Shelf Life Labs Intern

Location: Nijmegen, Netherlands. Full-time, 5–6-month internship starting in January/February 2027. EU working rights are required; EU students must be enrolled at a Dutch university for at least 50% of the internship, while non-EU students must be enrolled at a Dutch university for the full duration.

Company

Global food and beverage manufacturer with a portfolio of more than 200 brands, products sold in over 40 countries, and a focus on sustainable practices.

What you will do

• Develop and validate shelf-life protocols and prediction models for sauces in new packaging.
• Validate emulsions and non-emulsions across different recipes and packaging formats.
• Conduct chemical, physical, packaging, sensorial, and flavour analyses, including gas chromatography.
• Review relevant literature and perform factory-sample and laboratory analysis.
• Prepare and update shelf-life model reports and reports on new-packaging validation.
• Create periodic reports and presentations and share findings with the Innovation Centre and packaging-related departments.

Requirements

• Currently studying for a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Food Technology, Quality Management, Process Engineering, Food Chemistry, Food Microbiology, or Chemical Engineering.
• EU working rights through EU citizenship, study in the Netherlands, or a relevant student work visa.
• Relevant enrolment at a Dutch university for the required duration of the internship.
• Coursework in chromatography, including GC and HPLC, chemical analysis, water content, water activity, and rheometer use.
• Experience in laboratory analysis.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills and fluent English.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively, with curiosity, eagerness to learn, and accuracy.

Nice to have

• Experience in data modelling.
• Dutch or other additional languages.

Culture & Benefits

• One-to-one mentorship from an experienced colleague.
• Support for personal learning goals, experimentation, and professional growth.
• Opportunity to own individual projects and career development.
• Close intern community and a young, ambitious work environment, including online collaboration.
• Collaborative culture focused on ownership, learning, and sustainable performance.

Hiring process

• CV selection based on hard requirements, including EU working rights.
• Online Pymetrics assessment and video assessment.
• Online screening interview via Microsoft Teams followed by a hiring manager interview.
• The process typically takes 4–6 weeks.