Graduate Opportunities

National Foods is one of the leading food and beverage companies in Australasia, with revenues exceeding $3 billion. We employ more than 5,000 people and proudly manufacture many of Australasia's favourite brands with sites in all states of Australia.

Our portfolio of high profile brands includes PURA, Dairy Farmers, Berri, Yoplait, Tasmanian Heritage, King Island and Big M, to name a few. Many of these brands, which cover products in milk, fresh dairy, juice, soy beverages and specialty cheese have been a part of Australian life for over 100 years.

If you’re looking to develop a long-term career with a company whose vision and ambition match your own, National Foods is the natural choice.

We have limited our 2010 graduate intake to eight Graduates to ensure we can provide you with interesting roles, targeted development and to ensure we can help you find a role which is a match with your career aspirations at the end of the two-year program. The areas for which we are recruiting are: Business Services, IT, Sales and Marketing, Accounting and Finance, Logistics, and Research and Development.

This is a great time to join National Foods as a graduate – our new state-of-the-art head office opened in November 2008 at Docklands, and we have production facilities and sales offices in every Australian state, as well as New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

Our brands are in every household around the country and we have an exciting growth strategy in place. Our parent company, Kirin, is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange with a market capitalisation of more than A$16 billion. It is one of the largest brewing & beverage companies in the world.

Our business foundations come from the farm and this is reflected in our down-to-earth, achievement-oriented approach, and the passion we have for our brands and what we do.

The Graduate program is made up of 4 key components:

1. Induction

As a graduate, you will join us in February 2010 with seven other graduates and participate in a structured induction program which will provide an overview of our company, our industry, our brands, our people and our core focuses.

2. On-the-Job & Cross-Functional Exposure

You will then move into a role within one of our business functions working in Sales & Marketing, Technology & Innovation (Research & Development), Finance, Business Services, IT, or Logistics.

During your two years on the program, you will typically enjoy three job rotations of approximately 7-8 months each. Depending upon the graduate role you join, you’ll be exposed to how we develop and trial new products, manufacture products, sell domestically & internationally to customers, market to consumers, distribute to customers, develop our people, report on our financials and review new business opportunities. This will really cement your understanding of how National Foods works as well as help you find the right career opportunities for you.

Depending upon your role, your rotations may include a combination of regional sites, interstate locations as well as our Docklands head office.

3. Targeted Training

Your rotations are real jobs; you will learn on the job and attend targeted formal training days throughout each year to build your business and leadership skills. In addition, you will be matched with a mentor – a peer in the first year to assist with your orientation into the business and to provide coaching on company & functional knowledge and skills. In the second year you will be matched with a Senior Mentor to provide exposure to other areas of the business, provide advice on career and leadership development, create networking opportunities, as well as share their knowledge, expertise and skills.

4. Feedback & Career Path

Throughout the program you will receive regular informal and formal feedback, and have the opportunity to provide us feedback about the program. Based on your experiences, identified strengths, ambitions and business requirements, you are able to apply for roles advertised internally at any stage during the second year of the program, potentially moving across functions. The Graduate Steering Committee will review your progress frequently and in return for demonstrated achievement, work closely with the business to help facilitate a job placement that matches your career aspirations and our business requirements.

Please visit www.natfoods.com.au/graduates to apply.