Job Description
Job Description SOFWERX is a venue operated under an agreement between the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) and DefenseWERX, designed to increase collaboration and innovation to solve the most difficult warfighter problems. SOFWERX is a forum for accelerating delivery of innovative capability, and facilitating capability refinement through exploration, experimentation, and assessment of promising technology. SOFWERX is in the heart of Ybor City, at a neutral, easily accessible facility.
The internship program is administered by USF Institute of Applied Engineering. Upon hire, you will be considered both a USF IAE Temporary Employee and a SOFWERX student intern. Because this internship is partially funded by the U.S. Department of Defense and candidates may work with Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), U.S. citizenship is required.
Time commitment - Hours of operation are 8:00am to 5:00pm Monday thru Friday.
- This position requires a minimum of 15 hours and a maximum of 20 hours per week during the Fall/Spring semesters and a minimum of 20 hours and a maximum of 29 hours per week during the Summer semester.
- This internship is in-person with limited remote work opportunities.
Opportunities - Engage in employee events, such as team building
- Build resume and explore career options
- Apply skills and knowledge to the workplace
- Upon completion of the internship, a letter of recommendation can be provided upon request
- Opportunity for internship extensions.
Pay Rate $18.50/hour
Responsibilities - Collaborate with subject matter experts and team members to continuously refine solutions.
- Gather, organize, and preprocess data from a variety of sources including Excel spreadsheets, AWS databases, internal software platforms, and email communications.
- Clean, normalize, and structure datasets to prepare them for use within internal databases and the organization's content management system (CMS).
- Assist in designing automated workflows to transform and standardize incoming data for consistent storage and analysis.
- Support the development of scripts or tools (such as Python scripts) to automate data extraction, formatting, and ingestion processes.
- Collaborate with the development team to ensure data is formatted correctly for integration into web applications and databases.
- Assist in validating and verifying data accuracy across multiple systems and sources.
- Contribute ideas for simple data visualizations, dashboards, or charts that communicate key information clearly on the organization's website.
- Document data processes and assist in improving internal data management practices.
- Must participate in weekly market research and submit minimum required entries for new capabilities, technologies, companies, organizations, etc. that could contribute to the innovative ideas needed to create solutions for the warfighter.
Qualifications - U.S. citizenship is required due to Department of Defense funding and potential access to Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI).
- Pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Data Science, Computer Science, Information Systems, Statistics, or a related technical field.
- Junior or Senior level preferred, with a current GPA of 3.0 or above.
- Experience working with datasets and familiarity with data organization and preprocessing concepts.
- Experience with Excel or other spreadsheet tools for data manipulation.
- Familiarity with Python or other scripting languages for data processing is preferred.
- Exposure to databases and basic SQL concepts is a plus.
- Familiarity with cloud environments such as AWS is a plus.
- Interest in data visualization and communicating data insights through charts or dashboards.
- Strong attention to detail and ability to work with large amounts of structured and unstructured data.
- Good problem-solving, organizational, and analytical skills.
- Must be willing and able to work in a dynamic, rapidly changing environment.
- Good communication skills and the ability to work both independently and collaboratively.
About Us Working at USF With approximately 16,000 employees, the University of South Florida is one of the largest employers in the Tampa Bay area. We are dedicated to cultivating a talented, engaged and driven workforce that strives to be bold. Employees excel in USF's rich academic environment, which fosters their development and advancement. In 2025, Forbes recognized USF as one of Florida's best large employers, ranked No. 1 among the state's 12 public universities. Our first-class benefits package includes medical, dental and life insurance plans, retirement plan options, employee and dependent tuition programs, generous leave, and hundreds of employee perks and discounts.
About USF The University of South Florida is a top-ranked research university serving approximately 50,000 students from across the globe at campuses in Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota-Manatee and USF Health. USF is recognized by U.S. News & World Report as a top 50 public university and the best value in Florida. U.S. News also ranks the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine as the No. 1 medical school in Florida and in the highest tier nationwide. USF is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), a group that includes only the top 3% of universities in the U.S. With an all-time high of $738 million in research funding in 2024 and as a top 20 public university for producing U.S. patents, USF uses innovation to transform lives and shape a better future. The university generates an annual economic impact of more than $6 billion. USF's Division I athletics teams compete in the American Athletic Conference. Learn more at
Compliance and Federal Notices This position may be subject to a Level 1 or Level 2 criminal background check.
Applicants have rights under Federal Employment Laws:
The University of South Florida is an equal opportunity employer that does not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment based on any characteristic protected by law. The University maintains programs for protected veterans and individuals with disabilities in accordance with all applicable federal and state laws.
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
Applicants for USF employment are entitled to request reasonable accommodation(s) in the application process. A request is to be made at least five (5) working days prior to the time the accommodation(s) is needed. Visit the Central Human Resources ADA Accommodations webpage for more information on requesting an accommodation during the application/interview process.
Equal Employment Opportunity The University of South Florida is an equal opportunity employer that does not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment based on any characteristic protected by law. The University maintains affirmative action programs for protected veterans and individuals with disabilities in accordance with all applicable federal and state laws. This job description does not constitute an employment contract.
Job Tags
Contract work, Temporary work, Summer work, Remote work, Monday to Friday