Software Development Intern

Title: Software Development Intern (s)

Status: Full-time – 1-year fixed contract

Reports to: Senior Software Developer

Duty Station: AIMS Research and Innovation Centre, Kigali Rwanda

Position Overview

The African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) Research and Innovation Centre (RIC) is seeking motivated and detail-oriented Machine Learning & AI Interns to join our team. This internship is tailored for individuals passionate about artificial intelligence, deep learning, natural language processing (NLP), and reinforcement learning. The successful candidates will collaborate with our development team to design, train, and deploy ML/AI models that power software products developed for AIMS’ public sector partners. Interns will also contribute to the development of applications leveraging large language models (LLMs), ensuring scalable, reliable, and impactful solutions.

Key Responsibilities

A) Machine Learning & AI Research & Development

1. Develop, train, and validate ML models, including deep learning and reinforcement learning algorithms.
2. Work on NLP tasks such as text classification, summarization, sentiment analysis, and information retrieval. Contribute to building applications powered by LLMs for real-world use cases.
3. Preprocess and analyze large datasets, ensuring data quality and consistency.
4. Collaborate on research experiments and benchmarking of ML models.

B) Model Deployment & Backend Development

1. Utilize modern tools for model versioning, deployment, and monitoring.
2. Implement backend services in Python for data pipelines, model serving, and API development.
3. Contribute to backend architecture for ML systems, including database integration and RESTful API design.
4. Experience with Go (Golang) is considered a strong bonus for high-performance backend services.
5. Collaborate with DevOps engineers to integrate ML pipelines into production environments.

C) Documentation & Collaboration

1. Document model architectures, training processes, and evaluation results.
2. Develop clear and concise technical documentation to support deployment and monitoring.
3. Participate in team meetings, brainstorming sessions, and knowledge-sharing activities.

D) Continuous Learning & Innovation

1. Stay updated on emerging AI/ML trends, especially advancements in LLMs and reinforcement learning.
2. Propose improvements to existing ML workflows and model performance.
3. Explore innovative approaches for applying AI to public sector challenges.

Skills and Qualifications

Technical Skills

1. Strong understanding of ML algorithms, especially reinforcement learning, deep learning and NLP.
2. Experience in ML model development, training, and validation.
3. Exposure to LLM application development (e.g., using open-source or proprietary APIs/frameworks).
4. Experience working with large datasets and data preprocessing pipelines.
5. Familiarity with tools for model versioning, deployment, and monitoring (e.g., MLflow, TensorFlow Serving, Hugging Face, Docker, or Kubernetes).
6. Backend programming skills in Python (required).
7. Knowledge of Go (Golang) is a strong advantage (bonus skill).

Soft Skills

1. Strong communication and collaboration skills.
2. Excellent problem-solving abilities and analytical mindset.
3. Eagerness to learn, adapt, and contribute in a fast-paced environment.
4. Detail-oriented with strong organizational abilities.

Education & Experience

1. A degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, Mathematical Sciences, or related field.
2. Coursework or project experience in ML/AI, NLP, or deep learning is highly desirable.
3. Previous exposure to AI research, backend development, hackathons, or open-source contributions is a plus.

Working Conditions

To be based in Kigali, Rwanda, and available to work outside of regular business hours to respond to AIMS demands that may be needed occasionally.