Lab Operations Intern

Etched
San Jose, CA
On-siteCareer-pivot friendly

Who this role is best for

Aimed at entry-level or mid-level candidates in hardware engineering who are excited about hands-on work and eager to learn end-to-end processes in a fast-growing AI infrastructure domain.

Best fit for

  • Candidates with a strong interest in AI hardware and a willingness to perform precise, repetitive tasks
    — “genuine excitement about what we're building and willing to do real, often repetitive work with precision and care”
  • Individuals looking to gain hands-on experience in assembling and testing AI hardware systems
    — “run test stations, assemble and rework hardware, cable racks, manage inventory”
  • People who enjoy learning how hardware companies operate from design to deployment
    — “excited about learning how a hardware company works end to end”

Things to consider

  • Full-time in-person commitment required in San Jose, with evening and weekend availability preferred
    — “fully in-person in San Jose, CA”
  • This is a short-term role with a fixed duration from June to August 2026
    — “12-week paid internship (June - August 2026)”

How to stand out

  • Highlight past experience with hardware testing or assembly in your resume and interview answers
    — “own the day-to-day operations that turn raw silicon into working systems”
  • Emphasize your curiosity and initiative in identifying and solving problems independently
    — “curiosity and bias to action — see what needs doing and figure it out”
  • Demonstrate knowledge of AI inference systems or datacenter environments if applicable
    — “understanding of accelerator hardware, or datacenter environments”
Pace · SteadyCollaboration · LowAutonomy · MediumDecision Impact · Individual

Derived from job-description analysis by Serendipath's career intelligence engine.

What success looks like

  • running test stations
  • assembling and reworking hardware
  • managing inventory
Typical background
engineering internshipshands-on work experience

Skills & requirements

Required

Attention To DetailSoftwareHardwareMechanical EngineeringThermal Systems

Preferred

Accelerator HardwareDatacenter EnvironmentsHardware Testing Systems

Stack & domain

LeadershipCommunication

About the role

Original posting from Etched via Ashby

About Etched

Etched is building hardware for frontier intelligence. We co-design chips, racks, software, and manufacturing to deliver best-in-class throughput and latency across prefill and decode. Backed by hundreds of millions from top-tier investors and staffed by leading engineers, we're redefining the infrastructure layer for the fastest growing industry in history.

Job Summary

Etched's lab keeps our hardware running 24/7. Our chips, modules, and racks are constantly being tested, and we need sharp, reliable hands to make it happen. You'll run test stations, assemble and rework hardware, cable racks, manage inventory, and own the day-to-day operations that turn raw silicon into working systems. You will see how a frontier AI chip goes from a tray of parts to a running rack, and reliable, curious interns take on engineering work over time.

This role is for people genuinely excited about what we're building and willing to do real, often repetitive work with precision and care. Evening and weekend availability is a plus. This role is fully in-person in San Jose.

You may be a good fit if you:

  • Have extreme attention to detail
  • Interested in both software and hardware
  • Are excited about learning how a hardware company works end to end
  • Are comfortable with hands-on work
  • Have evening or weekend availability
  • Curiosity and bias to action — see what needs doing and figure it out

Strong candidates may also have:

  • Experience with software, mechanical engineering, or thermal systems
  • Understanding of accelerator hardware, or datacenter environments
  • Have owned or built hardware testing systems

We encourage you to apply even if you do not believe you meet every qualification.

Program details

  • 12-week paid internship (June - August 2026)
  • Generous housing support for those relocating
  • Daily lunch and dinner in our office
  • Based at our office in San Jose, CA
  • Direct mentorship from industry leaders and world-class engineers
  • Opportunity to work on one of the most important problems of our time

For any questions, contact internships@etched.com

How we're different

Etched believes in the Bitter Lesson http://www.incompleteideas.net/IncIdeas/BitterLesson.html. We are the first inference-focused frontier AI system, betting early on transformer and transformer-like architectures and on increasing model sizes. Our addressable market is the entirety of inference.

We are a fully in-person team in San Jose and Taipei, and greatly value engineering skills. We do not have boundaries between engineering and research, and we expect all of our technical staff to contribute to both and work across disciplines as needed.

Source: Etched careers (Ashby)

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