Mars 2024 Graduate Program - Research & Development

The Role

Are you excited about kicking off the first step of your career and want to play an important role in our Research and Development team at Mars? Are you humble, driven for success, and someone who can turn feedback into a personal learning opportunity?  Do you operate by a set of values and care about the impact your work has on our global communities? If this sounds like you and you’re ready to learn and grow with a company that values your development and career, we want to hear from you! 

Our Research & Development Graduate role is a two year, accelerated development program designed to set you up for success on your path to becoming a future leader at Mars. You will develop across two assignments within the R&D function, which are real roles, delivering real results for Mars.  

Working at our Mars site in Ballarat, VIC, where our teams develop the likes of Maltesers, M&M’s, and Mars, you will join our Research and Development team and have the opportunity to gain exposure to a variety of roles across Packaging, Quality and Food Safety, and Product Development.

Key Responsibilities 

• Product Development: Manage product innovation projects along with implementation of continuous improvement activities, into our factories and markets.
• Packaging Development: Manage packaging innovation projects along with implementation of continuous improvement activities, into our factories and markets.
• Process Development: Manage process innovation projects along with implementation of continuous improvement activities, into our factories and markets.
• Quality & Food Safety: Manage implementation and improvement of Quality & Food Safety standards along with driving quality initiatives to protect our consumers, brands and business.

What does a successful Mars graduate look like? 

• Energetic and Passionate: a love for the food industry is a must!
• Humble: you understand that success comes from teamwork and you enjoy celebrating wins with your teammates
• Driven: Delivering tangible outcomes is important to you and you are passionate about ensuring the role you play is contributing to the bigger picture
• Analytical: You are logical and methodical when identifying the best solution for a difficult problem. You won’t stop at the first answer and apply critical thinking to look beyond the obvious and understand the issue at hand
• Curious: You are curious about the world you work in and want to explore new ideas and new ways of working. You understand that there can be many failed attempts before finding the best way
• Adaptable: You thrive in a changing environment and can adapt when things are up in the air. You enjoy the challenge of unfamiliar tasks.

What can you expect from Mars Wrigley?

• Genuine career progression with a focus on you and your career goals. Best-in-class learning and development support from day one, including access to our in-house Mars University.
• Global health and wellbeing program to support flexibility and work-life balance.
• Opportunity to make a difference with our volunteer and ambassador programs.
• Be part of a company that is contributing to making the world a better place today and every day through our sustainable generation plan.
• A culture that offers collaboration, and leadership and rewards you for the role you play within Mars.

Who are we looking for

• University students from a variety of degrees within Food Science, Nutrition, Science, Engineering (especially Chemical Engineering) would be highly regarded.
• Passion for FMCG industry
• Drive to become the leader of tomorrow in your field of interest
• Humble and driven graduates who are ready to learn
• AU/NZ citizenship or permanent residency

About Us:

Mars is behind some of the best loved brands in the world across multiple segments including Mars Pet Nutrition, Mars Wrigley, Mars Food and Mars Edge. We’re a family business that’s been making products for people (and the pets that people love) for more than 100 years. We’re 130,000+ self-proclaimed Martians—we’re pet obsessed, confectionery lovers, foodies, dream chasers and community builders— working across more than 75 different countries.

For more information visit careers.mars.com  

Mars Australia & New Zealand is an equal opportunity employer committed to providing a working environment that embraces and values diversity and inclusion.