Supply Chain Intern

SCOPE OF WORK: The Fall 2025 Supply Chain Interns will be assigned a service-learning project designed to make a meaningful, beneficial impact for IRC clients and staff AND to advance each intern's educational and professional development. Specific project assignments will be determined within the first few weeks of the internship, by mutual agreement of each intern and the responsible IRC staff person(s) to ensure alignment of goals is accepted by all parties. Our supply-chain and operations team is responsible for sourcing, receiving, managing, and distributing inventory (purchased AND donated) and for related activities such as quality control. Interns can expect to gain a broad understanding of many areas of supply chain planning, analysis, and management, with a project focus that requires deeper learning in one or more specific areas of this work.

Fall 2025 projects are likely to focus on the "upstream" aspects of our supply chain - those activities related to procuring and receiving materials that are intended to be brought into IRC inventory and/or shipped directly to clients. We work with a variety of suppliers, including VENDORS (who sell us goods and services) and DONORS (who give us goods and services at no financial cost); interns will need to think holistically about the entire network of suppliers to support the improvement of our overall sourcing strategy.

RESPONSIBILITIES: Interns are expected to be honest, respectful, and courteous in all interactions with IRC clients and staff. Cultural differences are to be honored. Sensitive data must be treated with care. Depending on the interests and abilities of each applicant, internship assignments are likely to require some combination of technical work (such as data analysis and manipulation, using MS Excel and other application) AND interpersonal work (such as interviewing stakeholders to identify system requirements and to foster cross-functional collaboration) AND physical, hands-on work (such as organizing inventory).

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Each intern will be provided with structured service-learning opportunities and guidance to advance knowledge of supply-chain and operations work in the humanitarian sector. At the heart of this internship will be hands-on experience, usually in close collaboration with IRC staff. Interns are encouraged to formulate individualized learning goals; the Supply Chain Coordinator will work with each intern to ensure that these individualized goals are appropriately considered when project work is assigned.