Innovation Internships

The Jefferson County Innovation and Digital Transformation Internship Program offers students and recent graduates the paid opportunity to gain practical work experience by leading technology and business process improvements within local government. 

Please apply here or contact the Innovation Team if you're interested or have questions. We'd love to hear from you!

Innovation at Jeffco - Internship Group Photo
  1. Internship Types
  2. Application Information
  3. Highlighted Intern Projects
  4. Support Structures

Internship Types

Three types of Innovation Internships are offered: exploratory, industry placement, and class projects.

Exploratory

These projects involve re-designing and improving current county services. Interns will evaluate and prototype cutting-edge technologies and solutions by collaborating with the Innovation Team and our internal partners.

Industry placement

We are constantly seeking individuals with the background, experience, and passion for specific county-related functions, such as GIS or cybersecurity. These internship projects are geared toward students interested in experiencing what a real-world career in local government looks like.

Class projects

Our Innovation Team partners with universities across the front range to solve challenges that impact our communities. Over a semester, an entire class focuses on a specific theme and identifies potential solutions that Jeffco can adopt to better serve our communities.

Students and Interns love this internship program! 

In our exit surveys, 68% of exiting interns rated this experience 'Exceptional', while the remaining 32% rated it as a 'Worthwhile' experience.

"I would recommend the internship to anyone looking for professional development and to give back to the community."

-Alex K, Fall 2022 Cohort

I built out a Robotic Process Automation for server setup at Jeffco. This internship taught me tons of valuable skills, like project planning and building a real-world technical application. It was great getting to see my project come together, and knowing that something I made can save the county time and money. The Jeffco team was full of helpful mentors, and I loved being a part of the program!

- Nicole Dudas, University of Colorado - Boulder

 
Innovation at Jeffco - Intern Photo_Kearthika

I applied for this internship to gain an understanding of how county services work and to showcase my skills in piloting emerging technologies. Overall, I learned a lot during my time with Jeffco: technical skills, core values, how to work as a team, and the weekly presentations helped me articulate my thoughts better!

- Kearthika Balasubramanian, University of Colorado


During my internship project, I derived KPIs for eight departments and seven divisions. I identified the data needs for those KPIs, requested the datasets, and built three dashboards. It was an opportunity to apply my education to the real world and I found myself surrounded by mentors who were dedicated to helping me succeed.

- Gita Marahatta, University of Colorado


Innovation at Jeffco - Intern Photo_Gita
Innovation at Jeffco - Intern Photo_Christopher

Some accomplishments from my time at Jeffco include creating objective assessments to evaluate county processes for automation, identifying a pilot project, collaborating with a vendor on the discovery process, and creating a queue of processes for Jeffco to automate in the future. Overall, I really enjoyed my experience with the program.

- Christopher Seven, University of Denver

I applied for this internship because it was a great opportunity to tie my interest in technology with my passion for community development. I worked on integrating government services and information into digital voice assistant technology. I learned a lot about project development and how to effectively communicate the value of my work.

- Carly Oliver, Colorado School of Mines


Innovation at Jeffco - Intern Photo_Carly