Operational Excellence Intern - Summer 2027 - Bracknell

Cawood Scientific; Bracknell; On-site; GBP 12,000 - 17,000; Full time

Job summary

Cawood Scientific - NRM is seeking a motivated Operational Excellence Intern for Summer 2027 in Bracknell, UK. You will support Kaizen fundamentals, process optimisation, and team facilitation while contributing to strategic priorities.

Gain hands-on experience across continuous improvement initiatives, participate in Kaizen events, and collaborate with cross-functional teams to drive efficiency and operational excellence within a leading scientific group.

Qualifications

• Analytical and process-oriented mindset.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Interest or experience in Lean, Kaizen or operational excellence methodologies.

Responsibilities

• Participate in planning and execution of process improvement initiatives.
• Contribute to Kaizen events and waste walks to identify inefficiencies.
• Document and present findings, recommendations and outcomes to improve efforts.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to enhance operational efficiency.
• Help build and sustain visual management tools including Daily Boards, Standard Work and action trackers.
• Document and present findings, recommendations and outcomes to improve efforts.

Skills

Analytical mindset

Process improvement

Communication skills

Team facilitation

Travel willingness

Education

Bachelor's or Master's degree (Science, Engineering or Business preferred)

Job description

This role is located in NRM, within the Cawood Scientific Agriculture Division. NRM, part of the Cawood Scientific Group, are the UK’s largest independent provider of agronomic and environmental waste analysis for land-based industries. We offer water, soil, manures, fertilisers and plant tissue analysis to farmers, growers and agronomists for improved farm productivity, as well as land-based environmental services including composted waste, anaerobic digestate, effluents and industrial renewables. Learn more about NRM by clicking here.

Job Description

Cawood Scientific - NRM is seeking a motivated and detail-oriented Operational Excellence Intern to support key initiatives that drive continuous improvement across our site, located in Bracknell, UK. This internship offers a unique opportunity to gain hands‑on experience in Kaizen Fundamentals, process optimisation, and team facilitation while contributing to strategic business priorities.

Summer Internship Opportunity – Operational Excellence

Duration: Summer 2027

Ensign‑Bickford Industries (EBI) is a global leader with a strong reputation for innovation and excellence across multiple industries. Cawood, a member of the EBI family, is the UK’s and Ireland leading scientific group, recognised for its technical capability and value‑added service to customers in land‑based industries. We provide specialist laboratory analysis for the agriculture, food and environmental sectors.

Our Vision: We are a Diagnostics company that exists to protect the future of food, agriculture and the environment—turning diagnostics into actionable insights that drive transparency, productivity and sustainability. In doing so, we create lasting value for our customers and ourselves. We focus on Agriculture Transparency and Traceability (info and knowledge). Insights that ensure Quality & deliver Productivity for our customers. Environmental sustainability (supporting regulations and innovation). Human health (through food and environment). We do this by developing best‑in‑class diagnostic solutions that drive actionability for our customers. Pairing diagnostics with innovative services that deliver value to our customers and differentiate from competition. Being a thought leader and consultative partner within the industries we serve.

What You’ll Do

Participate in the planning and execution of process improvement initiatives across the business.

Contribute to Kaizen events and waste walks focused on identifying and eliminating inefficiencies.

Document and present findings, recommendations and outcomes to improve efforts.

Collaborate with cross‑functional teams to enhance operational efficiency.

Help build and sustain visual management tools including Daily Boards, Standard Work and action trackers.

Document and present findings, recommendations and outcomes to improve efforts.

What We’re Looking For

Currently pursuing a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree (Science, Engineering or Business preferred).

Strong analytical and process‑oriented mindset.

Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.

Interest or experience in Lean, Kaizen or operational excellence methodologies.

Ability to work independently and as part of a team.

Comfortable facilitating discussions and leading small groups.

Curious, proactive and eager to learn.

Willingness to travel to other business unit sites if needed.

What You’ll Gain

Practical experience in operational excellence and Kaizen methodologies.

Exposure to real‑world business challenges and strategic initiatives.

Mentorship from experienced professionals.

Opportunities to lead and contribute to impactful projects.

A chance to build your professional network and enhance your career prospects.

Cawood is the UK’s leading scientific group, recognised for its technical capability and value‑added service to customers. We provide laboratory analysis to the agriculture, food and environmental sectors, as well as contract research to GLP standards to support the development of agrochemicals, biocides and other chemicals. Our field services team offers measurement and monitoring for water, construction and ecology across the UK. Cawood is the largest independent provider of analytical laboratory testing and sampling services for the land‑based industries in the UK. With 15 sites around the country specialising in different types of analysis, we are always looking for skilled and talented individuals to join our teams.

Our values of PRIDE underpin our approach

Partnership, Responsiveness, Innovation, Decency and Expertise.

You can read about our values and how they make a difference to our people and our customers here.

Our people make Cawood what it is. No matter how technically advanced and sophisticated our equipment, it is our people who keep our customers satisfied. Accuracy across a high number of tests and continually looking for ways to innovate and improve are key to our future. This is an exciting time to join Cawood. The business is growing and there are plenty of opportunities for people who want to work hard, have fun and be part of our success. We spend a lot of our lives at work, so it’s important to us to make Cawood a place our people enjoy working.

Cawood is a flexible employer, offering flextime, overtime and time off in lieu to help colleagues manage their work in a way that suits them as well as the business.

We believe in working together to find the best outcome for all and we foster a culture of friendliness and family within our teams.

Why do people enjoy working at Cawood?

Here’s what our colleagues say:

• The people we work with are fun and supportive, even during the more difficult days
• The flexibility that is offered, especially when you have worked in other laboratory environments
• The GOAL, the growth plans and opportunities for development in a range of skills
• The new leadership team and their ambition to invest in people

This year’s People Plan builds upon this fun, flexible and family feel to make Cawood one of the best places to work.

Russell Vaughan Russell joined Cawood shortly after leaving university in our Mambo‑Tox laboratory and has worked on the majority of our studies, from basic lab experiments to full‑sized field studies. He has been integral to new method development over his many years with the company, and is a key contributor to our reputation for clear, accurate reporting that can go straight into a dossier. After taking time out to complete his PhD in plant molecular biology, he returned to the business in 2005 and now leads our team of study directors at Mambo‑Tox. Russell enjoys working at Cawood because of our excellent team of people and our mission to support agriculture in meeting the needs of society whilst reducing its environmental impact.

Sean Stevenson Sean joined Cawood as a biochemistry graduate to work in the NRM soil analysis laboratory. Over the last 19 years he has worked his way up through sales and business development roles and is now Divisional Managing Director for Cawood Agriculture. Sean is responsible for creating commercial strategies which support and accelerate our growth. Having worked at all the different levels in the company, Sean is a firm believer in making the business a place where people can thrive. At the heart of Cawood is NRM, the UK’s leading agricultural laboratory, founded in 1990. The Cawood group was formed in 2006 with the acquisition of the animal feed testing business, Sciantec. Since then, we have grown rapidly through our strong relationships with customers, our ongoing investment in people and equipment, and the acquisition of businesses that complement or expand our services. This development has allowed us to increase our range of services and extend our reach into global markets.

In 2021, Cawood was acquired by US corporation Ensign‑Bickford Industries (EBI), becoming a member of its Agriculture and Environmental Diagnostics Group. Watch the video below to learn more about EBI.