FireFly Farms Food Safety Intern

Job Title: Production & Food Safety Intern
Job Status: Temporary
Full-time (35-40 hours/week); Up to 12-weeks
Job Location: 107 S. Main Street, Accident, MD 21520
Garrett County, MD
Travel Requirements: Candidate must have transportation between their temporary housing
and the work site. No other transportation is required.
Compensation: From $17.00 per hour
Start Date: Flexible; target start date is Monday, May 22, 2023
Evaluation Period: Ongoing with weekly supervisory check-ins
Manager(s): Direct report to Director of Operations, Dan Porter
Key Internal Collaborators: Bryan Koester (SQF Practitioner)
Moranda Bowman (Senior Cheese Maker)
Key External Collaborators: Professor Rohan Tikekar, University of Maryland and academic
sponsor.
Benefits: Temporary housing support by FireFly Farms Inc.
Tuition provided for SQF training and certification and good
manufacturing practices (GMPs) by MIPS grant
Priority: Leadership, team building, and company culture objective:
In addition to the role-specific objectives, the intern is expected to be an educated, informed, and
engaged member of the FireFly Farms’ operations team. In order to do so, employee must evidence
the following competencies:
• Accountability. Set and keep regular hours. Hours are flexible, but the intern is expected to
establish a regular 5-day schedule and adhere to that schedule for the duration of the internship.
• Achieve trusted status as a member of a small and long-established team. Be a fluent and facile
communicator as it relates to issues and opportunities as well as interpersonal conflicts or
differing views that may arise in the workplace; be able to give and receive feedback
quickly and effectively.
• Effectively manage time and be accountable to commitments.
• Effectively use workplace support tools (Gmail, G-Suite, MS Word, MS Excel, etc.) to produce
coherent artefacts and deliverables in support of internship objectives. Effectively use these
deliverables to communicate the content of work to management and co-workers.
• Fluent understanding of the FireFly Farms’ corporate history, values, and brand promise.
Specifically, its commitment to excellence in cheese making, support for small farming
and animal welfare, food system repair and strengthening, and 3-pronged sustainability
(economic, social, and environmental).

• Fluent understanding of the FireFly Farms’ product-line of cheeses; facility and ease in
describing each cheese, its character, the basics of its manufacturing, its aging/ripening behavior,
and its awards and distinctions.
Internship Objectives:
1. Serve as cheese making apprentice and provide production support in FireFly Farms make-room.
2. Comply with FireFly Farms’ operational and safety requirements
3. Support SQF Practitioner with food safety compliance and operational support.
a. Complete SQF certification training.
b. Perform CCP verification activities.
c. Perform environmental monitoring activities.
4. Support data collection and analytics.
a. Perform milk compositional analysis under the supervision of senior cheese making
staff.
b. Support other QC-related testing and analyses as necessary.
Performance evaluation and professional expectations
1. The candidate is required to adhere to FireFly’s Farms’ operational and safety requirement.
2. Individuals must have the capacity to demonstrate diversity, equity, inclusion and respect in
accordance with the college's commitment to DEIR.
3. This position is subject to a University of Maryland Background check. Employment is
contingent upon successful completion and clearance of the Criminal History Record Check.
4. The candidate is expected demonstrate high level of professional and ethical standards.
5. The candidate will meet weekly with Dr. Tikekar to discuss their progress towards internship
objectives and discuss any issues that may arise.
6. The candidate with also meet with FireFly Farms supervisors on a routine basis to discuss
progress and any issues that may arise.
7. Following the conclusion of the internship, the candidate will present a written report of their
internship experience, but redact any proprietary information based on consultation with FireFly
Farms Inc.
8. Supervisors at FireFly Farms Inc. will also present their letter of evaluation for the candidate to
Dr. Tikekar.