Food Safety & Quality Internship

Position Title: FSQ Intern - Appleton - Summer 2026

Position Type: Temporary - Full-Time

Grade:Grade 01

Requisition ID:39805

Food Safety and Quality Internship

Oakbrook IL

In every role McCainers are ambitious curious and passionate about creating exceptional work experiences - together. With a customer-first mindset we make doing business with McCain easy.

About the role.

Join us for an impactful and hands-on summer where youll help shape how we deliver quality consistency and exceptional consumer experiences. As a Summer 2026 Intern youll contribute to meaningful quality documentation and consumer engagement projects that support both our internal teams and our customers. Youll gain real-world experience work closely with cross-functional partners and leave with tangible accomplishments that build your professional skillset in quality management operations program development and communication systems.

The internshipwill take placefrom May through August 2026at ourOakbrook IL office. Weoffera hybridwork arrangement where our interns collaborate in person with their teams at least three days a week while the remaining day may be worked remotely or addition totheworkperformed in the internshipyoullhave opportunities for professional development networking and mentorship to help you build skills and confidence for your future career.

What youll be doing.

• Standardizing key customer-facing documents such as letters of guarantee compliance statements and HACCP materials.
• Updating and improving Consumer Affairs resources including policies protocols and response templates.
• Organizing and streamlining internal document repositories to enhance usability and ensure timely updates.
• Supporting integration of digital quality systems (e.g. Intelex) to automate reminders workflows and document controls.
• Assisting in the early development of a new Consumer Praise program including workflow design and process mapping.
• Helping build or support tools that automate communication and improve how consumer feedback is tracked and shared.
• Writing or updating program manuals visual standards and reference materials.
• Supporting commercialization quality efforts including ballot creation sensory/survey setup or foundational packaging work.
• Developing an appetizer finished product defect grading manual for Product Quality and Sensory consolidating defect definitions severity scales photographic references and actions guidance to strengthen training and grading consistency.
• Building a comprehensive visual defect image bank for French Fries across plants including standardized photography defect alignment documentation updates and creation of training tool to support Quality Control and Sensory calibration.

What youll need to be successful.

• Currentlyenrolled as a junior or senior in Food Science Biology/Microbiology Chemistry/Biochemistry Chemical Engineering or an applicable field with an interest in Quality & Food Safety as a career

• Clear and professional communicator adept at building andmaintainingstrong working relationships in collaborative team environments.

• Strong analytical skills with proven ability to interpret analyze and draw insights from complex datasets.

• Exceptional attention to detail and organizational abilities consistently delivering high-quality work with speed and accuracy in fast-paced environments.

• Skilled in investigating complex challenges pinpointing root causes and implementing effective long-term solutions.

• Proactive and self-motivated with the ability to work independently while applying a critical analytical mindset.

• Advancedproficiencyin data analysis and reporting with deepexpertisein Microsoft Excel and related tools.

About the team.

The North American Food Safety and Quality team is responsible for providing guidance for our food production processes. Our consumers trust and have confidence in our brand and food safety is critical in keeping that trust. Our food safety guidelines are in place to ensure our products meet our customers expectations as well as food safety regulations.

About McCain.

Click Here to learn more about McCain and how we provide you with opportunities to make an impact that matters.

Leadership principles.

At McCain our leadership principles guide how we engage with customers collaborate as a team and achieve success. We focus on understanding customer needs driving innovation empowering people and taking ownership to clear obstacles and deliver results.

The McCain experience.

We are McCain. This statement is a testament to our collective strength and our individual value. Your contributions play a vital role in our success. Our winning culture is rooted in authenticity and trust empowering us to bring out the best in one another. Here youll find opportunities to learn grow and thrive. Join us and experience why were better together.

#LI-JL2

Compensation Package: $23.00- $26.00USD hourly wage equivalent paid as a non-exempt salary.

The above reflects the target compensation range for the position at the time of posting. Hiring compensation will be determined based on experience skill set education and training and other organizational needs.

Benefits: At McCain were on a mission to create a winning culture that puts employee safety and well-being at the heart of what we do every day. We understand and appreciate that each persons needs are unique and ensure our benefits & well-being programs reflect that. Due to the duration of this role you will not be eligible for traditional benefits through our programs. McCains early careers programming offers a multitude of learning experiences aimed at advancing your career in the future.

Your well-being matters to us and were here to provide you with the necessary resources to support you in being your best self at work and at home.

McCain Foods is an equal opportunity employer. As a global family-owned company we strive to be the employer of choice in the diverse communities around the world in which we live and work. We recognize that inclusion drives our creativity resilience and success and makes our business qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race religion color national origin sex age veteran status disability or any other protected characteristic under applicable law.

McCain is an accessible employer. If you require an accommodation throughout the recruitment process (including alternate formats of materials or accessible meeting rooms) please let us knowand we will work with you to find appropriate solutions.

Your privacy is important to us. By submitting personal data or information to us you agree this will be handled in accordance with McCains Global Privacy Policyand Global Employee Privacy Policy as applicable. You can understand how your personal information isbeing handled here.

Job Family:Quality & Food Safety
Division:NA Operations
Department:Microbiology
Location(s): US - United States of America : Wisconsin : Appleton
US - United States of America : Wisconsin : Fort Atkinson
US - United States of America : Wisconsin : Milwaukee
US - United States of America : Wisconsin : Plover
US - United States of America : Wisconsin : Rice Lake
US - United States of America : Wisconsin : Wisconsin Rapids

Company:McCain Foods USA Inc.