---
title: 'Software Engineering Internship - Fall 2026 at Vital Lyfe'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/software-engineering-internship-fall-2026-vital-lyfe-los-angeles-v3yh2ke96ayk'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-05'
---

# Software Engineering Internship - Fall 2026 at Vital Lyfe

- **Company:** Vital Lyfe
- **Location:** Los Angeles, CA
- **Compensation:** $30–$33/hr
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-07-09
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-05
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/vital-lyfe/43a79d8f-a8bb-4c57-a411-1bac946128af

## Job description

## About Vital Lyfe

Vital Lyfe is a tech company redefining water autonomy through innovation, creating a new category of personal water making technology built to scale where infrastructure can’t.

The Mission We're looking for a Software Engineering Intern to help build the software behind a high-demand consumer hardware product. We're spinning up manufacturing from scratch, scaling fast, and the software you work on will directly affect how we build, track, and deliver thousands of units.

You'll work alongside senior engineers on the tools, data systems, and infrastructure that power our operations and help us scale.

## What You'll Do

- Build and improve internal tools that give our engineering and operations teams real-time visibility into production and manufacturing workflows
- Write integrations and scripts that connect systems and keep data reliable across the company
- Design and maintain dashboards that help teams understand operational data and make better decisions
- Assist with backend and cloud infrastructure work as we continue scaling our services
- Debug issues, write tests, and ship improvements alongside senior engineers

## What We're Looking For

- Strong programming fundamentals and comfort learning new systems quickly
- Experience with at least one modern programming language such as Python or TypeScript
- Interest in software that supports real-world products and operations
- Familiarity with APIs, web applications, or cloud-based systems
- Practical and curious, with a habit of taking ownership and following through
- Able to break down a problem, work through it, and know when to ask for help
- Excited to work in a fast-paced environment where software and hardware intersect

## Nice to Have

- Experience supporting or contributing to live backend systems
- Background in building user-facing interfaces with React or a similar frontend framework
- Exposure to SQL, structured data formats, and dashboards or data visualization tools
- Familiarity with AWS or cloud infrastructure
- Interest in manufacturing, hardware-software integration, or IoT systems

Why Join Vital Lyfe?

- Work on high-impact problems with global relevance
- Contribute to technology addressing water security and climate resilience
- Tackle meaningful problems at the intersection of software, hardware, and operations
- See your work directly affect how we build, ship, and improve real-world products
- Learn quickly in a collaborative environment with broad exposure across engineering

Internship Starts: Mid to Late September

Location Requirement: Ability to work 100% onsite in Torrance, CA (remote or hybrid work will not be considered)

Vital Lyfe is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Vital Lyfe is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.

## About Vital Lyfe

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Vital Lyfe is a climate technology company building portable, aerospace-grade water purification systems that turn any naturally occurring water source—including saltwater—into clean drinking water on demand.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Seed stage; total funding $42.1M)
- **Headquarters**: Hawthorne, California, United States
- **Founded**: 2024
- **Founders**: Jon C. (CEO) and Andrew Harner (COO)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry/industries**: Climate Technology Product Manufacturing, Water Purification
- **Target customers**: B2C (outdoor enthusiasts, emergency preparedness, off-grid living), B2B (disaster relief organizations, military, remote operations), and potentially B2G (government/municipal infrastructure alternatives)
- **Mission or purpose statement**: “Rewriting how the world thinks about water” by creating a platform for water autonomy—personal water-making technology that scales where infrastructure can’t.

## Products & Services
- **[Access]**: A portable, intuitive device that uses a simple three-step process (place hose in water → press start → hydrate) to purify water from any natural source, including ocean water. Type: Hardware (personal water-maker) with an integrated platform for monitoring and reliability.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed
- **Key Metric**: Total funding of **$42.1M** across four rounds (Pre-Seed led by Cantos; Seed rounds led by Interlagos Capital and General Catalyst, including $18M in December 2025 and $6M debt financing)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Cantos, Interlagos Capital, General Catalyst
- **Growth Signals**: Headcount grew **1000% YoY** to 29 employees; LinkedIn followers up 440% yearly; website traffic surged 747% yearly; currently has 5 active job postings and has opened pre-orders for its first product.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Aerospace-grade engineering** applied to consumer water purification—founders and early team include alumni from SpaceX and other aerospace/defense firms.
- **Field-tested simplicity**: The device requires no complex installation or logistics, enabling water autonomy anywhere.
- **Platform approach**: Not just a single product but a scalable platform designed for solo missions, everyday readiness, and large-scale deployment.
- **First-mover in a new category**: Personal water-making that works with saltwater, addressing the 70% of Earth’s surface previously out of reach for portable purification.

## Strategic Focus
- Scaling manufacturing and reducing unit cost to make water autonomy accessible globally.
- Expanding use cases from individual outdoor/adventure to disaster relief, military operations, and off-grid communities.
- Building a brand around “liberation” and independence from fixed water infrastructure.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Described as “engineering liberation”—a mission-driven environment where employees push boundaries and reimagine essential resources. The team is heavily technical (39% in engineering/technical roles) and includes alumni from SpaceX, L3Harris, and other advanced engineering companies.
- **Remote/Hybrid/Office**: Offices in Hawthorne, CA (HQ) and Long Beach, CA. Likely on-site given the hardware and manufacturing focus, but roles may offer flexibility.
- **Notable Perks**: Competitive salary, equity, 401K, health/vision/dental insurance, paid holidays, cellphone & internet stipend, referral bonus, team outings, meals & snacks, EV charging station, spot bonuses.
- **Growth Opportunity**: With 29 employees and rapid scaling, new hires will have significant impact and ownership from day one.

## Sources
1. [vital-lyfe.com](https://www.vital-lyfe.com/)
2. [vital-lyfe.com/about](https://www.vital-lyfe.com/about)
3. [vital-lyfe.com/careers](https://www.vital-lyfe.com/careers)
4. [jobs.ashbyhq.com/vital-lyfe](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/vital-lyfe)
5. [linkedin.com/company/vital-lyfe](https://www.linkedin.com/company/vital-lyfe)

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