{"id":4271028,"url":"https://alion.io/job/ef-education-first-operations-trainee","title":"Operations Trainee","company":{"id":93438,"name":"EF Education First","domain":"ef.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/ef","size_band":"5000+","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Oracle","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":77,"open_postings":39,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0.923,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":29,"computed_at":"2026-11-12T10:38:37Z"}},"role":"Early Careers","role_family":"Early Careers","seniority":"intern","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Zurich, Switzerland"],"countries":["CH"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-11-13T10:43:44Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-11-13","last_verified_at":"2026-11-13T17:49:41Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":0,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":0},"description":"Procurement Trainee - EF Zurich\nWith one shared mission of opening the world through education, EF is a multicultural and multilingual community of team members working across 55 countries all around the world. Bring your talents, your perspective, and your ambition. In return, we offer a vibrant, dynamic working environment, and a fulfilling international career.\nEF Educational Tours makes it possible for thousands of North American students every year to see the world and discover new cultures through our professionally guided tours. We are seeking a proactive, analytical, and detail-oriented individual to join our Operations department in Zurich as a Procurement Trainee.\nWHAT YOU WILL DO:\nAs a Procurement Trainee, you will support our team in sourcing, coordinating, and managing accommodation and transportation services for our educational tours across Europe. Working closely with suppliers and internal stakeholders, you will help ensure we deliver high-quality travel experiences while maintaining competitive costs and operational efficiency.\nThis is a full-time, fixed-term trainee position, offering hands-on experience in procurement, supplier relationship management, and operational planning within an international environment.\nKEY RESPONSIBILITIES:\nSourcing and Supplier Management: Support the identification, evaluation, and coordination of suppliers, including assisting with negotiations and maintaining positive supplier relationships.\nCost and Quality Management: Help monitor supplier pricing, contractual conditions, and service quality to ensure competitive costs and a positive customer experience.\nInventory and Allocation Management: Assist with analyzing demand, securing inventory, and allocating accommodation and transportation services to meet operational needs.\nMarket Research and Analysis: Research supplier markets, industry trends, and opportunities to improve our procurement processes and offerings.\nData and Reporting: Analyze procurement data, track costs, and prepare reports to support informed decision-making and operational improvements.\nCross-Functional Collaboration: Work closely with internal teams and external suppliers to coordinate procurement activities, resolve challenges, and support operational priorities.\nRisk and Safety Management: Support supplier compliance processes, monitor potential risks, and escalate safety or service concerns when necessary.\nProcess Improvement and Administration: Maintain accurate supplier records, contracts, allocations, and invoices while identifying opportunities to improve tools and processes.\nOccasional travel may be required to support procurement activities.\nREQUIREMENTS:\nStrong communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to collaborate across teams and cultures.\nAnalytical mindset with excellent attention to detail.\nStrong organizational skills and the ability to manage competing priorities.\nProactive, solution-oriented approach with a willingness to take initiative.\nAdaptable, flexible, and comfortable working in a fast-paced environment.\nCurious and eager to learn, with an interest in procurement, supplier management, and international business.\nPassionate about educational travel and delivering great customer experiences.\nFluent in English. Additional European languages are a plus.\nWHY YOU WILL LOVE WORKING WITH US\nPeople at EF make things happen. We encourage you to take full ownership of your work, regardless of your level or experience. EF team members often say we operate like the world's largest startup because this boundless entrepreneurial spirit is built into our organization's DNA.\nBenefits and staff perks\nFitness Center accessible only for EF staff.\nNetwork and growth opportunities.\nDiscounts at a wide range of local restaurants, cafés, hotels, and other hot spots in Zurich.","description_format":"text","description_chars":3836,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":null,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":null,"security_clearance":false,"languages":[{"language":"English","level":"Advanced (C1)","optional":false}]},"benefits":["Growth opportunities"],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Travel Agencies","Higher Education","Language Learning"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-11-13T17:49:41Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":86,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.86,"p_room":1,"age_days":0,"expected_fill_days":29,"reasons":["conf:3","win:early","comp:junior,brand"],"computed_at":"2026-11-13T20:50:39Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/ef-education-first-operations-trainee","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/ef-education-first-operations-trainee.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-11-13T20:50:39Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":41536,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-11-14T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.1,"usd":0.01,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":93438},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=93438"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fef-education-first-operations-trainee"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"free","price":{"credits":0,"usd":0},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fef-education-first-operations-trainee"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.1,"usd":0.01},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fef-education-first-operations-trainee"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/ef-education-first-operations-trainee\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fef-education-first-operations-trainee"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":4271028}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"ef.com","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":4271028},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); https://alion.io/mcp with an Alion account has everything. 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