Starkey Hearing Technologies is a privately held, global hearing technology company headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. Founded by Bill Austin in 1967, Starkey is known for its innovative design, development and distribution of comprehensive digital hearing systems. Starkey is the only American-owned and operated provider of hearing technologies. We have more than 5,000 employees, operating in 24 facilities and doing business in more than 100 markets worldwide.

Starkey is looking for bright and innovative recent graduates to join Starkey’s Rotational Operations Immersion (Operations and Supply Chain Leadership Development) Program Rotational Operations Immersion is an accelerated program for early career individuals to grow and develop in their technical and leadership capabilities in a fast-paced, technically advanced environment. The experience is designed to grow today’s high caliber individuals into tomorrow’s future leaders. The program provides participants the opportunity to develop leadership skills, build business acumen, gain self-awareness and participate in focused learning events with a variety of leaders across the organization in preparation for a successful career at Starkey.

The Rotational Operations Immersion Program is a two-year experience consisting of three, 8-month rotations with the potential to add a fourth rotation at an international location. The program will begin in June 2021 and provide participants exposure to different functions within Starkey Operations including Supply Planning, Supply Management and Quality. For individuals with engineering degree, engineering roles in Operations may also be included (Manufacturing Engineering, Continuous Improvement and Lean/Six Sigma, and Quality Engineering as examples). In addition to job responsibilities, program participants will complete a business project during their two-year experience, have mentorship opportunities and will participate in custom learning opportunities developed specifically for program participants. Upon successful completion in the program, participants will gain full-time placement in Starkey.

While job duties will vary depending on the rotation, general accountabilities in each experience will be:

Supply Planning: Enable Starkey Growth through agility of Starkey Supply Chain network by orchestrating and empowering manufacturing & supply chain teams to focus on Value-Stream work that transforms the customer experience.

• Support Sales, Inventory and Operations Planning (SIOP) process
• Accountable for product availability, backorder, inventory management and global distribution network
• Develop working relationships with regional supply chain throughout world, cross-business partners and key functional areas to continue to build the organization.
• Ability to integrate production capabilities and delivery calendars into supply/inventory plans using multiple methodologies; perform lean problem solving within group/team and cross-functional environment.
• Set up and maintain master data across multiple planning and execution systems understanding connectivity between the systems

Supply Management: Drive continuous improvement of Quality, Cost, Velocity, Risk Mitigation, and Innovation through cross-functional collaboration and partnerships with strategic suppliers to deliver extraordinary customer value and sustainable growth.

• Place purchase orders with suppliers for the acquisition of production material as required by forecast and the production schedule, while ensuring system accuracy for planning parameters.
• Negotiate and partner with suppliers in the areas of schedule attainment, lead-time improvement, supply chain simplification, and inventory management techniques.
• Monitor supplier commitments and status of open purchase orders to ensure on-time delivery of all materials, driving timely resolution, communication and mitigation of future potential issues.
• Expedite or defer orders as required based upon schedule/inventory changes.
• Coordinate material flows throughout product/BOM changes, obsolescence, and new product introduction.
• Participate in key supplier business reviews and provide feedback on performance and improvement opportunities.

Quality: Provide best in class Quality products that meet and exceed customer expectations.

• Conduct Internal or Supplier Audits to confirm compliance and effectiveness of Quality Management System.
• Partner with R&D and Suppliers to qualify and approve new components for use and prevent future defects
• Problem solving – Lead cross functional CAPA (Corrective and Preventive Action) teams to successful root cause identification and elimination.

Education, Work Experience, & Knowledge

• A BS in engineering, operations management, supply chain management or equivalent undergraduate degree with a GPA of 3.0 or higher required.
• Engineering Degree in Mechanical, Electrical or Industrial & Manufacturing preferred
• Legally authorized to work in the United States now and in the future

Skills & Abilities

• Desire to establish a career with Starkey and aspiration for future career growth
• Ability to build collaborative relationships and work effectively within a team
• Ability to work cross-functionally and internationally
• Ability to work with multiple levels across the organization
• Exceptional problem solving, decision making and analytical skills
• Possess skillful oral and written communication
• Possess a high level of accountability
• Results oriented, strong sense of ownership, and committed to achieving meaningful results.
• Ability to adapt to a very high-paced environment.
• Excellent organizational skills required
• Demonstrated leadership potential through internships, academic departments, clubs, research projects, etc.
• Previous leadership experience from school activities
• Willing to do a rotation outside of Operations and outside of location/geography of hire preferred