Summary of Position

This internship presents a unique opportunity for aspiring sustainability professionals to gain hands-on experience in a city with a commitment to resilience and sustainability. The Community Development Department plays a crucial role in shaping the city's growth with environmental stewardship, social equity, and economic vitality. The Sustainability Intern will work closely with a variety of city staff and community partners to engage in a wide range of projects and initiatives to advance the City’s goals.

This is a part-time position, with the ability to increase to full-time based on availability and workload. The expected start date is on or around September 8, 2026.

Expected Hours of Work
Hours are typically Monday-Friday from 8 am to 4:30 pm. In addition to working office hours, staff may be required to work additional events, which may include nights or weekends. This temporary position has a maximum term of 720 hours in 2026, with the ability to extend into 2027 based on budgets. Expectation is 20 to 40 hours per week on average, with the ability to accommodate coursework.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals to perform these essentialfunctions:

Assist with community engagement, education, implementation, and updates to the City’s Solid Waste, Recycling, and Organics Recycling programs, Climate Equity Plan, Energy Action Plan, and Resilience and Sustainability Plan.
Assist with content creation for sustainability newsletters, websites, social media, presentations, flyers, and reports.
Update progress-tracking tools, including GreenStep Cities best practices and B3 Benchmarking for City facilities.
Conduct research about new initiatives including fleet electrification, solar energy, geothermal energy, zero-waste events, and waste reduction strategies.
Communicate, educate, engage, and collaborate with residents, businesses, non-profits, multi-family properties, and other community groups to advance the City’s resilience and sustainability efforts and goals.
Attend meetings and present information to City Boards and Commissions, including Environmental Commission, Planning Commission, and City Council.
Assists in research, analysis, review, and other related activities in Community Development.
Improve department materials, including standard operating procedures and process checklists for internal and public use.

Other Duties

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

Supervisory Responsibility
This position does not have employee supervisory responsibilities.

Minimum and Desired Qualifications

Enrolled in or graduated from a post-secondary program in sustainability, environmental science and policy, energy, physical sciences, planning, urban studies, public administration, communication/marketing, or a related field.
Demonstrated ability to collaborate with people to make progress on projects.
Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite.
Strong writing ability and attention to detail in written materials preparation.
General knowledge of, and interest in, sustainability, climate-related impacts and mitigation strategies, resilient practices and policies, and waste reduction and recycling.
Ability to work effectively and tactfully with the public, supervisors, and coworkers.
Interest in learning, educating, and communicating about environmental issues.
Ability to manage multiple tasks and meet deadlines.
Ability to complete the essential duties and responsibilities of the position with or without reasonable accommodations

Desired Qualifications

Currently enrolled in a graduate program related to urban planning, sustainability studies, environmental studies, or a related field.
Experience working with a City or other governmental agency.
Six to twelve months of professional experience in a related field.
One year of experience with data collection, analysis, benchmarking tools, or reporting, including creating tables, charts, and graphs in a professional or academic setting.
Experience with drafting professional memos or research reports.
Experience with Adobe Acrobat, BlueBeam, ArcGIS or Canva.
Experience with community engagement related to a sustainability policy or program.

Work Environment and Physical Demands

Work is conducted both indoors and outdoors. Employees are subject to both inside and outside environmental conditions. Employees are subject to noise during events and activities but are generally free from additional work hazards.

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is required to:

Regularly communicate and exchange information with others both in person and over the telephone.
Frequently remain in a stationary position, as well as operate computers and other office equipment, such as a copy machine, printer, and telephone, as well as equipment/tools consistently found in planning and development environment.
Frequently read and interpret documents, including, but not limited to, emails, written requests, plans, and maps.
Frequently traverse around the City.
Occasionally move or transport items weighing up to 25 pounds.

EEO Statement
The City of Golden Valley is an Equal Opportunity Employer in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. It will provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities and encourages both prospective and current employees to discuss potential accommodations with the employer.

City of Golden Valley

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Sustainability Intern