Product Operations and Support Strategy Internship - Fall 2026

OVERVIEW

A thriving, mission-driven multimedia organization, NPR produces award-winning news, information, and music programming in partnership with hundreds of independent public radio stations across the nation. The NPR audience values information, creativity, curiosity, and social responsibility – and our employees do too. We are innovators and leaders in diverse fields, from journalism and digital media to IT and development. Every day, our employees and member stations touch the lives of millions worldwide. 

Across our organization, we’re building a workplace where collaboration is essential, diverse voices are heard, and inclusion is the key to our success. We are committed to doing the right thing in our journalism and in every role at NPR. This means that integrity, adherence to our ethical standards, and compliance with legal obligations are fundamental responsibilities for every employee at NPR.

Internship Program Duration: October 5th, 2026 - April 16th, 2027

Application Instructions: Applications close on Sunday, June 14th at 11:59 pm ET.

Intro to Position

Are you a future product leader who loves solving puzzles and hates clunky user experiences? We’re looking for a curious, data-loving intern to help us dig into why user issues happen—and then figure out how to design them away! In this role, you’ll dive into our support ecosystem, turn raw customer feedback into gold, and help us transition from "fixing problems" to "preventing them entirely." You'll engage with teams across the organization  and learn how to pitch real product features and automated solutions.  If you're ready to build a serious Product Management toolkit while making our product cooler and easier to use, let’s talk!

Responsibilities

• Learn Operational Tools & Understand User Workflows: Gain proficiency in core customer support platforms and shadow front-line teams to understand user issues and business processes.
• Study End-to-End User Journeys: Learn how to document the complete lifecycle of a user issue from submission to resolution to identify systemic gaps and key internal touchpoints.
• Learn to Drive Cross-Functional Alignment: Practice conducting informational interviews and building relationships with Engineering, UX, and Content teams to gather diverse technical and design insights.
• Develop Skills in Data-Driven Problem Identification: Learn how to analyze customer support datasets and implement tracking strategies to isolate high-friction product vulnerabilities and recurring user pain points.
• Learn Data-Driven Prioritization: Understand how to rank identified issues based on severity, frequency, and business impact to determine which problems require immediate product or engineering intervention.
• Learn to Build Scalable Self-Service Solutions: Practice drafting and publishing accessible help documentation and troubleshooting guides to optimize the self-service user experience.
• Learn to Design Product Improvement Proposals: Gain experience creating comprehensive feature or automation proposals—such as optimized workflows, form redesigns, or UI enhancements—to systematically eliminate user friction.

The above duties and responsibilities are not an exhaustive list of required responsibilities, duties and skills. Other duties may be assigned, and this job description can be modified at any time.

Qualifications 

• Customer Service Experience: Previous retail or food service jobs are actually very relevant. It proves you can handle "de-escalation" and high-pressure environments.
• Basic Troubleshooting: Knowledge of how to use browser developer tools (Inspect Element), clear caches, or identify console errors.
• Analytical Mindset: You possess a natural curiosity and genuinely enjoy digging into 'messy', unstructured data sets to discover meaningful patterns, root causes, and operational trends.
• Clear & Empathetic Communicator: You have an excellent ability to translate complex, highly technical software bugs or workflows into simple, intuitive, and human-friendly step-by-step instructions.
• Aspiring Product Leader: You aren't just looking to process support queues or clear backlogs—you want to understand the foundational root causes behind why issues happen and design permanent product solutions.
• Ticketing Systems: exposure to tools like Zendesk, Jira, or Salesforce

Application Requirements

• Resume 
• Cover Letter

Education Requirements

• Must be a current student in an accredited degree program or a recent graduate of no more than 12 months from the month of the start of the internship.

Work Location & Requirements

NPR Remote-Permitted: This is a remote-permitted role. This role is based out of our Washington, D.C. office, but the employee may choose to work on a remote basis from a location that NPR approves. You will have the option of working (a) remotely from a location of your choosing within the United States that is supported by NPR; (b) on-site at an NPR facility, based on the availability of desks and approval from NPR; or (c) a combination of both. Regardless of where you choose to work from, you may be expected to travel to other locations from time to time to perform the duties of your position.

Job Type

• This is a full-time, non-exempt internship.

Schedule 

• This is a full-time internship with a standard schedule of Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM EST. However, we are a distributed team and happy to offer flexibility to accommodate different time zones.

Compensation

Hourly Rate The U.S.-based anticipated hourly rate for this opportunity is $20.00 per hour. The range displayed reflects the minimum and maximum hourly rate NPR expects to provide for new hires for the position across all US locations.

NPR Benefits: NPR offers interns a robust package of benefits and resources designed to foster their professional development and support their overall well-being. Interns are eligible to make elective contributions to the NPR 403(b) retirement plan. As an intern, you have access to Transit Commuter benefits through HealthEquity, which allow you to set aside pre tax funds for eligible commuting expenses.  You are also eligible for membership with the Signal Financial Federal Credit Union, giving you access to a range of financial services and resources. At our DC Headquarters, interns enjoy free access to on-site Wellness Center, free fitness center membership, secure bike facilities, garage parking, and onsite cafeteria. Other benefits include the Employee Assistance Program with up to six face-to-face counseling sessions per issue, Global Guardian worldwide assistance, and Business Travel Accident coverage. Additionally, interns working 30 or more hours per week receive holiday pay for 10 observed holidays plus one floating holiday per year and accrue 3.08 hours of sick leave each pay period with no waiting period.  NPR also supports career growth and work-life balance through professional development opportunities, flexible work hours, and telecommuting options.

Does this sound like you? If so, we want to hear from you.