Innovation Research Intern

Trace3 · Remote

  • Internship
  • Internship
  • Posted 2026-10-27
  • Confirmed live on 29 October 2026

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Job description

Who is Trace3?

Trace3 is a leading Transformative IT Authority, providing unique technology solutions and consulting services to our clients. Equipped with elite engineering and dynamic innovation, we empower IT executives and their organizations to achieve competitive advantage through a process of Integrate, Automate, Innovate.

Our culture at Trace3 embodies the spirit of a startup with the advantage of a scalable business. Employees can grow their career and have fun while doing it!

Trace3 is headquartered in Irvine, California. We employ more than 1,200 people all over the United States. Our major field office locations include Denver, Indianapolis, Grand Rapids, Lexington, Los Angeles, Louisville, Texas, San Francisco.

Ready to discover the possibilities that live in technology?

Come Join Us!

Street-Smart - Thriving in Dynamic Times

We are flexible and resilient in a fast-changing environment. We continuously innovate and drive constructive change while keeping a focus on the “big picture.” We exercise sound business judgment in making high-quality decisions in a timely and cost-effective manner. We are highly creative and can dig deep within ourselves to find positive solutions to different problems.

Juice - The “Stuff” it takes to be a Needle Mover

We get things done and drive results. We lead without a title, empowering others through a can-do attitude. We look forward to the goal, mentally mapping out every checkpoint on the pathway to success, and visualizing what the final destination looks and feels like.

Teamwork - Humble, Hungry and Smart

We are humble individuals who understand how our job impacts the company's mission. We treat others with respect, admit mistakes, give credit where it’s due and demonstrate transparency. We “bring the weather” by exhibiting positive leadership and solution-focused thinking. We hug people in their trials, struggles, and failures – not just their success. We appreciate the individuality of the people around us.

JOB SUMMARY:

Trace3 is an innovation partner to more than 2,000 companies and has been growing at a double-digit rate for over a decade.  Trace3 Innovation collaborates with the industry, VC and start-up community, clients, and internal Trace3 teams to identify, analyze, and offer insights into emerging technology areas such as private/public cloud, data intelligence, security, application/development, and operations.  The Trace3 Innovation Team identifies macro technology trends, technology practice areas, use cases, and solutions across the market landscape.  Solution partners, from new start-ups to industry incumbents, are evaluated. 

Under the general direction of the SVP of Innovation, and with day-to-day guidance from an Innovation Researcher, the Innovation Research Intern is responsible for scouting and vetting emerging startups and use cases, and for supporting lower-complexity client research requests, with the goal of understanding how they fit within the Enterprise IT landscape. The intern serves as a research extension of the team, allowing researchers and principals to concentrate on analysis and advisory work.

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT TO LEARN:

• Scout emerging vendors across Security, Data, AI, Developer Operations, and others using funding databases, analyst coverage, venture portfolios, and news sources

• Conduct secondary research to analyze investments in startups to determine possible trends

• Apply deductive and inductive reasoning to test the accuracy of data, and clearly separate verified facts from vendor marketing claims

• Interpret data to bring out meaningful insights by correlating different data points, citing sources for every material statement

• Maintain a pipeline of candidate companies with consistent fields, including category, product summary, funding stage, investors, and leadership

• Support the quality check process by verifying figures, names, and citations, and by keeping vendor tracking and research repositories current

• Observe technical reviews with the Research team and targeted companies, and prepare notes with takeaways and follow-up questions

• Assist researchers with client research requests, such as compiling vendor longlists, locating alternatives to an incumbent product, and building competitive comparisons

• Support the preparation for client workshops and internal thought leadership by assembling background research

• Complete a capstone research project near the end of the internship and present it to the team

• All client-facing content is reviewed and approved by a Researcher or Innovation Principal; the intern does not contact vendors or clients without approval

• May perform other duties as assigned by supervisor

ELIGIBILITY AND PREFERRED SKILLS:

• Enrollment in the Junior or Senior year of an undergraduate program at an accredited college or university or Masters program

• Candidates should be pursuing a field of study applicable to the I

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