Corporate Development Intern, MBA, Summer 2021

Company Background

Since 2012, founder James Rogers has been on a mission to tackle the global Food Waste Crisis with a goal of providing a more sustainable, equitable path forward for the global food system. Apeel is an edible protective layer that extends fruits’ and vegetables’ shelf-life. Apeel-covered fruits and vegetables spoil slower and require less refrigeration, and the plant-derived peel reduces the use of plastic and other products harmful to the planet. Apeel pulls material from the natural skins, peels, seeds, and pulp found on fruits and vegetables, to create the extra protective peel. The thin layer slows down water loss and oxidation, which can help keep those fruits and vegetables from browning and spoiling.

Company Culture

At Apeel Sciences, we look to nature to help the global food system improve quality, reduce waste, and ensure an abundant future for our planet. Apeel is comprised of highly talented, deeply passionate, and tight-knit team members who are excited by the opportunity to challenge the status quo, obsessed with solving problems, and truly seek to positively change how we feed the world.

Our people are fundamental to our company’s success and continued growth. If you are ready for an opportunity to jump in, take ownership, and drive meaningful outcomes in a highly collaborative, communicative, and dynamic environment, we would love to connect with you!

About This Role

The Corporate Development team is responsible for identifying, evaluating and developing new business opportunities that leverage Apeel’s core competencies or unique supply chain positioning and align with Apeel’s mission/vision. Working with cross-functional team leaders within the company, Corp Dev realizes new business initiatives through organic development, strategic partnerships, joint ventures, investments and acquisitions in geographies worldwide. Corp Dev is also responsible for gathering, analyzing, and using information collected on competitors to shape Apeel’s corporate strategy. Corp Dev’s goal is to enhance the company’s competitiveness by identifying disruptive market trends, supporting new corporate development initiatives, and informing timely competitive responses.   

We are seeking a motivated Corporate Development Intern who will be responsible for assessing 1-2 new growth initiative(s) for Apeel. The project will require a mix of quantitative and qualitative research (both from external primary and secondary resources), financial and risk assessment, whitespace analysis/competitive landscape, partner/M&A recommendation (if applicable), and insights gathering from key stakeholders within Apeel. In addition to giving an analytical assessment, the intern will submit a go-to-market strategy and practical next steps. The program dates for summer 2021 are from June 14th - August 20th (10 weeks). To qualify for this program applicants must be currently enrolled in an accredited US college or university and have at least one semester remaining following the internship program. Additionally during the program dates interns must reside in a state where Apeel is registered to do business: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Washington or Wisconsin.

What You’ll Do

• Brainstorm new areas of growth for Apeel, in line with the company’s goals and sustainability mission
• Vet and assess 1-2 business opportunities based on a rigorous set of evaluation criteria, leveraging a mix of primary/secondary research and Lean Startup Methodologies
• Manage industry and product research as well as comparable analysis
• Conduct due diligence on prospect partners or M&A targets
• Create and execute presentation materials and/or senior team memos

What You Bring 

• Are currently pursuing an MBA degree
• Entrepreneurial mentality, can-do attitude, inquiring mindset
• Ability to synthesize massive amounts of information into clear insights and communicate simple narratives (orally, visually and numerically) which bring alignment and inspire action
• Desire to work in a small-team environment; ability to wear a number of hats (banker, strategist, in-house entrepreneur)
• Self-directed and ability to work with minimal supervision. Highly self-motivated
• Previous experience or coursework in entrepreneurship, finance, accounting, economics or other closely related fields
• Proficiency using Microsoft Office programs
• Strong critical thinking and problem-solving skills

Apeel believes that the scale of our impact is determined by the teams that work with us. As such, we seek to build high-performing teams of people from various experiences and backgrounds who can collectively push our company into new realms. We seek a diverse pool of applicants and consider all qualified candidates regardless of race, ancestry, color, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, religion, national origin, citizenship, disability, Veteran status, marital status, or any other protected status. If you have a special need or disability that requires accommodation, please let us know.

Please note that Apeel Sciences does not accept unsolicited resumes from recruiters or employment agencies. In the event of a recruiter or agency submitting a resume or candidate without a signed agreement being in place, we explicitly reserve the right to pursue and hire such candidates without any financial obligation to the recruiter or agency. Any unsolicited resumes, including those submitted directly to hiring managers, are deemed to be the property of Apeel Sciences.