Research & Development Intern (Summer 2027)

about our internship program:

The fairlife Summer Internship Program is designed to welcome interns across our locations to gain meaningful experience and social and professional development opportunities. For 11 weeks, interns will work in one of our four locations: Chicago, IL; Coopersville, MI; Goodyear, AZ; or Webster, NY. fairlife’s paid internship program also offers a summer full of social, professional, and community engagement events including exposure to our senior leadership and executives across the business in small group settings, insight into company initiatives, off-site field trips, and for those qualified and selected, an opportunity to pursue a full-time job opportunity.

The fairlife 2027 Summer Internship Program will take place from May 24 through August 10 at the fairlife location specified in this job description.

job purpose: This internship experience provides an opportunity to work directly with the Research and Development (R&D) team, in Chicago, IL. This role will be focused on supporting R&D initiatives in alignment with company objectives.

skills/qualifications required:

• Must be currently enrolled in a four-year undergraduate degree program, entering the Fall semester, post internship, as a senior.

• B.S. Food Science, Dairy Science, Chemical Engineering or Food process engineering or closely related field.
• Possess a strong technical foundation in the sciences; dairy knowledge desired but not required

• Cumulative GPA of 3.0/4.0, or higher
• Ability to take ownership of assignments and complete them
• Strong verbal and written communication skills with the ability to work in a team setting

• Skilled in Microsoft Office Suite including MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
• Proficiency in English: Comfortable with both written and verbal communication, including reading and writing. 

learning objectives:

The intern will handle a responsibilities in the following areas:

• Product development:
  • Support a project to either develop new products, optimize an existing product formula, or evaluate ingredient functionality in a product with the objective of enhancing the organoleptic properties or optimizing cost while maintaining the high quality of our products.
  • Exposure to different aspects of product development from formulation, and pilot plant production through commercialization. This will include ingredient selection, ingredients testing, raw batch testing and final product testing.

• In all areas the intern is expected to:
  • Ask questions and learn quickly on the job
  • Conduct product testing and evaluations according to project objectives
  • Comply with lab safety protocols
  • Enter and analyze data
  • Create and maintain comprehensive records of the project
  • Maintain security and confidentiality of information within the R&D Department

food safety requirements:

• Notify supervision of any repairs or adjustments that are required that may affect product quality or food safety.
• Understand, observe, and comply with the handling and usage of the color-coded container policy while in the Production Areas.
• Perform all duties necessary to meet Company, Customer and/or Government requirements/standards as prioritized by the Company.
• Ability to initiate action to prevent the occurrence of nonconformities relating to Food Safety and the Quality of the product, processes, quality system, or safety system.
• Identify and record any problems relating to Food Safety and the Quality of the ingredients, processes, quality system, or safety system.
• Control further processing or delivery of nonconforming product in terms of Food Safety and Quality issues until the deficiency or unsatisfactory condition has been corrected.
• In the event of absence, another employee with the same skill level will assume the duties and responsibilities as required.

internship location: Chicago, IL

schedule: On-site, Monday-Friday 

internship duration: May 24-August 10, 2027

reports to: R&D lead

travel requirements: 5-10% travel to plant locations