Career Opportunities

Co-op Responsibilities

Our co-op program at Kohler Co. provides career-oriented individuals with important, on-the-job experience that enables them to build a solid foundation for future employment with our global organizations.

College Co-ops are available in a wide range of disciplines, including:

• Ceramic Engineering
• Design Engineering   
• Quality
• Manufacturing Engineering
• Environmental Health and Safety
• Human Resources
• Software Engineering
• Interior Design

Ceramic Engineering
Ceramic Engineering co-ops are involved with many aspects of the ceramic process. As a co-op, you are assigned an array of projects and responsibilities.

These assignments include:

• developing procedures to improve product, process and/or quality
• assisting staff within new glaze development or slip formulation by conducting various tests on test batches
• solving quality problems related to firing and glazing

In addition, you will be working with binder systems and rheological property control, glaze body systems and pigment loading.

At the end of your co-op assignment, you should have had the opportunity to utilize engineering fundamentals combined with hands-on experience.

This co-op opportunity will help you gain a better understanding of the field to support your ceramic engineering career.

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Design Engineering
Design Engineering co-ops are involved in a variety of projects and given many responsibilities throughout their time at Kohler Co.

As a co-op you are to execute assigned design engineering studies achieving appropriate technical results while utilizing engineering fundamentals.

You are also involved in supporting design verification testing, including writing laboratory work requests, overseeing test progress and providing direct involvement in test activities.

Other responsibilities include preparing summary documentation including conclusions and recommendations and communicating results to design engineers.

You will be responsible for maintaining project records, preparing technical reports on completed tasks, and documenting data and reports in the Engineering Archive.

The projects and assignments that you are engaged in will provide you with a solid foundation to support your design engineering career.

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Quality (Process & Supplier)
Quality co-ops will assist Quality Engineers in cost-saving projects involving process improvement, error proofing and new product implementation.

As a Quality co-op, you will also be responsible for operation certification review and recertification using Process Failure Mode Effects Analysis (PFMEA), control plan, capability analysis, gauge R&R (Repeatability & Reproducibility), operator instructions, training and feedback loop.

These opportunities will help prepare and shape your experiences as you move into your career.

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Manufacturing Engineering
Manufacturing Engineering co-ops have the exciting opportunity to gain valuable hands-on experience in our manufacturing environment.

As a co-op, you will assist process engineers in supporting daily production, performing process capability studies and gauging R&Rs (Repeatability & Reproducibility).

Other responsibilities include managing projects with design, quotation and testing; creating and modifying CNC programs on machine tools; as well as determining machining cell layouts along with ergonomic improvements.

The hands-on experience that you are involved in will provide a solid foundation to support your future manufacturing engineering career.

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Environmental Health and Safety
Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) co-ops will experience a wide array of projects and assignments ranging from conducting industrial hygiene air monitoring or noise surveys to developing and implementing EHS programs.

These programs include waste handling, pollution control device operation, hazardous material handling, lockout/tagout, confined space entry and spill response.

As a co-op, you will also perform chemical inventories in production areas and record results into a computer database.

These experiences will provide a strong experience base and will support your career in Environmental Health and Safety.

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Human Resources
Human Resources co-ops will gain valuable experience in various areas of HR.

Partnering with HR Specialists and HR Managers, you will assist hiring managers with the identification, interviewing and selection of hourly and exempt-level positions.

You will assist in driving HR processes and performing new employee orientations, which will give you hands-on opportunities to develop interpersonal communication skills.

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Software Engineering
Software Engineering co-ops will experience a wide range of assignments that affect all of the Company's day-to-day electronic activities.

As a co-op, you will have many responsibilities including:

• assisting the Software Engineering group in the development and testing of software
• working on the design of embedded software or Windows-based applications programs
• working with various communication protocols and control algorithms

At the end of your co-op term, you will have developed the skills required to work in a structured software process environment.

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Interior Design
Interior Design co-ops will be involved in many exciting design projects during your term at Kohler Co.

You will be involved with organizing and assembling “idea” resource files to research alternative sources and solutions that address presented design challenges.

Other responsibilities will include space planning, furniture specifications, coordinating office relocations and assembling presentation boards depicting finish materials and drawings for hospitality and office spaces.

Participating in these tasks will give you hands-on experience in your field of study and support your Interior Design career.

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