Operational Excellence Intern - Summer 2027 - Selby

Cawood Scientific; Selby; On-site; GBP 12,000 - 18,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexitime

Time off in lieu

Overtime

Job summary

Cawood is seeking an Operational Excellence Intern for Summer 2027 at Sciantec, Selby, North Yorkshire. You will gain hands‑on experience in Kaizen Fundamentals, process optimization, and team facilitation while aligning with strategic business priorities.

You’ll collaborate with cross‑functional teams, document findings, and help build visual management tools to drive efficiency across the organization. This is a valuable learning opportunity within a leading UK scientific group.

Qualifications

• 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.
• Willingness to travel to other business unit sites if needed.

Responsibilities

• Participate in 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.

Skills

Analytical mindset

Process improvement

Team collaboration

Communication skills

Lean / Kaizen

Education

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

Job description

Operational Excellence Intern – Summer 2027 (EBI)

This role is located in Sciantec, within the Cawood Scientific Agriculture Division. With over 30 years’ experience in the agri and aquaculture sectors, Sciantec, part of Cawood Scientific, offers a complete analytical service for feedingstuffs, ingredients, raw materials, compound feed, meals, premixes, and forages. Our expertise in animal feed safety and nutrition, combined with modern testing facilities and broad analytical capacity, enables our ISO17025 accredited laboratory to deliver specialist services for all associated sectors, including feed mills, pet foods, research and development, and commodities traders. Learn more about Sciantec. This internship offers a unique opportunity to gain hands‑on experience in Kaizen Fundamentals, process optimization, and team facilitation while contributing to strategic business priorities. The role is located in Selby North Yorkshire, UK.

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

Benefits & Perks

• 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.

About Cawood (Company Culture)

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.

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 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 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.