Supply Chain Industrial Placement 2024

You’ve learned a lot as a student already. Want to put it into practice at PepsiCo?

Our placement programmes are structured to give you the chance to make an impact on some of the world’s biggest brands. From day one, you’ll be working on projects that matter. You’ll shake things up, shape trends, and get guidance and development to help you discover your potential.

We are looking for enthusiastic undergraduates to join our Supply Chain team on a 12-month placement programme starting in July 2024 on a full time basis.

Everyday millions of people in the UK enjoy our oats, snacks, juices and beverages. As a placement student within Supply Chain, you will have the opportunity to join our 4,500 strong team who are behind these household names. As a function we are spread across 10 sites which include our Quaker Oats Mill in Cupar and our Walkers Crisp factory in Leicester – the largest crisp factory in the world.

Undergraduate placement students have an important part to play in our future and we provide a perfect environment for individuals to develop, whilst feeling valued and having lots of fun. You will have lots of autonomy where your decisions will really make a difference to our business and in return you will have the chance to develop your skills and experience in a fast paced, energetic environment.

Responsibilities

Within Supply Chain, we're offering industrial placement opportunities in the following disciplines:

Manufacturing Excellence

• Opportunities available at Coventry, Leicester and Lincoln.
• Preferred degrees in Business Management or closely related disciplines.

In this placement you will:

• Lead process improvement teams to understand the root cause of poor performance and implement initiatives.
• Support the development and deployment of both productivity and capital investment programs, which may include state of the art automation equipment.
• Be given real-life objectives to work on and will be expected to make a noticeable contribution to your department.

Engineering

• Opportunities available at Coventry, Leicester and Lincoln.
• Preferred degrees in Mechanical/Electrical, Chemical or Manufacturing Engineering.

In this placement you will:

• Lead equipment reliability and energy improvements to understand the root cause of poor performing assets and implement initiatives.
• Support the development and deployment of both productivity and capital investment programs, which may include state of the art automation equipment.
• Be given real-life objectives to work on and will be expected to make a noticeable contribution to your department.

Operations

• Opportunities available at Cupar (Scotland), Leicester, Lincoln, Skelmersdale.
• Preferred degrees in Business Management or closely related disciplines.

In this placement you will:

• Lead and own projects from inception through to handover ensuring key phasing of Projects are identified and worked to (Project Management).
• Seek opportunities for productivity improvements.
• Own data collection & improvements.
• Act as an interface (‘on project’ point of contact) for Site and other PepsiCo plants with teams such as Operations, Finance, Engineering and Quality.
• Lead Operations Teams as appropriate for the size of each project ensuring adequate/appropriate resource is allocated.
• Cross UK communication of projects for best practices.
• Be given real-life objectives to work on and will be expected to make a noticeable contribution to your department.

Change Management

• Opportunity available at Leicester.
• Preferred degrees in Business Management or closely related disciplines.

In this placement you will:

• Work with cross site and functional teams to support in the planning, upscaling and deployment of new product specifications and requirements.
• Own project management and support of the development and deployment of capital investment programs, which may include state of the art automation equipment.
• Be given real-life objectives to work on and will be expected to make a noticeable contribution to your department.

Environmental, Health and Safety

• Nothing is more important than the safety of our colleagues and the environment that we all live and work in.
• Opportunity available at Skelmersdale with an opportunity to support Cupar (Scotland) for 10 weeks.
• Preferred degrees in Environmental, Health and Safety subjects or closely related disciplines. Alternatively, an Engineering Degree for someone who does not want to specialise in Engineering during the placement.

As part of the EHS team you will be getting involved in a wide variety of tasks to help us maintain and improve our performance and standards.  In this placement you will:

• Support the completion of the MESS and PUWER (Machinery Safety) reinspection programs at both Skelmersdale and Cupar.
• Become the deputy Standard Owner for one of our GEHSMS (Global Environmental Health and Safety Management System) standards, this could be PPE, Transport Management, Spill prevention or one of the other 40 applicable to site.
• Develop and support the ESAT (Environment & Safety Action Team) groups across all shifts, driving them to attain the high standards needed to deliver.
• Become a trained risk assessor and support the risk assessment program.
• Receive additional training where required and plenty of support across the site and the wider UK EHS teams.
• Be given real-life objectives to work on and will be expected to make a noticeable contribution to your department.

Food Quality & Safety

• Opportunities available at Coventry and Leicester.
• Preferred degrees in Food Science, Food Science & Technology, Food Manufacturing, Food and Consumer Studies or closely related disciplines.

In this placement you will:

• Support the Quality & Food Safety Team on delivering key Quality and Food Safety initiatives, specifically the key metrics for the site.
• Support the Quality Specialists through trending of Consumer Complaints plus identification and facilitation of work streams for complaint reduction opportunities with site manufacturing teams.
• Support the Food Safety Team to drive food safety performance through completion of audits and taking an active role in root cause analysis following food safety issues.
• Support the site’s BRC Agenda by working on specific projects to drive continued improvements.
• Be given real-life objectives to work on and will be expected to make a noticeable contribution to your department.

Transformation

• Opportunity available at one of our Manufacturing Sites (either Coventry, Leicester, Lincoln or Skelmersdale).
• Preferred degrees in Business Management or closely related disciplines that involve Project Management, Sustainability or Lean Manufacturing as an example. Alternatively, an Engineering Degree for someone who does not want to specialise in Engineering during the placement.

In this placement you will:

• Work with cross site and functional teams to support in the planning and deployment of exciting investments on our sites.  These initiatives could be focused on Sustainability, Growth, Productivity, or Operational necessity projects.
• Contribute to the improvement of our Project management systems and tracking to improve efficiency for our department for the future.
• Run & lead small projects yourself.
• Be part of a team delivering a large scale project.
• Work with front line operations teams.
• Deliver productivity through employing Lean manufacturing principles.
• Present progress to senior management.
• Be given real-life objectives to work on and will be expected to make a noticeable contribution to your department.

Customer Collaboration

• Opportunity available in Reading.
• Preferred degrees in Supply Chain Management, Business Studies, Engineering or closely related discipline.

In this placement you will:

• Take ownership for the analysis of forecasting performance data for both accuracy and bias and to implement improvements.
• Review Impulse daily sales v forecast and make recommendations based on fluctuations.
• Create and maintain customer promotional trackers and using this data to make recommendations for current forecasts and future promotions.
• Provide effective forecast management information to make effective forecasting changes.
• Review seasonality of forecasts and ensure these are reflected in a timely manner.
• Provide management information in to the S&OP decision-making forum for customer related BIAS, Accuracy.
• Administer control zone forecast changes when required.
• Drive system and process improvements to leverage greater levels of efficiency.
• Use your Excel Intermediate skills to make a difference.
• Be given real-life objectives to work on and will be expected to make a noticeable contribution to your department.

Please note, when submitting an application, we will ask for your role and location preferences, please ensure you select locations that correspond to where the placement opportunity is avaliable. 

Qualifications

What are we looking for?

• Students currently in their penultimate year of university studies, where the course includes the option of completing a sandwich placement before returning to study after the placement.
• An intellectual curiosity and a willingness to challenge accepted ways of doing things.
• Passion, for our company, for your development, for sustainability and engineering delivery.
• Ambition, eagerness to learn and grow your career and aspire to be our future leaders.
• Creativity, bring your new thinking and fresh ideas to our brands.
• You! At PepsiCo we bring ourselves to work and embrace diversity and inclusion. We believe our differences is what makes us special.

What else do you need to know?

Our placements start in July 2024 on a full-time basis and will last for 12 months, with a salary of £22,000.

Other benefits

• Vibrant culture.
• Development and mentoring.
• 25 days annual leave plus 8 days bank holidays.
• Discounted PepsiCo products.
• Competitive pension scheme.
• And a whole lot more…

“The opportunities that PepsiCo have offered me as part of my role have been tremendous. I have been involved in multiple projects and activities on top of my day-to-day role which keeps my placement super exciting. I have met some outstanding and friendly people who I know I will keep in touch with after my placement year. The culture here is so collaborative and supportive that I’m never afraid to ask questions or ask to learn new things.”

• Niyanee Porte

Our application process involves

• Online application
• Digital interview
• Virtual Assessment Centre's (January - subject to change).

Application Closing Date: Monday 20th November 2023

Our application window is scheduled to close on the above date, however, in the event of a large response we will close applications early. We would therefore encourage you to apply as soon as possible.

About PepsiCo

PepsiCo UK is home to some of the world's most loved food and drink products. Making every day favourites like Walkers, Quaker, Doritos, Pipers, and Monster Munch & Rockstar, to name a few! We have a fantastic reputation for developing and launching products that our consumers love. PepsiCo products are enjoyed by consumers around the world more than one billion times a day in more than 200 countries and territories. The company generated $70 billion in net revenue in 2020. We pride ourselves on being a great place to work and have recently been voted Top Employer for the 11th year in a row.

Guiding PepsiCo is our vision to Be the Global Leader in Beverages and Convenient Foods by Winning with PepsiCo Positive (Pep+). Pep+ is our strategic end-to-end transformation that puts sustainability at the centre of how we will create value and growth by operating within planetary boundaries and inspiring positive change for planet and people. For more information, visit www.pepsico.com.

We are an equal opportunity employer and comply with the Equality Act 2010, we value diversity at our company; it is an essential part of our success. We do not discriminate on the basis of age, pregnancy or maternity, marital/civil partnerships, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation, gender or gender reassignment, disability or race including; colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin.