About Company
Criteo is a world leader in Commerce Media. They use AI-powered solutions to connect brands with consumers. Because they operate in the advertising technology (Ad-Tech) space, the engineering challenges revolve around low latency (making decisions in milliseconds) and massive data throughput.
Job Details
| Role: | Software Development Engineer Intern |
| Salary: | $48,000k per year |
| Location: | Ann Arbor, United States of America |
| Job Type: | internship |
| Posted Date: | 21/02/2026 |
| Application Deadline: | Apply Soon |
Job Description
Criteo’s internship program is built on the philosophy that interns should be treated like full-time engineers. You won’t be relegated to a “side project” or data entry. Instead, you are embedded directly into a Product Engineering Team, working on the same production codebase as senior engineers. Your code will impact tens of millions of users across a global network of retailers and brands.
Requirements
- Education: A current student at The University of Michigan or a surrounding college (On-site availability in Ann Arbor is a requirement).
- Degree Path: Pursuing a Bachelor’s or Master’s in Computer Science or a related field, with plans to return to your program after the internship.
- Programming Skills: Proficiency in at least one major language: C++, Java, Python, Scala, or C#.
- Mindset: A “fixer” and creative technologist who takes extreme ownership of their work and loves problem-solving.
- Communication: A strong team player who can articulate technical concepts clearly.
Roles and Responsibilities
- Direct Impact: Solve real-world problems and create features for leading retailers and brands.
- Specialized Tracks: Hone your skills as a Full-Stack, Data, or UX-focused engineer based on your interests.
- Scale: Work on cutting-edge, highly scalable systems that handle massive global traffic.
- Full Integration: Act as a full member of a technical team, participating in the entire software development lifecycle.
How to Apply?
Role Summary
The SDE Internship at Criteo is a “Deep-End” experience. Criteo is a powerhouse in Ad-Tech and Retargeting. When you look at a pair of shoes on a website and then see an ad for those same shoes on a news site five minutes later—that is Criteo’s engine at work. As an intern, you’ll be working on the low-latency systems and machine learning models that make those split-second “bidding” decisions possible.
Company Culture & Insights
Criteo describes itself as a leader in Commerce Media. The culture is collaborative and data-driven. In Ann Arbor, the office has a strong connection to the local tech ecosystem and the University of Michigan. The “No Intern Section” policy is a key cultural pillar; it signals that they trust their interns with production-level code from day one.
Why We Recommend This Job
- High-Throughput Experience: Criteo deals with massive amounts of data in real-time. Learning how to write code that performs under that kind of pressure is a top-tier skill.
- Pathway to Employment: The post explicitly states that many of their best engineers were former interns. This is a high-probability “Return Offer” (PPO) opportunity.
- Hybrid Balance: You get the mentorship of the Ann Arbor office with the flexibility of home-based work.
Career Growth Potential
Starting as a Criteo intern puts you on a track toward becoming a Senior Systems Engineer or a Machine Learning Engineer. Experience with highly scalable systems is a “golden ticket” in the tech industry, making you a target hire for other high-traffic giants like Netflix, Amazon, or Google.
Skills You’ll Gain
- Distributed Systems: Understanding how to manage services that talk to each other across the globe in milliseconds.
- Big Data Tooling: Potential exposure to Hadoop, Spark, or Kafka for processing commerce data.
- Production Discipline: Learning the “Criteo Way” of testing, deploying, and monitoring global features.
Salary & Benefits Info
- Base Salary: The US base salary pay range for this position is listed at $48,000/year (likely pro-rated for the duration of the internship).
- Perks: Includes health, dental, and vision insurance, 401(k) match, wellness perks, and “Summer Vacation” days.
Frequently Asked Interview Questions
Technical Questions (Physical Design & Low Power)
- Concurrency: “How would you handle a situation where two processes are trying to update the same piece of data at the same time in a distributed system?”
- Data Structures: “Explain the time complexity of a Hash Map. How does it handle ‘collisions’?”
- Algorithms: “Given a massive list of user IDs, how would you find the unique IDs in a way that minimizes memory usage?”
- Language Specifics: (If using Java/C++) “Explain the difference between ‘stack’ and ‘heap’ memory.”
Behavioral & Culture Questions
- Problem Solving: “Tell me about a time you encountered a bug that seemed impossible to fix. How did you methodically track it down?”
- Ownership: “Describe a project where you took the lead on a specific feature. What was the outcome, and how did you handle setbacks?”
- Collaboration: “How do you handle feedback during a code review, especially if you strongly disagree with the suggestion?”
- Motivation: “Why Criteo? Why are you interested in the Ad-Tech/Commerce Media space specifically?”