About
Criteo is a global commerce media and advertising technology company known for building large-scale, data-driven platforms that help brands and retailers connect with customers across the digital ecosystem. With a strong engineering-led culture, Criteo works on high-performance systems, real-time bidding, large-scale data processing, and machine-learning-driven products. An internship at Criteo offers hands-on exposure to production-grade systems used by millions of users worldwide.
Role Overview – Software Development Engineer Intern
- Position: Software Development Engineer Intern
- Company: Criteo
- Experience Level: 0–2 Years (Students / Fresh Graduates / Early-Career Candidates)
- Employment Type: Internship
- Expected Salary: ~ $48,000 per year (annualized estimate)
- Domain: Software Engineering / Product Development
This internship is designed for candidates who want to work on real engineering problems, contribute code to live systems, and learn modern software development practices in a global technology organization.
Purpose of the Internship Role
The Software Development Engineer Intern role exists to support Criteo’s engineering teams in designing, developing, testing, and improving software systems that power advertising, analytics, and commerce platforms. Interns are treated as engineers, not observers, and are expected to contribute meaningful work that impacts real products.
This role helps bridge the gap between academic learning and large-scale industry engineering, making it ideal for candidates aiming for long-term software careers.
Key Responsibilities
As a Software Development Engineer Intern, you will typically work on:
- Designing and implementing software features under the guidance of senior engineers
- Writing clean, efficient, and maintainable code
- Fixing bugs and improving existing codebases
- Participating in code reviews and learning best engineering practices
- Working with distributed systems and backend services
- Collaborating with product managers, QA, and data teams
- Writing unit tests and integration tests to ensure code quality
- Understanding system performance, scalability, and reliability
- Documenting technical solutions and design decisions
These responsibilities ensure interns gain exposure to the full software development lifecycle.
Technical Skills That Help You Succeed
Candidates applying for this internship should have a strong foundation in core engineering concepts, including:
- Programming skills in languages such as Java, Python, C++, or similar
- Solid understanding of data structures and algorithms
- Familiarity with object-oriented programming principles
- Basic knowledge of databases and SQL
- Understanding of REST APIs and backend concepts
- Experience using Git or other version control systems
- Exposure to Linux or Unix-based environments
Knowledge of distributed systems, cloud platforms, or large-scale data processing is a plus but not mandatory.
Professional and Soft Skills
In addition to technical abilities, Criteo values interns who demonstrate:
- Strong problem-solving and analytical thinking
- Curiosity and willingness to learn new technologies
- Clear communication and collaboration skills
- Ownership mindset and accountability for tasks
- Ability to accept feedback and iterate quickly
- Comfort working in agile, fast-paced environments
These skills help interns integrate smoothly into engineering teams.
Role Experience – What You’ll Learn Daily
During the internship, you can expect to:
- Work on real production code, not sample projects
- Learn how large-scale systems are designed and maintained
- Understand how performance and scalability are handled in real products
- Collaborate with experienced engineers and mentors
- Participate in sprint planning, stand-ups, and retrospectives
- Gain insight into how business requirements translate into technical solutions
This day-to-day exposure builds confidence and industry-ready skills.
Who Should Apply
This internship is ideal for:
- Computer science or engineering students
- Recent graduates with strong coding fundamentals
- Candidates with internship or project experience in software development
- Individuals interested in backend, systems, or platform engineering
- Learners who enjoy solving complex technical problems
A strong GitHub profile, coding projects, or competitive programming background can strengthen your application.
Work Culture and Engineering Environment
Criteo promotes a high-ownership, collaborative, and engineering-first culture. Interns work alongside full-time engineers and are encouraged to ask questions, share ideas, and contribute meaningfully. The environment supports continuous learning, experimentation, and technical excellence.
Career Growth After the Internship
Successful interns may progress into roles such as:
- Software Development Engineer (Full-Time)
- Backend Engineer
- Platform or Infrastructure Engineer
- Data or Systems Engineer
Internship performance, technical depth, and teamwork often play a key role in conversion to full-time opportunities.
Why This Internship Is Valuable
- Exposure to global-scale systems and real users
- Hands-on experience with modern engineering stacks
- Strong mentorship and learning opportunities
- Competitive compensation for an intern role
- Excellent foundation for long-term software careers
This internship stands out as a high-impact learning opportunity rather than a short-term training program.
How to Apply
Prepare a strong resume highlighting programming skills, projects, internships, and problem-solving experience. Including links to GitHub repositories or technical work can significantly improve your chances.
Final Career Insight
The Criteo Software Development Engineer Intern role is an excellent opportunity for aspiring engineers who want real-world experience working on scalable, data-driven platforms. With strong mentorship, meaningful responsibilities, and exposure to global systems, this internship can be a powerful launchpad for a successful career in software engineering.
