About the Department

The Environmental Services Department (ESD) is a national leader in pollution prevention, watershed protection, utility service provision, and climate action. Together, ESD employees positively impact every resident and business in San Jose.
 
Our department is an exceptional place to start or grow your career. We have a supportive leadership team, numerous professional growth opportunities, and an inclusive workplace culture that is welcoming of your talents! 
 
To learn more about ESD, follow @sjenvironment on X (formally Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, and San Jose Environmental Services on LinkedIn.

Position Duties

Duration of Assignment:
Approximately 12 weeks starting February 2025.
 
Salary Information:
The Environmental Services Department is currently seeking to fill two (2) part-time unbenefited Undergraduate/Graduate Student Intern positions in the Watershed Protection Division.

Salary ranges for this classification are:

• Undergraduate Student Intern: $15.17 - $21.66 per hour (unbenefited)
• Graduate Student Intern: $19.62 – 28.98 per hour (unbenefited)  

These salary ranges include an approximate five percent (5%) ongoing non-pensionable compensation. Actual salary shall be determined by the final candidates’ qualifications and experience.
 
About the Watershed Protection (WSP) Division: 
The Watershed Protection (WSP) Division provides services that support the City's efforts to protect water quality in local creeks and the Bay. These services are integral to the City's management of both wastewater and stormwater. The Watershed Protection Division is comprised of nearly 90 employees with four key functions: Stormwater Management, Environmental Enforcement, Industrial Pretreatment, and Emergency Management & Real Estate.
   
About the Fats, Oils, and Grease (FOG) Internship:
This group is responsible for an inspection program focused on commercial food service establishments (FSE) with an emphasis on controls for Fats, Oils, and Grease (FOG). This program is required under the City’s Sewer System Management Plan (SSMP). This program provides detailed inspections of more than 4,000 food service establishments in San José.

The FOG intern’s duties include but are not limited to:

• Conduct outreach via email to businesses that have fallen out of compliance on Swift Comply, ensuring they meet reporting requirements.
• Work with waste haulers to obtain client lists and successfully enroll Food Service Establishments into the Swift Comply platform.
• Visit Food Service Establishments in the field to enroll them onto the Swift Comply platform. 
• Provide Swift Comply platform assistance to Food Service Establishments as needed; Ensure they understand to continue to upload records and maintain compliance moving forward. 
• Utilize field maps on a city-issued device to geolocate exact location of Grease Interceptors for tracking and reporting purposes.

About the Private Land Drainage Areas (PLDA) intern in the Stormwater Treatment Measures Operations and Maintenance (STM) team:

The STM group is responsible for inspecting nearly 4,000 public and private stormwater treatment measures installed throughout San José to ensure that they are operating and maintained in good working order. These devices capture and treat stormwater before it is infiltrated into the native soil or discharged into the storm sewer system for certain new and redevelopment projects. In addition, this group inspects Private Land Drainage Areas (PLDA) for trash load reduction and investigates and abates old industrial properties with higher levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). This program is required under the City’s Municipal Regional Stormwater Permit (MRP).
 
The PLDA intern’s duties include but are not limited to:

• Assist PLDA program with tracing storm drain inlets to confirm if they are connected to our storm sewer system.
• Help with OVTA scores assessment. 
• Perform MS4 Confirmation Visual mapping.
• Preparing material/hand out – post card style to share with property owners (BMPs)
• Help preparing mailings (i inspection notifications)
• Help with researching property contacts (pre, or post inspection)
• Accompany PLDA Inspector on inspections of properties with limited, or restricted access (e.g., condos) for safety.
• Assist with PLDA inspections of large parcels.
• Help with Parcels maps, google maps, areal map research, pre inspection file prep.
• Follow up phone calls.
• Help with property registration notifications.
• Help with initial review of Registration forms.

Minimum Qualifications

Undergraduate Student Intern: Current enrollment in an accredited college or university in an undergraduate program. 
 
Graduate Student Intern: Completion of a bachelor’s degree and current enrollment in a master’s degree program from an accredited college or university. 
 
Experience: None. 
 
Licenses & Certificates: Possession of a valid driver's license authorizing the operation of a motor vehicle in the State of California is required for these internship positions.

Other Qualifications

The ideal candidate will possess the following competencies, as demonstrated in past and current employment history. Desirable competencies for this position include:
 
Job Expertise – Demonstrates knowledge of and experience with applicable professional/technical principles and practices, Citywide and departmental procedures/policies and federal and state rules and regulations. 
 
Teamwork & Interpersonal Skills – Develops effective relationships with co-workers and supervisors by helping others accomplish tasks and using collaboration and conflict resolution skills.
 
Computer Skills – Experienced with common business computer applications including but not limited to: Adobe Acrobat, MS Outlook, MS Word, MS PowerPoint, MS Access, MS SharePoint, and MS Excel. 
 
Communication Skills – Effectively conveys information and expresses thoughts and facts clearly, orally and in writing; demonstrates effective use of listening skills; displays openness to other people’s ideas and thoughts. 
 
Reliability – Completes quality work assignments in a timely and efficient manner; fulfills responsibilities and maintains confidentiality as appropriate.
 
Multi-Tasking – Can handle multiple projects and responsibilities simultaneously; has handled a wide variety of assignments in past and/or current position(s).

Customer Service – Demonstrates the ability to anticipate customers' needs and deliver services effectively and efficiently using professional demeanor.  

Problem Solving – Approaches a situation or problem by defining the problem or issue; determines the significance of problem; collects information; uses logic and intuition to arrive at decisions or solutions to problems that achieve the desired outcome.
 
Selection Process: 
The selection process will consist of an evaluation of the applicant's training and experience based on the application and responses to all the job specific questions. You must answer all questions to be considered or your application may be deemed incomplete and withheld from further consideration. Only those candidates whose backgrounds best match the position will be invited to proceed in the selection process. Additional phases of the selection process will consist of one or more interviews.
 
If you have questions about the duties of these positions, the selection or hiring processes, please contact Ernesto Zamaguey at Ernesto.Zamaguey@sanjoseca.gov.

Additional Information:

Employment Eligibility:  Federal law requires all employees to provide verification of their eligibility to work in this country. Please be informed that the City of San Jose will NOT sponsor, represent, or sign any documents related to visa applications/transfers for H1-B or any other type of visa which requires an employer application.  

Please note that applications are currently not accepted through CalOpps or any other third-party job board application system.

This recruitment may be used to fill multiple positions in this, or other divisions or departments. If you are interested in employment in this classification, you should apply to ensure you are considered for additional opportunities that may utilize the applicants from this recruitment.

Please allow adequate time to complete the application and submit before the deadline or the system may not save your application.  If your online application was successfully submitted, you will receive an automatic confirmation email to the email address you provided.  IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVE THE CONFIRMATION, please email CityCareers@sanjoseca.gov and we will research the status of your application.