Sephora Applied AI and Automation Intern

About Sephora

Sephora is a global prestige beauty leader, renowned for redefining the retail experience through creativity, inclusivity, and expert service. Founded in France and now part of LVMH, the company brings together an exceptional portfolio of beauty brands with a distinctive culture of discovery and innovation. As an employer, Sephora offers a dynamic, customer-centered environment where talent is encouraged to learn, experiment, and grow across retail, digital, merchandising, operations, and corporate functions. Its teams are united by a passion for beauty, entrepreneurship, and belonging, making Sephora a compelling workplace for professionals seeking impact within a fast-moving international brand.

Sephora is hiring an Applied AI and Automation Intern for a 10-week hybrid internship in San Francisco, running June 14–August 20, 2027, at 36 hours per week, Monday through Friday. The intern will develop machine learning models and agentic AI proofs of concept with AI engineers, data scientists, and business teams; target pay is $30 per hour.

Role & Responsibilities

• Design, train, evaluate, and iterate on machine learning models for real-world business use cases.
• Build agentic AI solutions that reason, retrieve information, use tools, and orchestrate multi-step workflows.
• Develop data science and AI proofs of concept using Python, SQL, machine learning frameworks, and enterprise data.
• Build retrieval-augmented generation pipelines, tool-calling capabilities, multi-agent workflows, and context-aware AI applications.
• Conduct data exploration, feature engineering, model experimentation, validation, and error analysis.
• Demonstrate Sephora’s values of Passion, Innovation, Expertise, Balance, Respect, Teamwork, and Initiative.

Qualifications

• Currently pursuing a bachelor’s, master’s, or Ph.D. degree in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Engineering, Statistics, or a related quantitative field.
• Strong hands-on programming skills in Python and SQL.
• Demonstrated experience building and evaluating machine learning or deep learning models.
• Experience developing applications with large language models, retrieval-augmented generation, embeddings, vector databases, tool calling, or agentic frameworks.
• Strong curiosity, technical depth, and willingness to experiment with emerging AI technologies.
• Expected to graduate in 2027 or 2028 with an undergraduate or graduate degree.
• Work schedule must align with 9 a.m.–5 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.
• Must permanently reside and work in the United States.
• Must be open to relocating to the San Francisco Bay Area upon graduation for consideration for full-time hybrid positions.
• Available from June 14 to August 20, 2027.

Skills

Education

Currently pursuing a bachelor’s, master’s, or Ph.D. degree in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Engineering, Statistics, or a related quantitative field.

Workplace

Compensation

The base compensation for this position is USD 30 per hour.

Benefits

Weekly virtual workshops, networking opportunities, and career panels; hands-on learning and professional networking opportunities.

Culture

Sephora fosters a dynamic, inclusive workplace where creativity, curiosity, and a passion for beauty are encouraged at every level. As an employer, it is distinguished by its focus on empowerment, continuous learning, and a collaborative retail culture that celebrates individuality and client-centric innovation.

About Cerulean

Cerulean is the definitive career portal for the global luxury industry. We match exceptional professionals with exclusive opportunities at the world's most prestigious brands. From haute couture and fine watchmaking to prestige beauty, hospitality, and boutique retail, Cerulean centralises luxury employment to help you find the career for which you were destined.