Sustainability Data Intern

Commons is an award-winning app that helps people make sustainable spending choices. With the app, consumers discover climate-friendly brands and earn rewards on eligible purchases. Commons is backed by Sequoia Capital, Jay-Z, and the founders of Headspace, Fitbit, and Nest, and has been selected as a TIME100 Most Influential Company of the Year, Apple App of the Day, and a Fortune Impact 20 company.

Level: Graduate

Contract Duration: Open to full-time interns (40 hours/week), part-time interns (15-20 hours/week), or a mixture of both depending on availability; ideally starting with 2-month commitment with possibility of extending

Start Date: ASAP

Project Overview

Commons helps consumers discover and purchase from sustainable companies. The foundation of this is a proprietary rubric and methodology to evaluate publicly available sustainability data.

The intern will work collaboratively with Commons’ Carbon team and CEO. They will be responsible for interpreting and evaluating sustainability information for brands across several product categories, including clothing, shoes, bedding, cleaning products, and personal care products. The intern will be trained on how to input their findings into a pre-defined format.

Key Responsibilities

• Data Evaluation: Use the provided rubric and tools to assess the sustainability practices of brands, focusing on key metrics such as circularity, greenhouse gas emissions, energy use, and supply chain labor practices.

• Avoiding Greenwashing: Critically analyze brand claims for potential greenwashing, ensuring rigorous, objective evaluations.

• Data Entry: Input all collected and evaluated data into the provided format with high attention to detail.

• Quality Assurance: Review other team members’ outputs for accuracy and consistency.

• Collaboration: Work closely with the Commons team to clarify expectations, ask questions, and provide updates on progress.

• Iteration: Identify and share areas for improvement in the rating process.

Qualifications

• [Required] Educational or professional background in corporate sustainability, environmental management, or a related field.

• [Required] Familiarity with key sustainability concepts, including circularity, greenhouse gas emissions measurement and management, energy use, and ethical supply chain labor.

• [Required] Strong attention to detail and ability to work independently.

• [Desired] Experience in collecting and interpreting publicly available data, such as sustainability reports and third-party certifications.

• [Desired] Experience with identifying and evaluating greenwashing tactics in corporate communications.

Activities & Deliverables

• Participation in team meetings 1-2 times per week.

• Weekly updates on evaluation progress.

• Completed evaluations for the assigned list of brands, following the provided rubric and inputting into the formatted system.

Think you might have what it takes, but not sure you meet every requirement? Research shows that women and marginalized folks tend to only apply when they check every box. If you're passionate about what we're building, please apply. You might be just who we’re looking for.