Software Prototype Intern – Post-Quantum Cryptography

Location: Remote (within France/United Kingdom); London, Oxford or Paris preferred. Some travel to our offices will be required from time-to-time

Department: Product

Software Engineering Intern – Post-Quantum Cryptography

Duration: 6 months

Location: Paris, Oxford, Remote

Start Date: ASAP

💼 About the role

We are looking for a motivated Software Prototype Intern to help integrate and benchmark our post-quantum cryptographic libraries PQMicroLib-Core, PQCryptoLib-Core, and PQCryptoLib-SDK with higher-level software solutions.

This internship focuses on building practical integration scenarios on top of our cryptographic core, validating real-world usability, and benchmarking performance against existing alternatives. The goal is to create credible use cases that support product strategy, customer discussions, and future R&D priorities, while identifying performance bottlenecks and improvement areas.

⚒️ What you’ll be doing

• Develop integration scenarios using PQMicroLib-Core and related libraries with higher-level software components.

• Explore real-world use cases using open-source and proprietary software.

• Perform benchmarking and performance analysis of cryptographic operations.

• Compare results with existing alternatives and identify performance bottlenecks.

• Propose and validate potential optimizations.

• Produce technical documentation and internal demonstrations.

• Work closely with R&D engineers to validate feasibility and reduce technical risk

🎯 Required Skills And Qualifications

• Currently pursuing or recently completed a Master’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Cybersecurity, or a related field.

• Proficiency in C/C++ and Python (or similar systems/programming languages).

• Basic understanding of cryptography and secure software design.

• Experience with Linux and open-source development environments (embedded is a plus).

• Strong analytical mindset and interest in performance engineering.

• Clear written and verbal communication skills.

• Interest in post-quantum cryptography is a strong plus.

📈 Expected Outcomes

• Integration Demonstrations – Two working proof-of-concept integrations built on top of PQMicroLib-Core.

• Benchmarking & Analysis – Clear performance benchmarks, comparison with alternatives, and identified bottlenecks.

• Documentation & Knowledge Sharing – Integration guides, benchmark reports, and final presentation to the team.

• Strategic Impact – Results that can be reused by product, sales, and partnerships to support customer discussions.

🧠 What You’ll Gain

• Hands-on experience with post-quantum cryptographic software.

• Exposure to real-world integration and performance challenges.

• Direct impact on product strategy and customer-facing use cases.

• Mentorship from experienced engineers and security experts.

• Visibility across engineering, product, sales, and management teams.