Industrial Engineer (Intern)

K-VA-T Food Stores•Abingdon, VA

5d•Onsite

About The Position

Food City is seeking a motivated, analytical intern to support its Industrial Engineering team in improving operational efficiency and customer experience across retail locations. The 12-week, full-time Summer Internship Program provides hands-on experience in process improvement, labor optimization, and performance analysis in a retail environment. The intern will collaborate with experienced engineers and operations leaders and work with departments including Retail Operations, Training, and Executive Leadership. The position is based at Food City’s corporate departments at 1 Food City Circle, Abingdon, Virginia; travel to store locations may be required. Housing options are available through partnerships with Emory & Henry University and King University. The intern will assist with developing and maintaining labor standards, analyzing workflows, supporting best-practice implementation, and helping train store teams on new processes. The role also provides exposure to labor planning applications, process mapping, Lean Six Sigma, reporting, and statistical analysis. Interns are assigned a project and present their work and insights to company leaders at the end of the internship.

Requirements

Currently enrolled in a college or university as a junior or senior, majoring in Industrial Engineering or a relevant field; or recently graduated in December 2026 or May 2027 with an undergraduate degree in Industrial Engineering or a relevant field.
Minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0.
Strong communication, interpersonal, and time-management skills.
Ability to preserve the confidentiality of company information.
Ability to work with own initiative.
Microsoft Excel competencies, including formatting, reference functions, and pivot tables.
Provide a copy of most recent college transcripts and a resume.
Detail-oriented, data-driven, collaborative, and eager to apply classroom knowledge to real-world challenges; strong communication and a passion for continuous improvement.

Nice To Haves

Previous experience in a professional work environment.
Participation in leadership roles.
Community involvement and volunteerism.

Responsibilities

Assist in developing and maintaining labor standards using time studies, work sampling, and predetermined time measurement systems such as MTM and MOST.
Analyze workflows, identify inefficiencies, and support implementation of best practices to improve productivity and reduce waste.
Support rollout and training of new processes at the store level.
Gain experience with labor planning applications, process mapping, and continuous improvement methodologies, including Lean Six Sigma.
Generate reports and statistical analyses to evaluate labor models, identify performance trends, and inform strategic decisions.
Collaborate with Retail Operations, Training, Executive Leadership, and other departments.
Potentially travel to store locations to observe operations and support on-site improvement initiatives.
Complete an assigned project and present a summary of the work and insights to company leaders at the end of the internship.