployment of test environments using infrastructure-as-code principles and automation tools like Ansible or Terraform.
In the first six months, expect to:
- Gain deeper insights into complex infrastructure tasks, such as load balancing, VPN configurations, and database management.
- Gain exposure to advanced concepts such as Kubernetes networking, security, and monitoring.
In the first year, expect to:
- Collaborate on cross-functional initiatives, contributing to the company’s engineering tools, systems, and data security.
- Work on more substantial infrastructure projects involving On-premises resources and Kubernetes, demonstrating your ability to design, deploy, and maintain highly available production systems.
Requirements:
- Basic understanding of Linux operating systems, command-line interfaces, file systems, and common commands.
- Basic understanding of networking principles, such as IP addressing, subnetting, routing, and protocols (e.g., TCP/IP).
- Familiarity with version control systems, especially Git.
- Basic troubleshooting skills and the ability to follow troubleshooting protocols and processes.
- Willingness to collaborate with teammates, share knowledge and learn from others.
- Basic proficiency in scripting languages such as Python, Bash, Ruby, etc.
- Familiarity with Docker and Docker Compose.
- Prior exposure to public cloud platforms, such as GCP and AWS, or other cloud providers with their respective management consoles would be beneficial.
- Exposure to Kubernetes environments is a plus, but not mandatory.
- You must be a world-class individual contributor to thrive at Toptal. You will not be here just to tell other people what to do.
