Individual Placement - Evaluation and Data Visualization Participant at Student Conservation Association, Inc

Position Summary

This is a paid six-month program specifically designed for individuals who are either early in their careers or graduating college. The position provides an immersive work-based learning experience and professional development opportunities in the park. A high school degree or equivalent is required and the minimum age qualification for this position is 18 years.

Organization Description: Since 1981, the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy (Parks Conservancy) has served as the nonprofit partner of the National Park Service, collaborating with the Presidio Trust, partners, donors, and the community to support the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA). The GGNRA stretches across three Bay Area counties north and south of the Golden Gate Bridge and includes iconic places such as Muir Woods National Monument, Fort Point National Historic Site, Alcatraz Island, Crissy Field, Mori Point, Lands End, and the Presidio of San Francisco. The Parks Conservancy engages at the intersection of national park sites, local communities, social justice, and climate resilience. Collaborating with partners, our staff are dedicated to enhancing public awareness and providing volunteer and educational opportunities in the parks. We are park builders, caretakers, ambassadors and educators, all working to connect people to parks in support of our vision Parks for All Forever. Join us.

The Parks Conservancy’s Innovation and Impact Hub is nested in the Executive Branch and is a department within our organization dedicated to driving informed decision-making, fostering a culture of evaluation, and measuring our impact. The Innovation and Impact Hub establishes organizational processes, systems, and tools to support this collaborative work across the Conservancy and park partners. The team manages data tools to capture key insights on visitors, programs, and organizational metrics, and analyzes park-wide data to generate impact reports.

This is a non-exempt, six-month position of 32 hours /week. The Evaluation & Data Visualization Placement will support evaluation, survey design, data analysis, and reporting projects that help the Parks Conservancy understand program outcomes, participant experiences, alumni engagement, and organizational impact. This role will help standardize and compile program-participant survey data, contribute to cross-departmental impact reporting, and develop clear visualizations and dashboards that support storytelling and leadership decision-making.

This position will work closely with the Impact & Evaluation team and collaborate with staff across branches, departments, working groups, and data-system partners to gather, clean, synthesize, and visualize data from multiple organizational sources. This is an excellent opportunity for a student or early-career professional interested in evaluation, applied research, data visualization, survey methods, impact reporting, and data storytelling in a mission-driven nonprofit/park partnership setting.

There are also required professional development activities throughout the parks and will have the opportunity to join networking events with fellow members.

Hosting Organization

Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy

Location

San Francisco, CA

• This position is primarily in an urban setting where emergency services, public transportation, and cell phone reception are available within 30 minutes. Interactions with members of the public are regular and frequent.
• This position may conduct work in an urban setting where emergency services, public transportation, and cell phone reception are readily accessible. Interactions with members of the public are regular and frequent.
• This position may conduct work in a front country setting where emergency services are accessible, but may be delayed by 1-2 hours. Access to public transportation at work site is limited or not possible. Cell phone reception is limited, spotty, or not available.
• Primary in-person worksite will be Fort Mason in San Francisco. In-person meetings, trainings, and other opportunities may take place at any of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area park sites in San Francisco, Marin, and San Mateo Counties. Transportation will be made available from Fort Mason to other park sites.

Schedule

November 3, 2026 - April 17, 2027

Primarily Monday-Friday, with the occasional Saturday (approximately 4-5) to gather participant surveys during Community, Youth, or Volunteer programs.

This position will be hybrid (in-person & remote). We expect 2-3 days of remote work and 2-3 days in person each week, with some variation due to scheduling needs.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

Evaluation & Survey Support

• Help create a short park staff and alumni survey to better understand how many current park staff participated in youth or intern programming, what roles they now hold, and how alumni continue to connect with the parks.
• Work with program staff to finalize surveys, ensure standardized questions are included and updated, and support distribution and collection through SurveyMonkey or other approved tools.
• Compile, consolidate, and summarize survey results into branch- and organization-level metrics, including measures related to welcoming and belonging, demographics, and program experience.

Data Visualization & Dashboard Development

• Participate in the Impact Reporting Workgroup, a cross-departmental and cross-functional organizational workgroup focused on impact reporting and decision-making.
• Pull and organize datasets from multiple programs and departments, including Excel files and other approved sources, to support Power BI dashboards, graphs, and reporting visuals.
• Create clear, accessible, and visually compelling charts, tables, dashboards, and summaries for internal reporting, leadership discussions, and broader impact storytelling.
• Support standardization of data visualizations, reporting formats, and metric definitions across programs and departments.

Organizational Metrics & Strategic Plan Reporting

• Support organizational reporting by extracting and synthesizing data from existing datasets, creating dashboards and data visualizations, and developing charts that communicate key organizational health metrics and strategic plan outcomes. Prepare visual content for quarterly and year-end reports, presentations, and communications used by leadership, development, communications, and other teams.
• Help identify useful patterns and reporting approaches that show how people engage with the parks through programs, membership, donations, communications, events, and other touchpoints.

Youth & Intern Alumni Study Analysis

• Support deeper analysis and data visualization of the Youth & Intern Alumni Study dataset of ~2000 alumni after the current study concludes October 2026.
• Develop program-specific analyses and visualizations for youth and internship programs (Urban Trailblazers, Inspiring Young Emerging Leaders, Linking Individuals to their Natural Communities, and Academic Internship Program) to help understand outcomes, engagement patterns, and which strategies may be most effective for each program.
• Cross-reference alumni engagement data across available systems to help understand whether alumni are currently volunteers, donors, members, newsletter subscribers, event participants, or otherwise engaged with the Parks Conservancy and park programs. Share insights with staff planning and organizing alumni engagement activities.
• Support year-end reporting and storytelling that communicates a fuller picture of alumni experience and current engagement.

Documentation & Process Improvement

• Help document data workflows, survey processes, dashboard logic, metric definitions, data sources, and reporting methodologies.
• Contribute ideas for improving survey quality, data consistency, reporting efficiency, accessibility, and visualization practices.

Marginal Duties

• Support program participant surveys for Volunteer, Community Science & Education, Youth, and other programs as needed.
• Assist with ad hoc evaluation and data requests from internal stakeholders with guidance and supervision.

Required Qualifications

Education and/or Experience

• Minimum 18+ years old; must have a high school diploma or equivalent experience.
• Enrolled in or recently graduated from an educational program, or has comparable hands-on experience, with interest in evaluation, data visualization, data analytics, statistics, social sciences, public administration, nonprofit management, business intelligence, information systems, or a related field.
• Experience with data visualization, data analysis, evaluation, survey design, or descriptive statistics or willingness to build skills through hands-on work.
• Strong attention to detail and comfort working with spreadsheets, survey responses, and qualitative or quantitative information.
• Experience working in a team environment and independently.

Core Skills:

• Analytical thinking and curiosity, with the ability to communicate insights clearly in writing, visuals, and conversation.
• Basic skills with Microsoft Office suite of tools, including Outlook, Teams, Word, and Excel.
• Respect for confidentiality of data and personal information.
• Demonstrated effectiveness working on diverse teams and commitment to inclusive practices.
• Good communication skills and respect for others. Responds to texts and emails in a professional and timely manner.
• Self-motivated; able to work independently once provided direction, proactive approach to problem-solving, learning new tools, and asking thoughtful questions and willingness to ask for support as needed.
• Collaborative mindset and ability to work with staff across departments and program areas.
• Interest in parks, community engagement, evaluation, impact measurement, and mission-driven work.

Participants must possess a high school diploma or its equivalent or agree to obtain one or be enrolled in an institution of higher education.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with at least one data tool such as Excel / Google Sheets, Power BI, Tableau, Looker, SQL, Python, R, SurveyMonkey, or similar platforms is helpful.

General Physical Requirements

• Able to understand, adhere to, and communicate with others regarding hazards, procedures, and safety policies.
• Able to independently manage known medical conditions with the resources available throughout the position or program.
• Able to wear all required personal protective equipment, including safety glasses, hard hats, gloves, N95 or other approved face mask or shield, and appropriate footwear.Able to refrain from behaviors and actions that disrupt the work and safety of others.
• Able to cooperate with others to complete daily group tasks, responsibilities, and project work under potentially difficult conditions, variable daily routines, and with limited personal time.
• Able to self-regulate or co-regulate emotions and actions when distressed or uncomfortable, with or without the support of others.
• Able to self-manage outdoor and environmental exposure (e.g., temperature, wind, sun, etc.) in a variety of weather conditions.
• Able to maintain adequate nutrition and hydration throughout program time.
• If using prescription medications, able to self-administer medications by following the prescribed dosage, usage, and timing without supervisor assistance. If prescription medication is administered via injection, able to self-administer the injection.

Working Conditions

• Work schedules and projects may change on short notice or be ambiguous.; Work settings require the ability to positively interact with people of varying perspectives.; Work settings may be located in natural environments and regionally significant locations that require respect for the land and local peoples.

Hours

32 per week

Living Accommodations

Commuting

Compensation

Living allowance - $640/week, paid biweekly

$50 reimbursed for duty and travel related expense with supervisor approval

All allowances are subject to applicable federal, state, and local taxes.

Personal Vehicle Information

Not needed

Driving

Driving is not required

Additional Benefits

• Access to the Conservancy's Employee Assistance Program and Employee discounts.
• Uniform with the Parks Conservancy &NPS logos will be provided.
• Networking with fellow members and park staff.

Professional Development Opportunities

• • Salesforce platform and database administration
  • Data analysis and working with data sets
  • Opportunity to attend workshops of a variety of topics including resume building and interview skills, park history, flora & fauna, conservation and climate change, social & environmental justice, and much more.

AmeriCorps: Not Eligible

To Apply

Submit a thoughtful cover letter and resume including personal and professional experience that is relevant to the position. In your cover letter, please indicate why you are interested in this position. Please include names & contact information for 3 references.

Equal Opportunity Statement

The Student Conservation Association, Inc., is an Equal Opportunity Employer. The SCA strives to cultivate a work environment that encourages fairness, teamwork, and respect among all staff members and is committed to maintaining a work atmosphere where lifestyles may grow personally and professionally.