Future Leader Development Associate, Engineering

Blue Bird Careers•Fort Valley, GA

4d•Onsite

About The Position

Blue Bird Corporation’s Future Leadership Development Program (FLDP) Associate, Engineering is an early-career leadership role intended to develop high-potential talent through a structured, cross-functional rotational program. The two-year program includes four six-month rotations within the associate’s functional area and at least one rotation in another key business area. Associates gain hands-on experience, leadership exposure, and opportunities to address business challenges affecting Blue Bird’s operations and strategic growth. They are expected to contribute to projects, collaborate across functions, and build skills for transition into a full-time leadership-track role after program completion. Final placement depends on performance, business needs, and career alignment. The Engineering Associate supports work related to product development, design improvement, validation, manufacturing support, and continuous improvement. The role provides exposure to the product and manufacturing lifecycle, with work intended to support product performance, safety, quality, reliability, manufacturability, innovation, and operational excellence. The program includes executive sponsorship and mentorship, rotation-specific coaching and feedback, structured leadership training, cross-functional project work, and a capstone project presented to the Leadership Team. The work takes place in office and production environments. The employee must work in a manufacturing environment with exposure to heat, cold, noise, moving objects, and sheet metal, and must wear appropriate personal protective equipment where required. The role may involve extended periods of standing or sitting, frequent communication throughout the day, and frequent weeks of 40 or more hours. Candidates must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents and authorized to work in the United States; proof of employment eligibility is required at hire.

Requirements

Bachelor’s or master’s degree in a relevant field.
0–2 years of professional experience or completion of a relevant internship.
Must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident and authorized to work in the United States.
Must provide proof of employment eligibility at the time of hire.
Must work in office and manufacturing environments, including exposure to heat, cold, noise, moving objects, and sheet metal.
Must wear appropriate personal protective equipment when and where required.

Nice To Haves

Strong academic performance, with a preferred GPA of 3.0 or higher.
Prior internship experience, ideally with Blue Bird or in a relevant industry.
Interest in manufacturing, operations, or an industrial environment.

Responsibilities

Support high-impact business projects and initiatives.
Rotate across multiple functions to gain an enterprise-wide perspective.
Collaborate with cross-functional teams to solve business challenges.
Present findings and recommendations to senior leadership.
Participate in structured learning, mentorship, and leadership development.
Support engineering initiatives related to product development, design improvement, validation, manufacturing support, and continuous improvement.
Assist with technical projects that improve product performance, safety, quality, reliability, and manufacturability.
Analyze data, identify root causes, and help develop practical solutions to engineering or production-related challenges.
Collaborate with operations, quality, supply chain, and product management to support business and customer needs.
Contribute to testing, documentation, design reviews, process validation, and engineering change activities as applicable to assigned rotations.
Support innovation and operational excellence initiatives while gaining exposure to the product and manufacturing lifecycle.
Complete a final capstone project and present it to the Leadership Team.