Animation Design Internship Jobs in Chicago, IL (NOW HIRING)

About Sweatpals

Sweatpals is the community-first fitness platform turning workouts into social experiences. Backed by a16z speedrun, Patron, Kevin Hart, Pear VC, and founders of Instacart and Dreamworks Animations, we connect hundreds of thousands of "pals," hosts, and gyms through events, memberships, and social features. We're still scrappy at heart, but scaling fast.

We believe working out should be joyful, social, and inclusive, not just a solo grind. From run clubs and beach pilates to pickleball leagues and cold plunge socials, Sweatpals turns everyday workouts into meaningful social experiences.

Sweatpals also gives local leaders the tools to grow their fitness communities from side hustles to full-time, even million-dollar businesses. Hosts use our platform to run their business, from ticketing and memberships to marketing tools.

We're an AI-forward company. If you're excited about building real products for real communities at the intersection of technology and human connection, you'll fit right in.

The Role

We're bringing on a PM intern to support the Host Squad product team during a high-velocity summer. The Host Squad owns the core product experience for fitness and wellness professionals - the community hosts, gym and studio owners, and instructors and who run their business on Sweatpals. Think ticketing, memberships, scheduling, co-hosting, campaigns, and the analytics that help hosts grow.

This is a hands-on PM role - not a research or ops role. You'll work directly with a Senior Product Manager and own specific deliverables end-to-end, collaborating daily with Engineering, Design, and QA across areas like core flow quality, backlog prioritization, and product strategy.

Responsibilities

1. Core Product Ownership

Get deep into the most critical parts of our host product - the flows and features that drive revenue, retention, and day-to-day operations for fitness professionals. You'll identify what could be better, what's broken, then own driving improvements from idea to shipped.

• Dig into high-impact areas including experience/appointment creation, ticket transfers, co-hosting, and beyond
• Identify gaps, edge cases, and failure states with a structured, user-centered lens
• Propose and prioritize improvements, then partner with engineering and design to execute them
• Where scope allows, own new feature work end-to-end - from problem definition and spec to launch

2. Product Strategy & Analytics Projects

Take ownership of discrete research and strategy work streams:

• Define and drive analytics for recently launched features - identify what to measure, work with engineering to ensure tracking is in place, and synthesize early signal into actionable takeaways
• Own a competitive analysis workstream for growth-adjacent features (referrals, PLG, network effects) and synthesize findings into clear product recommendations
• Data analysis and synthesis to support roadmap decisions
• Where relevant, contribute to 0-to-1 discovery work for upcoming features - user research synthesis, problem framing, or lightweight spec writing

3. Backlog Triage & Prioritization Support

Help bring order to a complex backlog:

• Develop and apply a bug priority rubric for revenue-generating and operations-critical workflows
• Maintain backlog health: consolidate duplicates, triage stale items, and ensure active issues have the right context, owners, and priorities
• Support roadmap sequencing discussions by helping surface tradeoffs, dependencies, and effort/impact signals

What We're Looking For

• Currently enrolled in an MBA, master's, or other graduate program - or a strong undergraduate candidate with relevant experience
• Prior experience in product management, engineering, or a fast-moving startup role is highly preferred
• Strong product instincts: you think about users, flows, and edge cases naturally
• Data fluency - comfortable reading analytics dashboards, writing basic SQL, or at minimum knowing the right questions to ask and how to get answers
• Exceptional written communication: your specs, tickets, and async updates are clear and concise without over-explaining
• Comfort operating with ambiguity - we'll give you context and direction, but you'll need to drive your workstreams independently
• High ownership mindset: you follow through, flag blockers early, and treat your deliverables as if they ship to production
• Bonus: experience with B2B SaaS, marketplace, or fitness/wellness verticals
• Bonus: familiarity with Linear, Notion, Amplitude, or similar product tooling

Why Join

• Real ownership : You'll own workstreams end-to-end and see your output directly shape what the team ships - not get handed busy work
• Proximity to the product : You'll work directly with a Senior PM, embed with the engineering and design team, and be in the room (or Slack thread) where product decisions get made
• AI-native environment : AI isn't a side project here - it's core to how we build. You'll use AI tools daily to move faster, and you'll have a front-row seat (and a voice) in how AI features get conceived and prioritized on a live marketplace
• Path to full-time : Strong performers are considered for full-time roles at the end of the summer
• Fast-moving and high-signal : Short feedback loops, real stakes, and a team that values your perspective. The pace is real but so is the growth

Our Values

• Celebrate Diversity of Thought: We embrace different backgrounds, opinions, and ways of thinking. We don't just welcome disagreement, we believe it makes the product better.
• Be a Leader: We take initiative, speak up, and drive things forward, no matter your title. Leadership is a mindset, not a level.
• Roll Up Our Sleeves: We do what it takes. No job is too small when we're building something big.
• Embrace Adventure: We stay curious, push boundaries, and see challenges as opportunities. Startups are a rollercoaster and we're here for the ride.
• Make Excellence the Baseline: We hold a high bar for quality and follow through. Doing great work is the starting point, not the finish line.

We're still early, which means your work will shape our path and our impact on communities and businesses everywhere. If you're excited by challenge, autonomy, and building something that matters, you'll feel at home here.