Ornua, successful graduates on the graduate placement programme

Meet some of our Graduate Trainees

Alison Higgins

Alison Higgins

Sales and Marketing Graduate

I am from Greystones, Co. Wicklow and always knew I wanted a career in the food industry. I completed a degree in BSc Marketing at TU Dublin and went on to complete a MSc in Food Business Strategy at UCD Smurfit School. I was delighted to be offered a place on the Ornua Graduate Programme to put all I learned in university into practice. As a graduate on the Ornua Foods International team, I have the exciting role of working on key projects for the iconic Kerrygold brand, both at home and overseas. A highlight of my time at Ornua so far has been assisting in the successful launch of two new products into the Irish market and I’m really looking forward to continuing my graduate journey with Ornua over the coming months.

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John Walls

Bachelor of Engineering

Working as part of the ICT Business Engagement and Process team, I have been exposed to all areas of the business. I began in my role developing a project management tool for the business. This led to owning and rolling out of the tool to a number of Ornua’s sites in Dublin, the UK and the USA. I also worked on developing the Business Process Documents for a new acquisition. This outlined the sites ways of working and assisted the transition to Ornua’s ERP system. 
As part of the graduate programme we attended the Irish Management Institute to take part in business leadership modules. One opportunity we faced was to present to the Ornua Executive team. These presentations were on a chosen topic of interest to the business, allowing us to further understand the industry and its challenges.
I am now working as an ICT Analyst on a transformation project in the business. I am assisting the senior leadership team on reporting the programmes overall progress, linking the business requirements to ICT requirements, and leading the solutioning of site requirements for the project.

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Lorna Caulfield

B.Sc (Hons) Nutraceuticals in Health and Nutrition

As a keen foodie I have always been passionate about pursuing a career in the food industry but often when you are in college, it’s hard to imagine yourself in the real world. Luckily for me the transition into working life at Ornua has been an easy but very empowering process.  

For my first rotation I was placed in the UK where I worked within the product development and commercial departments. While in product development, I helped in running customer innovation days in which I worked closely with some well-known brands and ultimately built on my technical understanding of sports nutrition and value added powder blends. Though I did not have a commercial background I was interested in learning how this other team worked and was supported by the business to do so. I am grateful for this experience as it introduced me to the world of dairy commodity trading, allowing me to deepen my industry knowledge. I am now positioned on the Innovation team in Dublin where I am responsible for managing projects under the butter category for my second rotation. I also attend trials at our manufacturing sites and carry out self-life testing on any new products coming through the pipeline
 

The 24 Month Ornua Graduate Programme consists of:

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Structured rotations with lots of exposure to multiple areas and teams within our business.

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Classroom and self-directed learning modules, including mentoring from our experienced leaders.

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Skills development in the areas of self-awareness, self-confidence, teamwork, interpersonal and communication skills.

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A permanent job