IT Intern – Solutions Architecture

At American Equity we offer leading annuity products that help empower our clients to fulfill their needs and wants in retirement. Our success comes from hiring high-energy individuals who embody the beliefs that drive our unique culture. We currently fund over half a million retirements nationwide, and have been headquartered in West Des Moines, Iowa, for over twenty-five years with satellite offices in Charlotte, NC and New York, NY.

The American Equity Summer Internship Program offers an immersive real-world experience, closely replicating the career journey of an American Equity professional. Each intern will contribute to meaningful, hands-on projects that drive measurable business outcomes, gaining valuable experience along the way.

Interns will also have the opportunity to present their project work to company leaders, network with executives, and participate in educational programs designed to support their personal and professional growth. Additionally, interns will engage in community service projects and social events, building connections with fellow interns and the broader American Equity team.

The internship will be a 10 week program located at our downtown Des Moines office.

GENERAL PURPOSE OF THE JOB:
The primary role of the Solution Architect Intern is to support ongoing architecture projects by researching and implementing new and innovative technology in a hybrid cloud environment, creating and maintaining system documentation, and executing hands-on programming tasks to achieve business objectives. The intern will interact with the technical teammates and business partners in the financial industry to build and improve current processes and technology. The intern will provide valuable support to professional staff within organizational functions that align with their field of study and contribute to ongoing projects gaining hands-on experience in a structured, professional environment

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
•    Participates and provides value to ongoing projects of assigned area.
•    Prepares, codes, debugs, and tests programs and hybrid cloud environment.
•    Creates and maintains various system diagrams and technology roadmaps.
•    Assists with discovery of internal and external customers’ critical business issues and requirements.
•    Ensures applications supporting American Equity are compliant, and technically resilient enough to meet established requirements.
•    Analyzes and understand current, legacy, and future workloads to evaluate and implement areas of optimization, as well as the longevity and viability of the system or process.
•    Conducts research and development around new technology concepts or implementations, while making technology recommendations that will help drive business value.
•    Documents code changes and assists users in the development of procedures.
•    Analyzes and demonstrates system solutions.
•    Completes project and support tasks with guidance from mentor and department leader. 
•    Interface with peers across various department to collaborate on cross-functional projects.
•    Performs other related work as assigned.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES:
Direct Reports:  
General Description of Indirect Reports :  

EDUCATION AND/OR EXPERIENCE:
•    Actively pursuing an Associate’s degree or Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science or equivalent from two-year college or technical school. 

CERTIFICATES, LICENSES, PROFESSIONAL DESIGNATIONS:
•    N/A

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES:
•    Knowledge and skills in the use of specific computer software, programming languages, and public cloud (C#, .NET, Angular, React, SQL, NoSQL, AWS, Azure DevOps).
•    Knowledge of fundamental architectures and technology patterns (REST API, OpenAPI Specifications, Single-Page Applications, Microservices Architecture, Event-Driven Architecture, Serverless Computing, OAuth 2.0).
•    Knowledge of the principles, practices, methods, and techniques associated with software development and architecture.
•    Strong attention to detail.
•    Willingness and capacity to learn quickly and apply new knowledge.
•    Ability to identify and problem-solve in a timely manner.
•    Excellent verbal and written communication, ability to effectively present information and interact in group situations.
•    Demonstrates teamwork and effective collaboration.
•    Adaptable to change, delays and unexpected events.
•    Ability to read, analyze, and interpret documents, manuals, and instructions.
•    Ability to build strong relationships with internal and external partners.
•    Proficient in the use of Microsoft Office Suite.

DISCLAIMER
This description covers the major purpose and essential functions of the job. It is not intended to give all details or a step-by-step account of the way each task is to be performed. Employees may receive other job related instructions and be required to perform other job related work requested by their manager. All requirements are subject to possible modification to provide reasonable accommodation to qualified individuals with disabilities.

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