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City and County of San Francisco

San Francisco Public Utilities Commission Summer 2026 Student Design Trainee Pro

City and County of San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States, 94199

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San Francisco Public Utilities Commission Summer 2026 Student Design Trainee Program 4 days ago Be among the first 25 applicants

Company Description San Francisco Public Utilities Commission is seeking student interns interested in various engineering and architecture disciplines, to provide support to in‑house Engineering, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Project Management, Construction Management, and Land Surveying.

Application Opening: 12/12/2025

Application Filing Deadline: 01/15/2026

Hourly Rate: $36.65 to $41.24

Recruitment ID: TEX-5380-EXEMPT

Instructions to Apply

Complete the Student Design Trainee application and attach proof of college transcripts (official or unofficial) or college diploma with your online application.

Use the ‘upload resume’ feature at the top of the application page to pre‑fill your application. Please review the content as not all information may transfer properly. The ‘upload resume’ feature will also automatically attach your resume to the application.

Only individuals who submit a completed job application and attach their college transcripts or college diploma will be considered.

APPOINTMENT TYPE:

Temporary Exempt: This position is excluded by the Charter from the competitive Civil Service examination process and shall serve at the discretion of the Appointing Officer.

Who Are We? San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) headquartered in San Francisco, with 2,300 employees operating across eight counties serving more than 2.7 million customers in the San Francisco Bay Area – 24 hours per day, 365 days per year.

Our Mission:

To provide our customers with high quality, efficient, and reliable water, power, and wastewater services in a manner that values environmental and community interests and sustains the resources entrusted to our care.

Our Vision:

We are an innovative utility leader, recognized for excellent results in service, safety, stewardship, and inclusiveness.

Job Description College students in Associate, Undergraduate, and Graduate Degree Programs studying the following are encouraged to apply:

Architecture

Engineering (Civil, Electrical, Environmental, Mechanical)

Landscape Architecture

Planning

Computer Science/Information Services Program

Mathematics

Biology

Natural ResourcesElectronics

Interns will gain on‑job experience under the guidance of experienced professional engineers, architects, and surveyors while participating in various activities in the assigned discipline. The duration of this internship can be 3‑6 months, with an opportunity to extend based on exemplary performance and necessity.

Intern Positions Are Available In The Following Divisions And Sections Infrastructure Division The Infrastructure Division is responsible for overseeing the administration, planning, design, and construction of our water, wastewater, and power capital programs and projects, including the WSIP, SSIP, HCIP, and annual Water and Wastewater Renewal and Replacement Programs.

Engineering Management Bureau

Construction Management Bureau

Project Management Bureau

Project Controls

Environmental Management Group

San Francisco Water Division San Francisco Public Utilities Commission’s (SFPUC) SFWD is responsible for directing approximately 322 employees in the operation and maintenance of the water distribution system within the City and County of San Francisco. These activities include, but are not limited to: operating and maintaining 28 pump stations, 11 reservoirs, 13 storage tanks, 19 regulators as well as other ancillary appurtenances and equipment; installing, repairing and maintaining over one thousand miles of water distribution mains including service connections and meters; four water systems comprised of the Potable, Emergency Fire Water System (EFWS), Recycled and Groundwater; engineering and designing new main and feeder extensions; managing over 1,000 acres of city owned property and rights‑of‑ways; and responding to all two‑alarm or greater fires to assist the Fire Department in maintaining adequate water volume and consistent pressure while fighting fires.

Wastewater Enterprise SFPUC consists of three enterprises – Water, Power, and Wastewater. Wastewater Enterprise operates and maintains San Francisco's combined sewer system to protect public health and the environment. These services extend across eight urban watersheds, more than 1,000 miles of pipe, and 24 miles of transport and storage facilities. WWE operates three all-weather wastewater treatment plants, one wet‑weather facility, 32 pump stations, eight transport/storage facilities, and 34 combined sewer discharge structures to treat an estimated 34.6 billion gallons of wastewater in a typical year. We have opportunities in the following Wastewater divisions:

Wastewater Enterprise Engineering

Wastewater Enterprise Regulatory Compliance Division

Wastewater Enterprise Collection System Division (CSD)

Wastewater Enterprise Urban Watershed Planning Division (UWPD)

Wastewater Enterprise Capital Planning

Natural Resources and Lands Management Division (NRLM) NRLM is responsible for the management of over 61,000 acres of local watershed lands and 150‑miles of rights‑of‑way and for the environmental regulatory compliance of operations and maintenance activities across the entire Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System in seven California counties. In addition, NRLM monitors San Francisco’s shoreline and coastal environments to ensure that effluents from the SFPUC’s wastewater systems meet state and federal standards and do not impact the environment or public health. NRLM Division projects involve managing, protecting, restoring, and monitoring ecological resources, protecting and monitoring cultural resources, implementing environmental compliance and educating the public about the drinking water system and the natural resources that support it. Shoreline and coastal marine projects include participating in the collection and preparation of marine samples, introduction to the practice of benthic invertebrate taxonomy, as well as aquatic bioassay (whole effluent toxicity testing), and shoreline monitoring. All of these projects may involve remote field work, field sampling, laboratory work, data management, and/or office work. Selected candidates will work with SFPUC staff on drinking water system, watershed, and/or shoreline projects in various locations such as San Francisco, Millbrae, Sunol and/or Moccasin, CA.

Power Enterprise Distribution Engineering Under general supervision, the Student Design Trainee I under the Distribution Engineering group of the SFPUC Power Enterprise mainly works on DAS and streetlight projects. The Student Design Trainee I will assist in the preparation of electrical engineering designs and plans by use of AutoCAD, Agi32, and SKM. This position will also help DE’s utility specialist administer the DAS program, and coordinate pole use applications. Finally, this position will be called upon to perform sites visits when needed. The essential functions of the Student Design Trainee I may vary depending on assignments.

Power Enterprise Asset Management Under general supervision, the Student Design Trainee I under the Asset Management Group of the SFPUC Power Enterprise mainly assists in the management of as built documents for streetlighting and electrical distribution systems. The essential functions of the Student Design Trainee I may vary depending on assignments. Position will initially be tasked to receive as built documents and file them within the Asset Management database; input of using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and AutoCAD. Assist Asset Management staff with 311 ticket requests and USAN 811 ticket processing. Monitors and responds to department email inquiries for DPW Coordinate app system to address Notice of Intent (NOI) requests. Conduct routine field visits related to street lighting and electrical distribution plan, layouts and details.

Projected Interview Schedule

Invitations to interview will be sent tentatively mid‑March 2026.

Interviews will be conducted tentatively on April 8, 2026.

Selected candidates will be notified on the same day as the interview.

Hiring Managers may also schedule interviews at a later date.

Qualifications

At the time of filing, the applicant must be in an accredited Engineering, Architecture, Planning, Computer Science/Information Services, Mathematics, Biology, Natural Resources, or Electronics program.

Students must be returning to their undergraduate program or entering/continuing a graduate program in Fall 2026, or if graduated, can begin within 6 months after graduation.

No previous internship or work experience required for the 5380 class.

Undergraduate candidates for 5381 class must have at least one internship summer. Graduate candidates no prior experience required.

Undergraduate candidates for 5382 class must have at least two summer internships. Graduate candidates must have at least one summer internship.

Applicants must meet the minimum qualification requirement by the final filing date unless otherwise noted.

Verification of Education Applicants are required to submit verification of qualifying education at time of application submission. Education verification information on verifying foreign education credits or degree equivalency, can be found at How to Verify Education Requirements | Department of Human Resources (sfdhr.org).

Additional Information Regarding Employment with the City and County of San Francisco

Information about the Same Day Hiring Job Fair

Information About The Hiring Process

Conviction History

Employee Benefits Overview

Equal Employment Opportunity

Disaster Service Worker

ADA Accommodation

Veterans Preference

Right to Work

Copies of Application Documents

Diversity Statement

How To Apply Applications for City and County of San Francisco jobs are only accepted through an online process. Visit https://careers.smartrecruiters.com/CityAndCountyOfSanFrancisco1/ and begin the application process.

Select the “Apply Now” button and follow instructions on the screen.

Applicants may be contacted by email about this recruitment and, therefore, it is their responsibility to ensure that their registered email address is accurate and updated. Also, applicants must ensure that email from CCSF is not blocked on their computer by a spam filter. To prevent blocking, applicants should set up their email to accept CCSF mail from the following addresses (@sfgov.org, @sfdpw.org, @sfport.com, @flysfo.com, @sfwater.org, @sfdph.org, @asianart.org, @sfmta.com, @sfpl.org, @dcyf.org, @first5sf.org, @famsf.org, @ccsf.edu, @smartalerts.info, and @smartrecruiters.com).

Applicants will receive a confirmation email from notification@smartrecruiters.com that their online application has been received in response to every announcement for which they file. Applicants should retain this confirmation email for their records. Failure to receive this email means that the online application was not submitted or received.

The City and County of San Francisco encourages women, minorities and persons with disabilities to apply. Applicants will be considered regardless of their sex, race, age, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, HIV/AIDS status, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, military and veteran status, or any protected category under the law.

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