Software Engineering Intern – Maps and Navigation Validation – Maps and Navigation Validation

Job Description

Internship, Software Engineer, Maps & Navigation Validation (Fall 2026) | Tesla

The Tone:
This is an internship at Tesla, located in Palo Alto, CA. Tesla designs and manufactures electric vehicles, battery energy storage from home to grid-scale, solar panels and related products and services. This role is crucial for ensuring the reliability and performance of maps and navigation systems in millions of Tesla vehicles globally, directly impacting the customer experience and vehicle safety.

The TL;DR
• Role: Internship
• Type: Full-time (40 hours/week)
• Location: In-person, Palo Alto, CA
• Pay: $46–$58 hourly
• Team: Maps and Navigation Validation team
• Mission: Validate improvements and new features for maps and navigation, assessing risks and building confidence before each software release to the fleet.
• Tech Stack: Python, C/C++, Golang, Java, Linux/Unix, CI/CD systems

What You’ll Actually Do
• Become an expert: Learn subsystems within the Maps and Navigation stack to perform validation reviews and risk assessments for software releases.
• Develop software: Write and deploy software to vehicles and build automated backend systems to generate and analyze fleet data globally.
• Define metrics: Establish evaluation metrics and create visualizations and dashboards to support the monitoring and refinement of navigation systems.
• Improve tools: Implement and enhance internal tools to accelerate experimentation and debugging of features.
• Collaborate: Work cross-functionally to investigate and resolve identified issues across various teams.

The Must-Haves
• Background: Student currently pursuing a degree in Computer Science or a related field, with a graduation date between 2026 – 2027.
• Experience: Experience with Linux/Unix environments and system administration, CI/CD systems, and large-scale data processing and querying.
• Skills: Strong proficiency with Python, C/C++, Golang, or Java; excellent critical thinking, problem-solving, and communication skills.
• Bonus: A passion for troubleshooting issues to determine root causes; a passion for constantly improving code quality, system efficiency, testability, monitoring, and observability.