Lead flagship Clandeboye site to deliver safe, efficient production and continuous improvement

Site Operations Manager - Clandeboye

At Fonterra Te Mātāpuna, we want everyone to feel they can be themselves. Whether you're early in your career or ready for your next step, Fonterra offers a unique opportunity to grow with a global dairy co-operative that values care, collaboration, and contribution. Owned by New Zealand dairy farmers and supported by a dedicated team, we are all working together to create a better future. Imagine tomorrow with us, where your career can grow, and you can create positive change.

Our Clandeboye site is Fonterra's largest manufacturing site, with 10 plants processing, at peak up to 13 million litres of milk per day through some of the biggest dryers in the world. We employ over 1,200 people across the value stream all bringing a diverse range of skills, expertise and thought to our operation.

We are seeking an exceptional and proven senior manufacturing leader as our next Site Operations Manager at our Clandeboye site, one of Fonterra's largest, most complex, and strategically significant manufacturing operations. This is a rare and significant leadership opportunity to lead a flagship operation that sits at the heart of our manufacturing network. You'll lead a diverse and complex operation producing multiple product streams while ensuring outstanding performance across safety, quality, people, customer outcomes, asset management, and financial delivery. As Site Operations Manager, you will play a key role in shaping the future of the site, driving performance improvements, building capability, and embedding a unified, high-performing culture across the operation. This is a role for a proven leader who can balance strategic thinking with operational excellence, inspire others through change, and confidently lead in a complex, high-risk manufacturing environment.

  • Deliver world-class safety, quality, operational, and financial performance.
  • Lead and develop a high-performing team through strong, visible leadership.
  • Drive strategic execution, transformation, and continuous improvement.
  • Optimise site assets, capability, and capital investment.
  • Build trusted relationships with key customers, communities, and stakeholders.
  • Champion a culture of accountability, safety, and operational excellence.

Success in this role will require visible leadership, sound judgement, and the ability to make effective risk-based decisions in a complex manufacturing environment. You will bring teams together around a shared vision, creating a culture that enables people and performance to thrive.

You are a seasoned operational leader with extensive experience leading large-scale manufacturing, food processing, dairy, or other complex industrial operations. You have successfully led through senior leadership teams, understand what excellence looks like in high-hazard environments, and know how to balance operational risk, commercial performance, and people leadership. You are a visible and authentic leader who creates clarity, builds trust, and inspires high performance. Equally comfortable setting long-term strategic direction and engaging directly with frontline teams, you know how to bring people on the journey and deliver lasting change. To be successful, you will bring:

  • Extensive senior leadership experience within large-scale manufacturing, processing, industrial, or operations environments.
  • Demonstrated success leading complex operations through multiple layers of leadership.
  • A strong track record of delivering outstanding safety, quality, operational, financial, and people outcomes.
  • Proven capability managing significant operational budgets, asset portfolios, and capital investment programmes.
  • Experience leading large-scale transformation, continuous improvement, and operational excellence initiatives.
  • Exceptional stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence and build credibility across all levels of an organisation and externally.
  • Strong commercial acumen and strategic capability, including the ability to balance short-term performance with long-term business objectives.

Above all, you are a leader who can bring people together behind a common purpose, develop capability, and deliver results. You will be motivated by the opportunity to lead one of Fonterra's most significant manufacturing operations and help shape its future success.

At Fonterra, our values of Good Together, Better Every Day, and Every Drop Counts, are for everyone – no matter your background, identify or experience. These values guide us in delivering exceptional outcomes for our farmers, customers, communities, and each other.

We care for our people globally. Our comprehensive benefits support your well-being, development, and work-life balance:

  • Fair and equitable pay
  • Health and well-being programs (medical, mental health support)
  • Professional development opportunities
  • Career growth support
  • Work-life balance options (flexible/hybrid working where possible)
  • Employee recognition
  • Support for community involvement and cultural connection

Does this sound good to you? Come join our whānau - bring your whole self, and let's solve for better together.

Inclusion is key to our Co-operative. We're building a team that reflects the diverse world we live in, believing it drives better decisions and innovation. We welcome applications from all backgrounds (ethnicities, genders, identities, orientations, ages, abilities, neurotypes, cultures, religions). Even if you don't meet every requirement listed, we encourage you to apply; we value your potential and growth. If you face accessibility issues or need accommodations during the process, please contact your recruiter. We ensure fair participation, allowing you to be at your best. Applications close at midnight on Sunday 23rd August 2026.

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