Department:

Our Company Promise

We are committed to provide our Employees a stable work environment with equal opportunity for learning and personal growth. Creativity and innovation are encouraged for improving the effectiveness of Southwest Airlines. Above all, Employees will be provided the same concern, respect, and caring attitude within the organization that they are expected to share externally with every Southwest Customer.

Job Description:

Spring 2027 Cybersecurity Engineering Internship

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Southwest Airlines is committed to providing Employees with equal opportunities for learning and personal growth. As a Technology Intern, you’ll contribute to real-time projects, collaborate with fellow interns and cross-functional teams, help advance Company initiatives, and support Southwest’s Purpose of connecting People to what’s important in their lives through friendly, reliable, and low-cost air travel. Throughout the internship, you’ll have the opportunity to learn, grow, and develop as a future professional while making a meaningful impact. The Cybersecurity Engineering Intern should be a strong communicator and collaborator, capable of presenting ideas in both technical and user-friendly terms while helping shape the future of Southwest’s Technology Team. If hired, Interns may be selected to support one of the following Teams:

Identity and Access Management

The Identity and Access Management (IAM) Team develops and supports the solutions that manage digital identities and secure access to applications, systems, and data across Southwest. As a Cybersecurity Engineer Intern, you will gain hands-on experience supporting modern identity governance and administration initiatives while working with enterprise identity platforms, automation, and access management technologies. You'll collaborate with Cybersecurity Engineers and Technology Teams to help improve identity lifecycle management, streamline legacy processes, and enhance security through automation and AI-driven capabilities. This internship provides valuable exposure to identity and access management practices and demonstrates how secure, efficient access enables and protects enterprise technology operations.

Cloud Cyber Security

The Cloud Cyber Security Team engineers and secures the cloud platforms and services that support Southwest's technology ecosystem. As a Cybersecurity Engineer Intern, you will gain hands-on experience helping design, implement, and support cloud security solutions that enable secure and scalable technology delivery. You'll collaborate with Cybersecurity Engineers and Technology Teams while gaining exposure to cloud security controls, infrastructure security, automation, secure development practices, threat detection, and security monitoring. This internship provides valuable exposure to modern cloud security engineering and demonstrates how technology enables the secure delivery of critical business and operational capabilities across Southwest. 

Additional Details

• Receive free, unlimited space available travel privileges for yourself (taxes and fees may apply on international travel).
• Interns will be provided any required equipment, such as a laptop, for the internship.
• Stipends may be offered based on eligibility and program criteria.
• The Intern will work full-time as a Cybersecurity Engineering Intern within the Technology Department. 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. 
• U.S. citizenship or current authorization to work in the U.S. required and no current or future work authorization sponsorship available.   

We are 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. 

Duties and Responsibilities 

The duties and responsibilities of the Cybersecurity Engineering 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 

• Coursework or experience with AWS Cloud services and infrastructure, including S3, Lambdas, Dynamo, Event Bridge, ECS, and Kinesis 

• Coursework or experience with IAM framework

• Coursework or experience with SailPoint Identity Security Cloud (ISC)

• Coursework or experience with Agile or Scaled Agile (SAFe) methodologies 

• Ability to stay organized and manage multiple and concurrent assignments under tight deadlines preferred 

• Previous internship or work experience as a Cybersecurity Engineer Intern within the past 12 months preferred 

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

• Demonstrate programming aptitude and ability for logical and abstract thinking 

• Problem solving ability and strong written/verbal communications skills preferred 

• Works well in a culture that is open, direct, respectful, courteous, and compassionate preferred

Time Commitment and Pay 

• Join Southwest as a Summer 2027 Intern, with a 12-week internship lasting from May 18 – August 8, 2027.
• Required: Full-time 40hrs a week.
• Must maintain a consistent weekly schedule during normal business hours at a max of 8hrs per day.
• $26 - $30 /hour, corresponding with progress towards degree completion.

Education  

• High School Diploma, GED or equivalent education required.    
• Progress towards degree, major, or minor in MIS, Business, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Information Systems or Information Technology, Data Analytics, Statistics, Economics, Finance, Business Administration or similar degree.  
• Progress towards a 4-year undergraduate degree or graduate degree is required. 
• 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 is required.  

Basic Qualifications  

• Must be at least 18 years of age.   
• Must have authorization to work in the United States as defined by the Immigration Reform Act of 1986.   
• You must have a valid U.S. Social Security Number to complete the full hiring process

Southwest Airlines is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Please print/save this job description because it won't be available after you apply.