Economic Development and Partnerships Intern: Year-Round

Apply by Date: 09/02/2026
Hourly Minimum Pay Rate: $19.91 / hour
Hourly Maximum Pay Rate: $24.25 / hour

Join SMUD's Economic Development & Partnerships (EDP) Team
SMUD's Economic Development & Partnerships team leads efforts to foster a thriving, inclusive local economy by supporting regional economic development initiatives, small business success, entrepreneurship, and collaboration on business attraction, consistent with SMUD's economic development strategy.

This internship supports various aspects of the EDP Team's work, focusing on program participation growth, outreach, and data tracking. The intern will assist with outreach efforts via email, phone, and other channels, along with data management, reporting, and analysis on a monthly and quarterly basis. The student will also support event and workshop logistics and engagement. The successful candidate will demonstrate flexibility, dependability, resourcefulness, strong communication skills, and attention to detail. The following is an example of the type of work, but not limited to:

• Support the collection and organization of data related to outreach efforts, participant demographics, and engagement metrics.

• Maintain and update participant and outreach contact lists, ensuring data accuracy, completeness and achievement of program participation goals

• Support continuous improvement of outreach strategies by providing insights based on tracked data and participant feedback.

• Assist in developing and executing outreach campaigns via email, phone, and other channels to promote program participation and lead generation.

• Track outreach activities and participation data to support ongoing monitoring of program engagement.

• Help prepare regular monthly and quarterly reports summarizing outreach activities, participation trends, and program progress.

• Collaborate with staff to identify potential outreach opportunities and follow up on leads.

• Perform administrative tasks related to program support, including maintaining records, scheduling outreach, and assisting with communication efforts.

• Support event and workshop logistics (set-up, tear-down, customer engagement).

• Assist with other team efforts and duties as assigned.

About SMUD's College Internship Program

SMUD's College Internship Program provides college interns with an opportunity to contribute their skills and knowledge to SMUD while gaining valuable work experience. Workshops and activities will also be part of the program where interns will have the opportunity to be immersed in SMUD's culture and learn leadership skills as well as develop their professional skills.

SMUD was also recognized by Interns 2 Pros for the 2020 Internship Program of The Year Award in recognition of excellence in internship strategy, implementation, and impact and was one of five finalists for the 2023 Internship Program of the Year from Interns 2 Pros along with Paramount, Fox Corporation, Intuit, and Toyota.

Purpose

Under staff direction, incumbents in this classification are full-time students who perform research and analytical tasks for projects and assignments that utilize specific and acquired academic skills and knowledge in non-engineering subjects and disciplines.

Nature and Scope

The work performed in this classification calls for regular application of analytical and independent research skills. This work is distinguished from students engaged in repetitive and easily learned tasks who are employed in the Office Assistant (clerical/technical) classification. Incumbents in the Engineering Student Assistant classification perform at a similar level but are restricted to students majoring in an Engineering curriculum and performing tasks that employ acquired mathematical and science knowledge.

Duties and Responsibilities

Work may include, but is not limited to, the following: (NOTE: While in general all the functions and requirements listed are essential, individual positions and/or locations may not require all duties be performed.)

• Performs tasks of an analytical or research nature for suitable projects or ongoing assignments which call for specific acquired academic skills and knowledge.
• May locate sources of information; collects and organizes data.
• Makes computations and analyzes data for degree of confidence and for alternative courses of action.
• May develop computer programs relating to assignments and may code material for established programs.
• May develop written, graphic and/or oral reports.
• May assist staff analysts and technical personnel by performing elements of their work under close supervision.

Required Education

Registration as a full-time student (minimum of 12 units) at a resident academic institution in a declared curriculum that will provide the specific skills and knowledge that will contribute to available work assignments.

Desirable Qualifications

• Major: Coursework or experience in Inclusive Economic Development, Public Relations, Marketing, or similar
• College Status: Sophomore, Junior, or Senior
• Strong interpersonal, communication, and organizational skills
• Experience with Power BI, Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Adobe, and Microsoft Office Suite
• Experience with event activation
• Flexibility, dependability, resourcefulness, strong communication skills, and attention to detail

Physical Requirements

Applicants must be able to perform the essential job functions with or without a reasonable accommodation.

Application Deadline: It is guaranteed that the online system will accept applications until 5 PM on the apply by date. It is highly encouraged that applications are submitted well before the due date and time mentioned to make sure that it is submitted successfully.


Official SMUD Title: Student Staff Assistant

Internship Program Requirements:

• Students must be able to commute to the SMUD Offices in Sacramento, CA when requested to come in.
• To have a student position at SMUD, you must not have any relatives working at SMUD.
• Students must be enrolled and maintain enrollment as a full-time student, complete and pass at least 12 undergraduate units OR 8 graduate units, and receive at least a 2.0 GPA the semester/quarter prior to employment and for the duration of the internship. SMUD does not look at cumulative GPAs.
• Currently, SMUD is not hiring candidates for its student internship positions who require sponsorship from an employer either now or in the future. Such sponsorship is not needed for citizens, a U.S. National, a permanent resident, or one granted refuge or asylum status by the U.S. government. Visa holders typically require sponsorship in one form or another at some point in time.
• Diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) are a part of who we are and how we do things. Supporting efforts that promote pay equality is part of that. Salary placement for the selected candidate will be determined in alignment with the California Equal Pay Act or the applicable MOU. Determination for salary placement of internal candidates will be made without respect to current classification or compensation and will be based upon the candidate's qualifications as compared to those performing substantially similar work. In the event there is a guaranteed pay progression outlined in an applicable MOU, the MOU takes precedence.