Beckend Engineer Intern - Placement Year 2026

Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland

Time Type: Full time

Job Description

About Us:

Proofpoint is a global leader in human- and agent-centric cybersecurity. We protect how people, data, and AI agents connect across email, cloud, and collaboration tools. Over 80 of the Fortune 100, 10,000 large enterprises, and millions of smaller organizations trust Proofpoint to stop threats, prevent data loss, and build resilience across their people and AI workflows. Our mission is simple: safeguard the digital world and empower people to work securely and confidently. Join us in our pursuit to defend data and protect people.

How We Work:

At Proofpoint you’ll be part of a global team that breaks barriers to redefine cybersecurity guided by our BRAVE core values: 

Bold in how we dream and innovate

Responsive to feedback, challenges and opportunities

Accountable for results and best in class outcomes

Visionary in future focused problem-solving

Exceptional in execution and impact

Corporate Overview
Proofpoint is a leading cybersecurity company protecting organizations’ greatest assets and biggest risks: vulnerabilities in people. With an integrated suite of cloud-based solutions, Proofpoint helps companies around the world stop targeted threats, safeguard their data, and make their users more resilient against cyber-attacks. Leading organizations of all sizes, including more than half of the Fortune 1000, rely on Proofpoint for people-centric security and compliance solutions mitigating their most critical risks across email, the cloud, social media, and the web.
We are singularly devoted to helping our customers protect their greatest assets and biggest security risk: their people. That’s why we’re a leader in next-generation cybersecurity.
Protection Starts with People. Proofpoint.

The Role
We’re looking for a number of early-career Backend Software Engineers to join the Proofpoint Tessian Engineering Group across multiple core teams. The Tessian product offers inbound threat defence software, via API, to Microsoft or Google e-mail platforms, as well as a data loss prevention (DLP) service that utilises Machine Learning for maximum protection.
You’ll join at an exciting time as we scale our services and expand our reach. Expect to collaborate with passionate engineers across multiple teams, help us integrate deeper into the Proofpoint ecosystem, and scale to protect even more customers.

We are seeking candidates with similar experience to our tech stack (in particular Python), but don't worry if you don't feel like an exact match. We are always willing to speak to great candidates even if you do not feel you meet every criteria listed! We value potential over ticking boxes.

Our Tech Stack:
We use technologies that support reliability, scale, and rapid iteration:
Backend:
Python-based microservices
Cloud:
AWS
Databases:
DynamoDB, PostgreSQL
Infrastructure:
Terraform
DevOps:
Docker, CircleCI, GitHub

Your day-to-day
In our Tessian teams, we deeply embrace the DevOps culture, as we design, build, test, deploy and monitor our services. Our day to day involves improving services scalability and reliability ;researching security vulnerabilities and implementing security measures; and monitoring production environments to discover what is next for the team using product data.
Our research also includes ways to improve user experience when using our products Outlook clients (desktop and OWA) on both Windows and Mac platforms and to help hardening the Human Security Layer.

We also pride ourselves in our commitment to personal growth, so expect
to be challenged every day! We have outstanding mentorship, training and guidance to help you fulfil your potential.
You will be supported at every step as you grow into these responsibilities.
You’ll have the opportunity to:
Work on problems of diverse scope where analysis of data requires evaluation of identifiable factors.
Demonstrate good judgment in selecting methods and techniques for obtaining solutions.
Collaborate with supportive senior engineers who value your input, while also taking initiative on tasks that help you grow.
Ship code to production with confidence using CI/CD.
Tackle the challenges that come with processing sensitive data.
Learn to build with security in mind.
Make your mark on ambitious projects.
Our standards around security, quality, and service availability can only be the highest, but at the same time we foster psychological safety, as we are comfortable with the unknowns and love to experiment to find the right solution.
We think you’ll enjoy working with us if you value outcome-driven work, collaborative thinking, and data-informed decision-making. We encourage respectful debate, diverse viewpoints, and working together to find the best path forward.

Why Proofpoint
Protecting people is at the heart of our award-winning lineup of cybersecurity solutions, and the people who work here are the key to our success. We’re a customer-focused and a driven-to-win organization with leading-edge products. We are an inclusive, diverse, multinational company that believes in culture fit, but more importantly ‘culture-add’, and we strongly encourage people from all walks of life to apply.
We believe in hiring the best and the brightest to help cultivate our culture of collaboration and appreciation. Apply today and explore your future at Proofpoint! #LifeAtProofpoint

Why Proofpoint?

At Proofpoint, we believe that an exceptional career experience includes a comprehensive compensation and benefits package. Here are just a few reasons you’ll love working with us:

• Competitive compensation

• Comprehensive benefits

• Career success on your terms

• Flexible work environment

• Annual wellness and community outreach days

• Always on recognition for your contributions

• Global collaboration and networking opportunities

Our Culture:

Our culture is rooted in values that inspire belonging, empower purpose and drive success-every day, for everyone.

We encourage applications from individuals of all backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. If you need accommodation during the application or interview process, please reach out to [email protected].

How to Apply

Interested? Submit your application along with any supporting information- we can’t wait to hear from you!