Embrace what’s next.
Create new possibilities.

Early Career at Cargill

YOU MUST CURRENTLY BE ENROLLED AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS, URBANA-CHAMPAIGN (UIUC) FOR THIS INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITY WITH CARGILL AT THE UIUC RESEARCH PARK 

Internship at the Cargill Innovation Lab at UIUC in Champaign, IL:

In partnership with the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) Research Park, you will be given the opportunity as an intern to work with Digital Foundry at Cargill through our local office, The Cargill Innovation Lab at UIUC, to gain hands on experience in real business situations and explore Cargill’s businesses and functions during the work term.

As a Software Engineering intern, you will work collaboratively within a digital prototype team where software engineering, data and analytical skills, product design, UX / UI design, research, leadership, collaboration, inclusion, and innovation are keys to success.

 As an organization Cargill’s mission is to lead in nourishing the world in a safe, responsible, and sustainable way. Digital Foundry at Cargill strives to help prepare Cargill for a digital future. The vision of this future includes a thriving digital culture, continuous launching of new digital business initiatives, and that Cargill will be a digital thought leader in the food and agriculture industries.

Why Intern with us?

• Professional Experience - Gain professional experience as a software engineer working in a cross-functional team. Learn best practices from industry professionals. Understand what it is like to work within an agile software team.

• Build Prototypes - Work on fast-paced, digital prototype projects. Ship a functioning prototype over the course of a semester. Collaborate with clients to test prototypes and gain real-world insights.

• Cross-Functional - Gain exposure speaking with and presenting to a variety of stakeholders across business, engineering, design, and product functions. Work adjacent to UX UI designers, marketing, and communications peers on understanding users, products, and business.

• Startup Culture – Wonder what it would be like to work within a product team at a software company? Or how about working with enterprise data? Your project for the semester will include building a prototype from scratch or exploring digital possibilities. You’re paired with other software engineers to go from research, requirements gathering, planning, design, architecture, dev, quality assurance to testing with real users over the course of a semester.

• Use Cases That Matter – Work on real innovation initiatives that serve a variety of clients at Cargill ranging from animal nutrition, agricultural supply chain, protein, food ingredients, logistics, supply chain and trading.  Apply your talents on digital initiatives that transform global food systems.

Having the Right Mindset

We look for students that enjoy startup culture and are adept at working collaboratively within a team. Comfort with ambiguity is a must. Empathy for other functions is critical. Lean mindset to build the smallest thing possible is a key to success. We don’t expect you to be an expert on all things digital, but we do look for students that are hungry to learn new things. Expand your skills in a high growth ag tech industry just a few blocks off campus.

Job Location

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in Champaign, IL.

Required Qualifications

• Must be currently enrolled as a student at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign graduating between May 2024 and May 2027.
• Currently pursuing a Bachelor’s degree with a major or minor in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Information Science or other technology related discipline OR commensurate experience with software engineering in lieu of pursuing a related major/minor.
• Must have the right to work in the US that is not based solely on the possession of a student visa or a visa sponsored by a third-party employer.
• Able to complete at minimum a semester-long internship during the spring 2024 semester across 14 weeks at 20 hours a week.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively with individuals from diverse backgrounds and cultures.
• Must possess a high degree of initiative and resourcefulness in completing work with limited guidance.
• Willing to take ownership of project and work.
• Must be able to complete essential functions of this job as outlined in the job description with reasonable accommodations.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Pursuing a cross-disciplined degree in either Economics, Business, Food Science, or Agriculture Business.
• Overall 3.0 GPA preferred.
• Commercial product software development experience; experience with agile development methodologies.
• Strong prioritization and problem-solving skills; collaboration skills; verbal and written communication skills; and information research and gathering skills.
• Knowledge of full-stack or mobile development, database design, and basic software engineering principles.
• Interested in returning to the Lab across additional semesters.