Why This Job is Featured on The SaaS Jobs
This Research Scientist PhD internship sits in a product-led SaaS environment where algorithmic choices translate directly into measurable user experience at scale. Work in media quality, perception, and retrieval is tightly coupled to how subscription platforms deliver audio and video across devices, networks, and formats, making the scope inherently applied rather than purely academic.
For a SaaS career path, the role offers durable exposure to the research to prototype loop that many platform companies rely on when improving core experiences. Building proofs of concept in Python, grounding ideas in real usage scenarios, and communicating results internally mirrors how applied science teams influence roadmaps without owning full product execution. Experience with perceptual evaluation and MIR or VIR also transfers to adjacent SaaS domains like ranking, personalization, and quality measurement.
This is best suited to PhD candidates who prefer evidence-driven problem solving and can balance scientific rigor with pragmatic experimentation. It will appeal to those interested in working close to production constraints such as compression, delivery tradeoffs, and heterogeneous playback contexts, while still operating in a research setting with scope for publication when appropriate.
The section above is editorial commentary from The SaaS Jobs, provided to help SaaS professionals understand the role in a broader industry context.
Job Description
Spotify is looking for enthusiastic students/recent graduates with a passion for music, podcasts, audiobooks, or video and an ambition to go far. This isn’t just any internship! Our paid internship program will give you the chance to gain in-depth knowledge of what it’s like to be a Spotify employee, as well as get the opportunity to see the technology side of a fast growing company. Our summer internships will last for approximately 10 or 12 weeks and start in mid-June 2026.
We are looking for exceptional Research Scientist Interns who have applied experience in signal processing, audio and video analysis, perceptual quality, Music & Video Information Retrieval (MIR/VIR), or related fields. The Media Quality Lab (MQL) works at the intersection of media quality, perception, and technology, inventing and testing foundational approaches that inform future product experiences.
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What You'll Do- Join a small, senior applied research team focused on improving how Spotify understands and evaluates audio and video quality across real user scenarios.
- Apply scientific methods to application-oriented problems in audio/video signal processing, perceptual feature design, and retrieval.
- Build proofs of concept (POCs) in Music and Video Information Retrieval (MIR & VIR) using perceptual features extracted from audio and video.
- Work hands-on in Python using scientific and data-analysis tools.
- Present your results in internal forums and, if appropriate and relevant, contribute toward a publication.
Who You Are- You are pursuing a PhD in Electrical Engineering, Signal Processing, Computer Science, Acoustics, Applied Mathematics, or a related area with a strong computational focus.
- You have a baseline understanding of media technology across audio and video, such as formats/containers, compression concepts, resolutions/bitrates, and delivery constraints.
- You have some understanding of music and video creation workflows and common user scenarios (headphones, speakers, mobile, TV, etc.).
- You have publications in communities such as the ICASSP, ISMIR, Interspeech, DAFx, WASPAA, AES (Conventions/Journals), ICME, ICIP, ACM Multimedia, MMSP, EUSIPCO, PCS or related venues.
- You have programming experience in Python and scientific tooling.
- You are a creative problem-solver who is excited about digging into complex problems and producing practical prototypes grounded in real media behavior.
- Prior work in MIR/VIR, perceptual evaluation, DSP, codecs, feature engineering, or retrieval systems is a plus.
- You are available from June 15th onwards for a 10 or 12 week summer internship.
- You have a graduation year date of 2026 or 2027.
- You currently have valid work authorization to work in the country in which this role is based that will extend from June to September 2026
Where You'll Be- This role will require you to work out of our Stockholm office
- Our internship program has a lot to offer with in office events and networking opportunities. To allow you to be fully immersed in our program and make the most of your time with us, we ask that you come into the office 3 days a week.
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Our paid summer internships last for approximately 10 or 12 weeks and start in mid- June 2026. The last day to apply is February 17, 2026 at 6 PM CET.
Spotify is an equal opportunity employer. You are welcome at Spotify for who you are, no matter where you come from, what you look like, or what’s playing in your headphones. Our platform is for everyone, and so is our workplace. The more voices we have represented and amplified in our business, the more we will all thrive, contribute, and be forward-thinking! So bring us your personal experience, your perspectives, and your background. It’s in our differences that we will find the power to keep revolutionizing the way the world listens.
At Spotify, we are passionate about inclusivity and making sure our entire recruitment process is accessible to everyone. We have ways to request reasonable accommodations during the interview process and help assist in what you need. If you need accommodations at any stage of the application or interview process, please let us know - we’re here to support you in any way we can.
Spotify transformed music listening forever when we launched in 2008. Our mission is to unlock the potential of human creativity by giving a million creative artists the opportunity to live off their art and billions of fans the chance to enjoy and be passionate about these creators. Everything we do is driven by our love for music and podcasting. Today, we are the world’s most popular audio streaming subscription service.
