Summer Intern, Subscriptions

The Washington Post

2d•Onsite

About The Position

Join the future of news We’re on a mission to deliver riveting storytelling for all of America. At The Washington Post, you’ll help reinvent news. Our work is driven by a deep investigative spirit and enhanced by innovation to bring audiences closer to the stories that matter most. About Our Team The Washington Post is powered by the passion and talent of our people. It takes all of us to reinvent news. Beyond our award-winning Newsroom and Opinions teams, we work across many departments, including Brand & Events, Communications, Customer Care, Engineering & Product, Finance, Human Resources, Legal, Marketing & Advertising, Print Operations, and Sales. Why This Role Matters The Washington Post subscriptions are central to how customers access and experience our products. The work done by this team directly impacts revenue, customer retention, and overall user satisfaction. Even small improvements in subscription flows, performance, or reliability can have a meaningful effect at scale. As an intern on the subscriptions team, your contributions will support critical systems that manage customer access, renewals, and billing. You’ll help ensure these services are reliable, secure, and easy to use, while gaining hands-on experience with production systems used by real customers. Your work will not only help keep our subscription platform running smoothly but will also enable the business to grow and evolve. What Motivates You Our team supports individuals who are curious, eager to learn, and enjoy working with others. We take a customer-first approach, which means listening carefully, asking questions, and being open to feedback. Team members are encouraged to assume positive intent, learn from mistakes, and continuously improve both their skills and the solutions they build. We value flexibility and an open mindset—sharing ideas, learning from different perspectives, and holding opinions lightly as we work together to meet the needs of our customers and the business. If this role aligns with your interests and goals, we encourage you to apply. How You’ll Support the Mission As a Software Engineering Intern on the subscriptions team, you’ll help build and enhance the systems that enable customers to access and manage their digital and print subscriptions. Working alongside experienced engineers, you’ll contribute to the development of backend services and user-facing features, supporting reliable subscription workflows such as onboarding, renewals, and account management. You’ll assist with designing, implementing, testing, and deploying code using Java, AWS, React, Docker, and relational databases, while learning industry best practices for building secure, scalable applications. Through code reviews, mentorship, and collaboration with cross-functional partners, your work will help improve the quality, performance, and customer experience of our subscription platform. The Skills and Experience You Bring Familiarity with computer science fundamentals (data structures, algorithms, design patterns). Experience with one or more programming languages or tools (e.g. Java, Scala, Ruby/Rails, C++, SQL, HTML/CSS, JavaScript, Objective-C, Swift, Kotlin). Experience working with SQL and/or No-SQL databases. Strong problem-solving and collaboration skills, with curiosity to learn new technologies. Clear written and verbal communication skills. Effective time management and adaptability in fast-paced environments. Cloud (AWS, Azure or GCP) understanding is a plus. Interns are paid hourly and expected to work 35-40 hours per week. Our internship program is based out of our D.C. office, so you are expected to be on-site for the summer and follow The Washington Post’s in-person work policy. We do not provide housing, but can suggest options upon request. You must be enrolled in a degree-seeking program at the time of submitting this application. We encourage you to apply if you are currently a student, regardless of your background or experience with engineering and/or journalism. Foreign nationals can apply for internships. All work samples must be submitted in English. If selected, the required documentation to verify U.S. work authorization must be provided. The Post is unable to provide visa sponsorship for internships. If you have any questions, please reach out to [email protected] We will review all applications and invite a subset of applicants to the next process, which includes live coding and interviews with team leads. Our program provides a meaningful learning experience for engineers who support The Washington Post's mission. Our interns work directly with our full-time engineers on real production features. Additionally, you'll be invited to exclusive events like our annual intern hackathon and lunch seminars from leaders across the company. This internship is not a guarantee of a job at The Post. We have hired from our internship classes in the past, and we hope to continue this trend in the coming years. Note our internship program is not a binding contract — you can take a full-time job elsewhere or from your (or another!) team at The Post before the internship ends. Collaboration makes us stronger. That’s why our offices are designed with open layouts, modern technology, and easy access to transportation. With certain exceptions for newsgathering and business travel, we work on-site five days a week. Your story awaits. Apply today! Learn more about The Post at careers.washingtonpost.com. We’re on a mission to deliver riveting storytelling for all of America. At The Washington Post, you’ll help reinvent news. Our work is driven by a deep investigative spirit and enhanced by innovation to bring audiences closer to the stories that matter most. We are powered by the passion and talent of our people. It takes all of us. Join the future of news. Your story awaits.

Requirements

Familiarity with computer science fundamentals (data structures, algorithms, design patterns)
Experience with one or more programming languages or tools (e.g. Java, Scala, Ruby/Rails, C++, SQL, HTML/CSS, JavaScript, Objective-C, Swift, Kotlin)
Experience working with SQL and/or No-SQL databases
Strong problem-solving and collaboration skills, with curiosity to learn new technologies
Clear written and verbal communication skills
Effective time management and adaptability in fast-paced environments
You must be enrolled in a degree-seeking program at the time of submitting this application
follow The Washington Post’s in-person work policy

Nice To Haves

Cloud (AWS, Azure or GCP) understanding is a plus

Responsibilities

help build and enhance the systems that enable customers to access and manage their digital and print subscriptions
contribute to the development of backend services and user-facing features, supporting reliable subscription workflows such as onboarding, renewals, and account management
assist with designing, implementing, testing, and deploying code using Java, AWS, React, Docker, and relational databases
learning industry best practices for building secure, scalable applications
Through code reviews, mentorship, and collaboration with cross-functional partners, your work will help improve the quality, performance, and customer experience of our subscription platform

Stand Out From the Crowd

Upload your resume and get instant feedback on how well it matches this job.

Upload and Match Resume