Graduate Trainee

Posted Monday, February 2, 2026 at 11:00 AM

Join the California Dairies, Inc. (CDI) team, a farmer-owned cooperative dedicated to sustainably producing the highest quality dairy products while fostering a culture of innovation and collaboration. CDI products are delivered locally and around the world. Our Visalia corporate office serves as the central hub for the CDI enterprise, driving strategic decision-making, innovation, overall business support, and growth across our diverse portfolio of dairy products and brands.

We encourage you to be part of our team that's shaping the future of dairy, right from the heart of California!

Our commitment to CDI employees:

We believe in valuing our team with a total rewards package that goes beyond the basics. You ll find we offer competitive pay and incentive programs designed to recognize and reward your contributions.
Competitive medical, dental, and vision benefits
, generous paid time off, sick days & holidays
, retirement plans designed to secure your future. We don t stop there. We ve also cultivated a variety of valuable programs focused on your personal well-being and professional growth
, ensuring you have the support you need to both inside and outside of work.

This is a two-year program that focuses on developing leadership skills in top-caliber talent coming out of college. The position will be based in Visalia, California, or at one of our other manufacturing sites in California’s Central Valley. Graduates will play a key role in learning the production and/or support functions, gain valuable training, and support both safety and quality aspects of the business.

Essential Functions

Graduate will follow 4 rotational training plans to include:

• To include learning product flow of milk, milk powders, and butters
• Work with shift supervision to understand daily plant operations
• Understand plant employee schedules, work rules, and staffing
• Learn plant recording keeping and data systems
• Learn and focus on plant quality and sanitation programs
• Learn various labs and testing method used in all products
• Work with quality compliance to understand audits and other compliance requirement

Business Acumen

Work with all support functions of our company to understand their function which will include accounting and finance, engineering and maintenance, human resources, member relations, transportation.

Leadership

• Complete various leadership training courses
• Learn to lead and be able to fill in for a supervisor as needed.

Projects

• Complete various projects as assigned
• Focus on delivery timetables and prioritization
• Support and enforce SQF / QA, GMP, Safety policies and procedures, and production needs. “Food Safety and Quality” are the responsibilities of this position.
• Perform other duties as assigned

Lead:

• Clearly communicate the company s vision & goals and how the team s work contributes to them.
• Set a positive example through their own work ethic, attitude, and commitment to quality.
• Develop and empower team members by delegating tasks effectively and providing opportunities for growth and development.

Guide:

• Provide clear instructions and expectations, along with the “why”, for tasks and projects.
• Offer regular feedback and coaching to help team members improve their skills and performance.
• Foster a sense of teamwork and shared purpose, emphasizing that the team is stronger together.

Support:

• Recognize and celebrate team accomplishments and individual contributions.
• Advocate for the team s needs and concerns, up, down, and across the organization.
• Encourage and support the team to challenge the status quo, to identify and suggest process improvements, and to embrace innovation.

Qualifications (Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities)

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Must have the ability to trouble shoot problems and be persistent until a solution is found.
• Must work in a safe…