Architecture/Engineering Intern

About Us

Live Oak Bank is a digital bank that serves small business owners across the country. Our groundbreaking spin on service and technology has fueled our mission to be America's Small Business Bank. Our products help customers buy, build, and expand their business, and our high-yield savings and CD products help them grow their hard-earned money. At Live Oak, we never lose sight of the well-being of our people. We believe our employees are the heart of our company. Our commitment to our customers and culture is intertwined, and we seek those who embody and embrace what it takes to empower the American dream.

Ready to make an impact? Join our team for the onsite 10-week Summer 2027 Internship Program (May 17 - July 23, 2027) at our headquarters in Wilmington, NC. If you're interested in gaining hands-on experience while making meaningful impact, submit your application by 11:59 p.m. ET on Wednesday, September 23.

How this role impacts Live Oak and its people

The architecture team partners with other departments, and the engineering teams that support them, to take their technology needs from ideation to rollout. Our work helps eliminate the hurdles to deploying new technology, making everyone more efficient.

That means the tools you help design and build get used by real teams doing real work — lenders, analysts, and operations staff who serve small business owners across the country. When a process gets faster or a system finally talks to another system, someone's day gets better. You'll be close enough to that work to see it happen.

What you'll do at Live Oak

You'll work with our engineers and stakeholders to help integrate new vendors and AI into the daily processes that run the bank. Using AI and other developer tools, you'll create designs and proofs of concept for new integrations as well as deliver features for internal tools.

Day to day, you can expect to:

• Sit in on conversations with business teams to understand what they actually need, then help translate that into a technical approach

• Build proofs of concept quickly, using AI coding tools to move faster than a traditional internship would allow

• Read and work within existing codebases you didn't write

• Write and test integrations between internal systems and third-party vendor platforms

• Document your designs so the next person can pick them up

• Present what you built to engineers and stakeholders at the end of the internship

• Maintain a high standard of regulatory awareness including BSA, AML, CIP, and OFAC.

You'll be paired with an experienced engineer or architect who serves as your mentor. Asking questions is expected, not a sign you're behind.

Required experience

• Sophomore, junior, or senior pursuing a degree in computer science, computer engineering, or an equivalent field

• Experience using coding tools like VS Code or similar

• Experience using Git repositories and platforms such as GitHub or GitLab

• Working proficiency in at least one programming language — Python, Java, JavaScript/TypeScript, or C#. We don't expect production experience

• Ability to read and understand code you didn't write

• Familiarity with APIs and how systems communicate, including REST and JSON

• Clear written and verbal communication, since this role sits between engineers and business stakeholders

• Curiosity and comfort with ambiguity — proofs of concept rarely come with instructions

Preferred experience

• Experience using AI coding tools and workflows such as Claude Code or Cursor, including connecting them to external systems through MCP servers

• Experience building and deploying a working application, even a small personal project

• Exposure to a cloud platform such as AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud

• Coursework or projects involving system design, software architecture, or technical diagramming

• Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines or automated testing

• Interest in financial services, fintech, or working in a regulated industry

• A prior internship, hackathon project, or open-source contribution you can walk us through

• Familiarity with low-code, no-code, or workflow automation tools

Our Values

• Dedication: Possess a deep commitment to Live Oak Bank's mission and core values, exemplified through a strong work ethic, adaptability and pride in your work.

• Ownership: Take initiative to deliver positive results by proactively and creatively solving problems, while maintaining a high degree of quality.

• Respect: Treat everyone with courtesy, politeness, and kindness.

• Innovation: Embrace fresh ideas and fearlessly contribute new solutions to emerging or existing problems.

• Teamwork: Foster collaboration, accountability, and trust with others and understand that together, we do more

The base pay range for this position is $19.77 - $32.12 per hour. Compensation may also include annual bonuses and long-term incentives, subject to various metrics and company policy. A candidate's salary is determined by several factors including travel, relevant work experience or skills and expertise.

Please note that we provide at least the minimum requirement of paid sick leave to our employees who reside in states that require employer-paid sick leave, including but not limited to Arizona, California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.

Live Oak Bank is an Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Employer, Minorities/Women/Veterans/Disabled. We consider applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, genetic information, veteran status or disability. Equal access to programs, service and employment is available to all persons. Those applicants requiring reasonable accommodation to the application and/or interview process should notify human resources at HumanResources@liveoak.bank.