Data Science Intern (US) - Summer 2025

Our Company

WillowTree, a TELUS Digital Company, is an award-winning digital product agency working to solve digital challenges for some of the world’s leading brands. We do this by launching new digital products, delivering personalized marketing, and harnessing the power of data and AI to transform their business. Some of our clients include HBO, National Geographic, Anheuser-Busch, and PepsiCo. Want to learn more about our work? Check out some of our outcomes and case studies! 

And guess what? In January 2023, WillowTree was acquired by TELUS Digital. Now, we have an unparalleled ability to deliver seamless, trusted, digitally-enabled experiences across any channel a customer might choose - be it mobile apps, websites, voice skills, chatbots, email, and more!

Your Team

You will be on the FueliX Applied Research team, a small group dedicated to pushing the envelope of generative AI at the company. We are responsible for a variety of tasks, including:

• Internal projects aimed at boosting company productivity and our understanding of generative AI development.
• Internal consulting with project teams who are using gen AI (or similar techniques) in their project. This could include everything from assessment/advice to direct individual contribution. 
• Involvement in a budgeted prototyping project.
• Methodological research – exploratory (finding the latest advances in blogs and academic journals) and original (development and study of a unique method).

As a data scientist on the team, a group of people dedicated to keeping our team and company ahead of the curve when it comes to looming problems on the horizon. The team conducts research on items of past difficulty (e.g., LLM hallucinations in particular settings) in an attempt to solve them more generally moving forward. In other words, we are a mini internal factory for best practices.

*This is a hybrid position located in Charlottesville,VA.

Your Impact

• Direct contribution to our company’s best practices in generative AI and surrounding services.
• Improvement of company expertise in generative AI / LLMs, helping to improve our FueliX product.
• Direct involvement in critical core research for our company

Your Background

• You plan to graduate in Fall/Winter 2025 or later.
• Pursuing a Degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Software Engineering, AI/Machine Learning, or Data Analytics with an emphasis on mathematical statistics.
• We are looking for people who tinker with DS/ML-related techniques and have a theoretical background.
• Mathematics up through linear algebra and a calculus courses.
• Statistical techniques and visualizations for standard, day-to-day sorts of analysis and reporting.
• Comfortable with ambiguity.

Applicants must be authorized to work permanently for any employer in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor employment visas at this time.

Bonus Points

• Previous research experience
• Previous work or research experience where the requirements and methods were not clearly defined.

Why WillowTree?

We offer a place to be yourself.

Our differences, both visible and invisible, benefit our teams, our communities, and the products we craft. That’s why WillowTree strives to build a team with diverse backgrounds, skills, and perspectives. You’ll work hard here; however, we’ll balance that with a culture that supports your growth and cares about your well-being. We’re committed to creating an environment of inclusion — a place where every Tree can thrive.

Our summer internship program is an opportunity for you to work on real client projects and make a real impact on our organization all while receiving one-on-one mentoring from our full-time team members. Not only that, but you’ll have snacks galore and plenty of chances to socialize with your fellow interns — including fun outings during work hours. We’ll have you with us full time (think 40 hours a week for 11 weeks) and yes, it is definitely paid. Not a bad gig, right? 

WillowTree celebrates our differences and provides equal employment opportunities to all team members and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. Diverse teams build better products. We acknowledge that the tech industry especially lacks opportunity for those who are of non-traditional backgrounds and in underrepresented groups. In order to create the best products for everyone, we know that it's important for our team to reflect the diversity of our users, and we are committed to being the change we want to see.