DFA Rotational Program - Operations, Engineering, Quality (2027 Program)

Dairy Farmers of America•Kansas City, KS

1d•Onsite

About The Position

This position is part of the Experience program, a rotational program for graduates aspiring to a career in manufacturing. In this role, the Rotational Operations Analyst will rotate through various functions such as manufacturing, engineering, quality and process technology over approximately a two-year timeframe beginning in 2027. This program is designed to offer experience, education and exposure to prepare an individual for a future role in manufacturing. This program offers rotations across various manufacturing plant locations. Potential locations may include Missouri, Minnesota, New Mexico, Kansas, California, Colorado, or Pennsylvania. These are examples only and are not guaranteed. Rotation locations will be determined based on business needs.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Food Manufacturing, engineering, or related field required
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

Nice To Haves

Internship experience preferred

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 meeting, and/or analytics
Participate in on ideation, package design, problem-solving, etc., meetings
Utilize systems throughout rotation, including Power BI, Salesforce, PCM, genesis, trace gains, SharePoint, etc., 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 report 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
Rotations may be available at cheese, taste & flavor and dairy powders locations around the country