Discovery Internship: Programming Intern (Omega Digital)

Reference
1118010

Branch
Liverpool John Moores University

Start date
19/10/2026

Duration
Other - See Job

Hours and days
This Internship will run for 100 hours

Dress code
Smart Casual

Rate of pay
£13.45

Holiday rate
£1.62

Role

***Ringfenced to Level 5 & 6 LJMU students only*** 

***Applications must be submitted using the application form linked below. Please upload it instead of a CV. Any other method will not be accepted*** 

Download application form

Programming Intern

The student will join Omega Digital, the technology and innovation arm of the Omega Group, and work on a defined AI development project within bHome, a new digital platform being developed to improve how care placements are assessed and matched. 

bHome is being designed to help care providers and commissioning organisations assess whether a potential placement is appropriate for an individual and a service. At present, much of this work can involve reviewing large amounts of referral information manually and comparing this against a home's capabilities, staffing, environment, location and current resident group.

The aim of the internship will be to research, prototype and test elements of an AI-assisted matching engine that can help analyse this information and provide a structured recommendation to the professional making the placement decision.

The system is not intended to make autonomous decisions. The project will explore how AI can support professionals by identifying relevant information, highlighting potential compatibility or concerns, and clearly explaining the reasoning behind a suggested match.

The intern will work alongside Omega Digital's innovation and development team. They will be given a structured project with mentoring and regular opportunities to discuss their findings, test ideas and demonstrate progress.

Duties and responsibilities
Main duties are expected to include:

• Understanding the bHome concept, its intended users and the care placement matching process.
• Working with the Omega Digital team to identify the information that should contribute to a placement match.
• Exploring how structured and unstructured referral information could be converted into useful information for a matching model.
• Researching appropriate AI, machine learning, natural language processing and rules-based approaches.
• Helping develop a prototype scoring or recommendation model.
• Exploring factors such as placement requirements, service capabilities, location, mobility, education requirements, behavioural support needs, compatibility factors and available resources.
• Investigating how different factors should be weighted within a matching model.
• Developing methods for producing an understandable explanation alongside a recommendation rather than simply generating a score.
• Testing the prototype using anonymised, fictional or appropriately controlled example data.
• Identifying situations where the system should flag uncertainty or request human review.
• Helping assess potential bias, fairness, accuracy and limitations within the proposed model.
• Documenting the approach, testing undertaken and findings.
• Presenting recommendations and a demonstration of the prototype to the Omega Digital team at the end of the internship.

• The student will also gain experience of working on a real technology product within a regulated and socially important sector.
• They will see how AI development has to consider not only technical performance, but also safeguarding, information governance, explainability, ethics and human oversight.

The 100-hour internship will form a defined research and development project and will not be used to replace or cover the duties of an existing employee.

Skills and experience
This opportunity is intended to be accessible to students who have an interest in artificial intelligence, software development, data or emerging technologies.

• Analytical and problem-solving skills
• Ability to break down a complex problem, identify relevant variables and consider different approaches to solving it.
• Interest in artificial intelligence and machine learning.
• An understanding of, or willingness to learn about, AI, machine learning, natural language processing, recommendation systems or related technologies.
• Programming or technical development skills.
• Some experience of programming through university study or personal projects. Python would be particularly useful, although experience with other programming languages would also be considered.

Additional useful skills include:

• An understanding of data structures, algorithms or data analysis.
• Experience using Python libraries for data science or machine learning.
• Familiarity with APIs, databases or web applications.
• An interest in large language models and generative AI.
• Ability to research unfamiliar technologies independently.
• Good written communication and documentation skills.
• Ability to explain technical ideas to non-technical colleagues.
• Attention to detail.
• An interest in responsible and ethical use of AI.
• Ability to work independently while also contributing to a small project team.

Previous employment within health or social care is not required. Omega will provide the student with the necessary context around the care sector and the placement process.

Because bHome operates within a sensitive sector, the student should also be willing to consider issues including data privacy, safeguarding, algorithmic bias, explainability and the importance of maintaining human oversight of AI-supported decisions.

Degree subjects we would particularly welcome applications from include:

• Artificial Intelligence
• Computer Science
• Data Science
• Software Engineering
• Computing
• Mathematics or Applied Mathematics
• Cybernetics / Intelligent Systems
• Games Technology or related technical disciplines where students have relevant programming or AI experience 

Students from other degree programmes would also be considered where they can demonstrate suitable programming, data, AI or analytical skills.

The most important qualities are a willingness to learn, curiosity about AI and an interest in using technology to solve a meaningful real-world problem.

Location
L34 5SQ (Prescot)

Additional information

***Ringfenced to Level 5 & 6 LJMU students only*** 

***Applications must be submitted using the application form linked below. Please upload it instead of a CV. Any other method will not be accepted*** 

Download application form

Applications close at 11:59pm on Sunday 27th September