Capital & Planning Division - Student Intern Program, Summer 2026 - Open Space Planning & Project Management - Recreation & Park Dept. (5380)

City & County of San Francisco (CA)•San Francisco, CA

25d•Hybrid

About The Position

The San Francisco Recreation and Park Department is seeking student interns in planning, landscape architecture, engineering, and related disciplines, to support our Capital and Planning Division for a year-long (or longer) part-time internship. This is a great opportunity to work during the summer and the following school year as an integral part of our Division. Amid a dynamic and ever-evolving urban landscape, the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department stewards one of the premier urban park systems in America. San Francisco recently became the first city in the United States for which 100% of its residents live within a ten-minute walk of a park. Considered by San Franciscans to be one of the City's most popular and effective public agencies, our Department manages and maintains more than 225 parks, playgrounds, and open spaces in San Francisco, including two outside of city limits: Sharp Park in Pacifica and Camp Mather in the High Sierras. Our 4,100- acre system includes over 25 recreation centers, nine swimming pools, five golf courses and numerous athletic facilities, including sports courts, ball diamonds, soccer fields and gymnasiums. Included in the department's responsibilities are Golden Gate Park, Coit Tower, the Marina Yacht Harbor, the Palace of Fine Arts, and TPC Harding Park golf course. More than 2,000 talented individuals are part of our team, from gardeners, foresters, and recreation leaders to park rangers, custodians, electricians, painters and more. Our core mission, as it has been throughout our history, is to provide opportunities for San Francisco residents and visitors alike to gather, play, learn, relax, and enjoy nature in the city. Students in Graduate Degree Programs studying the following are encouraged to apply: Architecture Engineering (Architectural, Civil, Environmental, Structural, Transportation and Water Resources Engineering) Geography Planning or Urban Planning Project Management Landscape Architecture Environmental Design Sustainability Environmental Studies Public Policy Interns will gain on-the-job experience under the guidance of experienced professional planners, landscape architects, architects, and engineers, and while participating in various activities in the assigned discipline. The internship runs from Summer 2026 to Summer 2027 or longer. Applicable only to the Project Management internship: this position may start in Fall 2026 and not in Summer 2026. The Planning internship will start in Summer 2026. Interns are eligible to work part-time for 6 months post-graduation or 6 months after they stop taking classes. The compensation will be $37.20 per hour. The City and County of San Francisco is a hybrid work environment, and full-time staff work in the office 4 days per week. Intern candidates must be able to report to work in person in San Francisco a minimum of twice a week during the school year. Candidates are expected to work 16-20hrs/week during the school year and can work up to 32hrs/week during school vacation periods. Intern hybrid schedules may be approved to align with class commitments, however, this is subject to departmental discretion and the average hours worked per week. We are offering two types of intern positions in two separate teams within our Capital & Planning Division, our Planning team and our Project Management team. The Capital & Planning Division is responsible for delivering a portfolio of over 80 Capital Improvement Projects with a value of over $600M to San Francisco City parks. In addition to improvements to existing recreational facilities in the city, the division is also responsible for the identification, acquisition and development of new parks and facilities, and aligning the delivery of new parks and park improvements with San Francisco City goals and policies, and residents' needs. Together with community members and park advocates, the Capital and Planning Division strives to create and renovate parks that solve social problems and enhance community resilience. The Planning Unit, within the Capital and Planning Division, plans for the future of our open spaces and works on a wide range of projects that support open space improvements, development, and park acquisitions, as well as a variety of land use issues related to the City's park system. The unit works on environmental compliance, land use planning, urban design, code enforcement, historic preservation, park improvement plans, acquisitions, grant writing, transportation demand management and public outreach as relevant to park properties. The unit is comprised of six planners, an analyst and three interns.

Requirements

Education: At the time you submit your application, you must be enrolled in an accredited university or a community college in the following related fields: Architecture Engineering (Architectural, Civil, Environmental, Structural, Transportation and Water Resources Engineering) Geography Planning or Urban Planning Project Management Landscape Architecture Environmental Design Sustainability Environmental Studies Public Policy
You must be returning to your undergraduate program or entering/continuing a graduate program in the Fall 2026.
Students who will soon graduate are encouraged to apply.
You can still apply if you are in your second-to-last or last semester, as you may still be selected for the program within six months of graduation.
Candidates must be willing to learn planning, architectural, and engineering practices depending on the area of interest.
Candidates must be prepared to receive on-the-job training to acquire the ability to apply professional standards and develop architectural, engineering and planning skills.
Preferred candidates should be current graduate students in an Urban Planning, Geography, or similar graduate program, with at least one year left of schoolwork.
Preferred candidates should be current graduate students in Landscape Architecture, Architecture, or an architecture/landscape architecture related field (such as Environmental Design, Sustainability) with at least one year left of schoolwork.

Nice To Haves

Are highly organized and detailed-oriented to successfully navigate complexity
Willing to assist professional staff in the preparation of plans and in compiling and preparing technical, and statistical data in the form of reports, graphs, maps, and charts; may assist in field investigations and in collecting data
Willing to learn how to or can prepare or assist professional staff in preparing studies, calculations, designs, drawings, sketches, and plans using computer-aided design software such as AutoCAD, Revit, Rhino or other software tools
Can assist in the preparation of maps, charts, photographs, and other graphic presentations to illustrate planning studies
Receive and review permit and planning applications, construction plans and supporting documentation for completeness, accuracy and conformance with local, state, and federal codes and other applicable established criteria and entering application data into the database and tracking system
Think critically through their work and continuously recommend improvements
Are comfortable using professional judgment to provide architectural, engineering and planning knowledge to supervisors and managers
Are self-motivated, able to work independently, and open to feedback
Are comfortable with research and formulating potential solutions/ courses of action
Candidates should have previous work experience and working knowledge of Microsoft Office programs such as Excel and Word.
Candidates should have previous work experience and working knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite programs such as Illustrator, InDesign and Photoshop.
Project Management intern candidates should have previous experience in computer-aided design software such as AutoCAD, Revit, Rhino or other software tools and portable document format (PDF) programs such as Adobe Acrobat or Bluebeam Revu.
Planning intern candidates should have previous experience in ArcGIS.

Responsibilities

Perform site review, research and data analysis, and preparation of reports related to property acquisition, park improvement projects and natural resources.
Prepare informational and analytical maps and graphic materials using ArcGIS software and the Adobe Creative Suite.
Prepare presentations and staff reports to citizen advisory groups and the Recreation and Park Commission; assist project managers at community meetings; conduct user intercept surveys.
Analyze existing and proposed open spaces and population growth impacts.
Assist planning staff with review, analysis and preparation as needed of Environmental Review documents such as California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) reviews and SF Planning Dept Certificates of Appropriateness (CoA) for projects impacting Recreation and Park facilities.
Evaluate shadow impact studies for Proposition K (SF's "Sunlight Ordinance") analysis and prepare reports with recommendations for Commission consideration.
Assist in grant applications through grant writing, policy and environmental sciences research, and graphics preparation.
Monitor and update capital project schedules in Airtable and other software.
Basic administrative support including filing, ordering supplies, receiving mail, data entry, word processing, creating spreadsheets, and other administrative tasks as needed.
Research historical park documents for improvement projects.
Prepare informational and graphic material for community outreach, grant applications, and other communications using Adobe Creative Suite, Microsoft Office and potentially computer-aided design software such as AutoCAD or Revit to develop site maps, plans, visualizations, etc.
Support community meetings including printing materials, taking notes, analyzing survey results and preparing reports.
Photograph site conditions at various park locations, including organizing project photos.
Basic administrative support including filing, ordering supplies, receiving mail, data entry, word processing, creating spreadsheets, and other administrative tasks.
Posting notices related to projects on-site at various locations in SF.
Support regulatory and building permitting.