Role: SEO Internship
Location: Remote with opportunities for travel to conferences/events
Reports to: Marketing Advisor
Job Type: Unpaid Internship
Duration: 1 year
Hours: 2 hrs per day (Mon-Fri, between 6am and 4pm PDT)
Vacation days: interns are entitled to 4 weeks of vacation time (20 work days) per 1-year term
Contract Renewal: If onboarded for this internship position, there is possibility for contract renewal after the dates of the internship have ended
WHO WE ARE:
The Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization co-founded by Brazilian anthropologist Dr. Bia Labate and American psychologist Dr. Clancy Cavnar, based in Northern California and with strong ties to Brazil and Mexico. We promote reciprocity in the psychedelic community, and support the protection of sacred plants and cultural traditions. We advance psychedelic justice through curating critical conversations and uplifting the voices of women, queer people, Indigenous peoples, people of color, and the Global South in the field of psychedelic science.
POSITION OVERVIEW:
Chacruna Institute is seeking an SEO Intern to assist our digital marketing team in optimizing our online presence, improving search engine rankings, and driving traffic to our educational content, events, and resources. This role offers the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in SEO strategy, website optimization, and analytics in a dynamic nonprofit setting.
COMPETENCIES:
- Excitement for the mission, vision and values of the organization
- General understanding of the contemporary psychedelic landscape
- Proven experience in fostering and maintaining professional relationships with existing and prospective partners
- Relevant work experience is a plus
- Excellent organizational and self-management skills
- Strong and consistent communication skills
- Competency in Slack, Google Drive, Google Forms, Excel, YouTube etc.
- Positive attitude, attention to detail with good multitasking and organizational ability
- Ability to work both independently and collaboratively in a remote environment.
DUTIES:
- SEO Research & Strategy Support:
- Conduct keyword research to identify opportunities for improved ranking and content development.
- Analyze SEO performance of Chacruna’s website, including on-page and off-page factors.
- Assist in creating and executing strategies to improve organic search visibility for blog posts, courses, events, and other resources.
- On-Page Optimization:
- Help with the optimization of existing website content, including meta descriptions, headers, image alt tags, and internal linking.
- Review and suggest improvements for SEO-friendly copy across various sections of the site.
- Monitor site structure and navigation to enhance user experience and SEO performance.
- Content SEO Support:
- Collaborate with the content team to ensure that new content (e.g., chronicles, news, press releases, event pages) is optimized for search engines from the start.
- Identify content gaps and opportunities to create new, high-ranking pages.
- Assist with the development of SEO content briefs for chronicles and web pages.
- Technical SEO:
- Support the team in identifying and fixing technical SEO issues (e.g., site speed, crawl errors, mobile optimization).
- Help with the implementation of schema markup, canonical tags, and other technical SEO elements to improve website performance.
- Assist with periodic SEO audits to ensure that best practices are followed.
- Link-Building & Outreach:
- Assist in developing and executing link-building campaigns to increase domain authority.
- Help track backlinks and evaluate their impact on search rankings.
- Analytics & Reporting:
- Use tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console to track site performance, traffic, and keyword rankings.
- Assist in preparing monthly reports on SEO progress, including organic search traffic, ranking improvements, and conversion rates.
- Monitor competitors’ SEO strategies and provide insights for continuous improvement.
EDUCATION/YEARS EXPERIENCE
- Currently pursuing or recently completed a degree in Marketing, Communications, Data Analytics, or a related field.
- Familiarity with SEO tools such as Google Analytics, Google Search Console, SEMrush, or Moz.
- Understanding of basic SEO principles, including keyword research, on-page optimization, and technical SEO.
- Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret data and identify actionable insights.
- Excellent communication and writing skills.
- Self-motivated with the ability to work independently in a remote environment.
- Knowledge or interest in psychedelics, plant medicines, or social justice is a plus.
Expectations:
- Applicant must be currently enrolled in school or participate in a similar educational program.
- This internship is educational in nature and there is no guarantee or expectation that the internship will result in employment.
- The education received by the Intern from the internship is for the express benefit of the Intern.
- A certificate of completion will be awarded at the end given that all parameters are met.
Opportunities for professional and personal growth:
- Inspirational Talks from Psychedelic Experts – this is a program offered internally for the Chacruna staff which would be accessible to Chacruna interns
- One on one mentoring with a Chacruna board member or another expert in Chacruna’s network – this mentor would be someone whose work is relevant to the career path/goals of the intern and would provide guidance and advice for professional growth
- Hosting of a Chacruna Community Forum – this would be an opportunity for the intern to open and introduce forums, which would provide visibility and an opportunity for a speaking engagement which can be added to the intern’s CV
- Support curation and production processes of Chacruna’s annual conference
- Creation of a special newsletter\
TO APPLY:
Please send your Resume/CV and cover letter to positions@chacruna.net
We encourage BIPOC, LQBTQIA+, and folks of other minority communities to apply for our internship positions.
You can read testimonials from our previous interns here.