2027 MBA Strategy Internship
Eligibility: Current first-year MBA students graduating in 2028
Location: Coraopolis, PA (Greater Pittsburgh Area)
OVERVIEW
Do you want a career with a forward-thinking Fortune 300 company that is focused on the future of Sport? A company committed to giving back to and increasing access in underserved communities? An organization willing to take calculated risks and explore new ventures to become the Best Sports Company in the World? If so, the MBA Strategy Internship at DICK’S Sporting Goods might be for you.
The MBA Strategy Internship is a 10-week summer experience for MBA students interested in strategy, retail, sports, innovation, and leadership development. Interns join a cohort of MBA students from top business schools in the country and take ownership of high-impact, cross-functional work tied to a key business priority.
Each intern is assigned a strategic project hand selected by DSG’s Executive Leaders. Throughout the summer, you will analyze complex business challenges, collaborate with leaders and teammates across the organization, and develop actionable recommendations. At the conclusion of the internship, you will present your work to our Enterprise Strategy & Transformation leadership and members of the Executive Leadership team.
The internship also serves as a primary talent pipeline for DSG’s Executive Development Program (EDP), our full-time rotational leadership development program for post-MBA talent. Top-performing interns may be considered for full-time EDP opportunities upon successful completion of the internship.
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
MBA Strategy Interns sit within our Enterprise Strategy and Transformation department and work alongside leaders who help shape our mission, vision, and values.
Beyond project work, interns gain meaningful exposure to DSG through Q&A sessions with senior leaders, curated learning experiences, networking opportunities, and interactions with some of the top brands in sports. Interns also participate in training sessions designed to strengthen strategic thinking and build a deeper understanding of the retail and e-commerce landscape.
Throughout the summer, interns have a strong support system of managers, mentors, and former MBA hires who are invested in their development and success.
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Program Manager: Provides ongoing support, guidance, and coordination throughout the internship experience.
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Project Sponsor: A senior leader who provides strategic guidance and feedback throughout your project.
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Day-to-Day Manager: A former MBA hire who serves as your primary manager and coach during the internship.
Additionally, you will have regular check-ins and coaching from leaders within our Enterprise Strategy and Transformation department and the Executive Development Program (EDP).
This support network is designed to help interns transition to the DSG team, navigate their experience, explore career goals, build meaningful relationships in the company and retail industry, and maximize their impact throughout the summer.
During this program, DICK’S will provide you with the following:
- Ownership + Delivery of Projects: You will own a high-visibility project, focused on a key business initiative. Projects are approved by our President and CEO, Lauren Hobart and other executive leaders.
- Leadership Development: We will help prepare you to lead, through experiences both curated and organic.
- Career Exploration: You will work with and network across various functions including strategy, eComm, operations, technology, and merchandising.
- Coaching and Support: You will regularly meet with our team of coaches and mentors to make sure you are learning as much as possible.
Examples of Intern Projects:
Due to the dynamic nature of our business and because projects are selected based on current business priorities, specific assignments will vary from year to year. Examples of past projects completed by MBA hires include the following (titles have been anonymized):
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Accelerating growth in new priority business category: It is critical to stay ahead of trends and maximize growth in new categories as they emerge. This project focused on identifying and prioritizing recommendations across product assortment, service offerings, etc. to ensure the business could thrive in a new high growth category. This project provided exposure to multiple functions including merchandising, store operations, strategy, and marketing. The recommendations from the work directly informed priority initiatives that different functional teams needed to pursue to take advantage of the new business growth.
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Injecting organic and inorganic growth into existing core business category: DICK’S has many established business categories that require continuous review and innovation to ensure they stay relevant as consumer interests and expectations shift. This project focused on identifying opportunities to grow a key long-standing category. Once opportunity areas were identified (e.g., product assortment, services, athlete experience, M&A), the project then focused on defining specific actions that could be pursued to address the opportunity areas. To support the recommended actions, the EDP also had to complete quantitative analysis to rationalize investments vs. benefits (i.e., expected DSG sales and market share growth vs. total market growth). Finally, the recommendations had to be socialized and aligned on with merchandising, marketing, strategy, technology, and store operations leadership to inform strategic planning.
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Benchmarking best practices and identifying improvement opportunities for a key strategic competency: An EDP was engaged to benchmark best practices for a key strategic competency that is critical to run a retail business. This included completing external expert research and interviewing internal experts on the topic. Once a clearer understanding of current performance and leading practices were identified, the EDP engaged senior leadership across functions to align on the most critical sub-competency gaps to address and the recommended actions to do so. This culminated in the definition of a strategic roadmap to guide investments and development efforts for the function that owned the competency.
What we are looking for:
- Strong record of academic achievement
- Minimum 3–5 years of experience in a dynamic environment (consulting, strategy, finance, brand management, or retail preferred)
- Executive presence and ability to collaborate with, influence, and present to leaders at all levels
- Ability to analyze data, synthesize insights, and deliver actionable recommendations to leadership
- Ability to align stakeholder perspectives and navigate ambiguity
- Interest in strategy, retail, sports and/or innovation preferred
- Comfort working in a fast-paced, evolving environment
- US work authorization required
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Program Dates: June 3, 2027 – August 12, 2027
Interview Timeline:
- November-December 2026: Initial screens with the MBA Recruiting Team. Selected candidates will advance to the interview process.
- January-February 2027: Interviews will be conducted virtually.
- Round 1: Early to mid-January
- Assessment: Mid-January
- Round 2: Mid-to-late January to early February
- February 2027: Candidates receiving offers will be invited to visit Pittsburgh and DSG’s corporate office/campus
Timeline is subject to change.
Location: Coraopolis, PA (just outside of Pittsburgh) at DSG’s Corporate Office. Currently, employees are working a hybrid model, with required in-office work Tuesday through Thursday and remote work on Monday and Friday. Interns will follow this same model, though some exceptions may apply given the short-term nature of the internship.
Housing: Fully furnished housing is provided for interns who reside outside of the Pittsburgh-Metro area. We take care of all housing arrangements, financially and logistically.
Full-time Opportunities in 2028: Interns will be considered for full-time positions in our rotational leadership development program—the MBA Executive Development Program (EDP)—beginning in September 2028.
Questions? Contact Francesca.Dascenzo@dcsg.com (MBA Recruiter)
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