Summer 2026 Cybersecurity Engineer Intern

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Southwest Airlines promises to provide Employees with equal opportunity for learning and personal growth. We entrust our Interns working in Technology to make an impact on their Team in real-time projects, work collaboratively with other Technology Interns and workgroups, make progress to achieve Company initiatives, and deliver on our Company Purpose of connecting People to whats important in their lives through friendly, reliable, and low-cost air travel, all while having fun and developing yourself as a future professional. The Cybersecurity Engineer Intern is a strong communicator and collaborator, ready to present ideas in technical and user-friendly terms and help pilot the future of Southwest&39;s Technology Team.

Additional Details

• This role is offered as a remote workplace position, which may require travel for trainings, meetings, conferences, etc. Outside of those required visits, the majority of your working time may be spent in an approved remote location, away from our Corporate Campus. Please note, while this is a remote position, there is limited group of states or localities ineligible for Employees to regularly perform their work off-site. Those ineligible locations are: Alaska, California, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Maryland, Montana, New Jersey, New Hampshire New York, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming, and Puerto Rico.

• If you currently reside in an ineligible location, you may relocate to an eligible location and be considered for an internship.

• U.S. citizenship or current authorization to work in the U.S. required and no current or future work authorization sponsorship available.

Were committed to fair hiring practices and to making employment decisions without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, age, military or veteran status, disability, genetic information, or other legally protected characteristics.

The Intern will work full-time as a Cybersecurity Engineer Intern within the Technology Department. The Intern may be asked to support a variety of projects within one or more of the following Teams:

Cybersecurity Engineering Operations Team: The Andromeda pod is an incredible place to intern because youre not limited to just one area; you get hands-on experience across network and endpoint security, incident response, vulnerability management, and more. The Culture sets it apart: strong documentation, an open-door policy, and teammates always ready to help. Best of all, the work has a real impact, whether on firewalls, certificate management, or SIEM/EDR, and youre contributing to meaningful security operations. Add in the growth opportunities from cross-team projects and learning sessions, and its a place where Interns dont just learn; Interns are set up to thrive and be successful to further their career path.

Cloud Cybersecurity Team: As the primary group focused on engineering the baseline security of Southwest Technology&39;s cloud, we help reduce risk while focusing on and supporting accelerated delivery. We do this by focusing an excellent developer experience, and providing improved feedback loops within delivery pipelines, building secure infrastructure building blocks that accelerate cloud development and instrumenting for insights visibility into our 1M&43; cloud resources for analysis by ourselves and our downstream customers (Threat Intelligence, Vulnerability Management, etc.).

Duties and Responsibilities:

The duties and responsibilities of the Cybersecurity Engineer Intern may include, but are not limited to:

• Under supervision, may be responsible for vendor management, partner governance, and system oversight to deploy, monitor, and maintain secure solutions throughout their lifecycle.

• Work with a Team to research issues, plan and recommend solutions, and support the coordination of system and software developments. This includes monitoring performance, identifying bottlenecks, and collaborating with partners to implement fixes.

• Help ensure high system and infrastructure availability levels by addressing and resolving low-to-medium complexity escalations.

• Support the implementation and ongoing updates of platform strategies and roadmaps to strengthen security posture.

• Stay informed of emerging technology trends and best practices relevant to cybersecurity and system operations.

• Contribute to team projects by meeting deadlines, fulfilling commitments, and delivering quality results.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Ability to analyze and resolve simple to medium complexity issues in hardware, software, and networking

• Knowledge of data privacy practices and laws

• Demonstrates programming aptitude, logical/abstract thinking, and participation in system testing

• Quick learner, self-motivated, and effective in fast-paced, team-oriented environments

• Values a culture of openness, respect, and collaboration

• Able to prioritize effectively and take on multiple assignments, whether administrative or project-related, while maintaining a successful level of completion in all responsible work

• Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, team-based, Customer service-oriented environment with a high regard for hospitality

Time Commitment and Pay

• Required: Full-time 40 hours a week .

• Must maintain a consistent weekly schedule during normal business hours at a max of 8 hours per day .

• Program Dates: May 19 - August 7, 2026

• $25-$29 per hour, corresponding with progress toward degree (students with more completed semesters may qualify for higher rates within the range).

• Stipends may be offered based on eligibility and program criteria.

Education:

• Progress towards a degree, major, or minor in Cybersecurity, Management Information Systems (MIS), Business, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Information Systems or Information Technology, Operations Research, Industrial Engineering, Business, or a similar degree.

• Progress towards a 4-year undergraduate degree preferred.

• To be eligible, you must be currently enrolled as a full-time student (as defined by your university) at the time of application and during the internship.

• 1-2 semesters remaining at the time the internship ends is preferred.

• Minimum 2.5 cumulative GPA at the time of application.

Other Qualifications:

• Must be at least 18 years of age

• You must have a valid U.S. Social Security Number to complete the full hiring process