DFA Rotational Program - Operations, Engineering, Quality

About the Role

This position is part of the Experience program, a rotational program for graduates aspiring to a career in manufacturing. The Rotational Operations Analyst will rotate through various functions such as manufacturing, engineering, quality, and process technology over approximately a two-year timeframe. The program is designed to offer experience, education, and exposure to prepare an individual for a future role in manufacturing. Rotations may be available at cheese, taste & flavor, and dairy powders locations around the country.

Location: Rotations will occur in various manufacturing plant locations. Specific locations will be discussed throughout the interview process.

Responsibilities

• Visit a DFA farm to gain basic dairy farming knowledge and experience.
• Meet with cross-functional experts to further understand the business and the Cooperative.
• Work on various plant shifts to gain insight into the manufacturing process, opportunities, and challenges.
• Complete a manufacturing project using educational experience.
• Participate in review of production costs, rework meetings, and/or analytics.
• Engage in ideation, package design, problem-solving, and related meetings.
• Utilize systems throughout rotation, including Power BI, Salesforce, PCM, Genesis, Trace Gains, and SharePoint, to analyze data and produce metrics.
• Produce reports, provide analytics, and build capability around data analysis and critical thinking.
• Participate in a customer audit in plant (understanding of quality, regulatory, etc.).
• Prepare and send samples for customers. Understand how to maintain sample and raw material inventory.
• Participate in a customer call, such as a prospecting call or complaint resolution.
• Complete a continuous improvement (CI) project involving influence.
• Run dryer; understand science and methodology to spray drying, blending, etc.
• Work on a new product project, commercialization, and scale-up.
• Prepare and present reports on project results and next steps.
• Assist with new product scale-ups at manufacturing facilities and/or scale-up at customer facility where product is used.
• Attend industry workshop training, such as cheese-making, spray drying, dry blending, etc.
• Complete OSHA, environmental, ECO lab, and IDFA training courses.
• Shadow Plant Supervisor, Plant Manager, and Director of Operations.
• Act in a supervisory role (once leadership training is complete).
• Review disciplinary issues with operations leader.
• Deliver constructive feedback.
• Participate in the interview and selection process.
• Onboard new hires, including 30/60/90 day check-ins.
• Coordinate staffing.
• Research new ingredient process technologies.
• Shadow the controls team and assist in conducting costing and data analysis.
• Troubleshoot quality issues in collaboration with food safety & quality team.
• Assist in the capital management process.
• Understand and utilize engineering standards.
• Work with manufacturing, maintenance, and engineering leaders to improve plant reliability.
• Sit in on sales and operations planning (S&OP) and procurement meetings to understand how to schedule product, get bids, and interact with vendors.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Food Manufacturing, Engineering, or related field required.
• Internship experience preferred.

Skills

• Strong leadership abilities.
• Self-starting and disciplined.
• Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously.
• Creative outlook with strong communication skills.
• Ability to be adaptable and flexible.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office products.
• Ability to communicate with other departments cross-functionally.
• Must be able to read, write, and speak English.

Travel

15% - 25% (1 - 2 times per quarter).