Shepherd General - Cheltenham Downs Farm

Shepherd General

Bring your passion and motivation for farming to this shepherding role, great opportunity on a diverse livestock farm.

The opportunity

We're looking for a Shepherd General to join our team at Cheltenham Downs. Whether you're starting your farming career or you already have experience, this is a great opportunity to build your skills, gain experience across all areas of the farm, and become part of a supportive team.

You'll be part of a close-knit team of five, working alongside an experienced Farm Manager who will support your development and help you work towards your career goals. You'll have the opportunity to take on a variety of responsibilities, learn new skills and build your confidence across the farm.

You don't need to have years of experience – we're open to people at different stages of their farming journey and will provide the support you need to succeed.

This is a drive in – drive out position.

Your key responsibilities will include:

• Caring for and managing livestock, including day-to-day stock work
• Supporting animal health and welfare
• General farm maintenance
• Fencing and other farm development work
• Working as part of the wider farm team to get the job done safely and well

About you

You're passionate about farming, love working with livestock, and want to be part of a team that gets results. You're practical and always looking for ways to do the job better.

You will:

• Enjoy working with animals and take their welfare seriously
• Ideally, you'll have a couple of capable working dogs
• Be organised, reliable, and self-motivated in your daily tasks
• Communicate clearly and work well as part of a team
• Be comfortable keeping accurate records and using farm technology (or keen to learn)
• Take a proactive approach to health, safety, and looking after farm assets
• Have a valid restricted or full driver licence

The Pāmu farm

Cheltenham Downs is a 1050 effective ha Sheep and Beef Pāmu farm, 25 minutes from Palmerston North. It is an important finishing operation which has stock supplied from other Pāmu breeding farms within the North Island. We have approximately 25,000 lambs finished year-round, plus grazing of ewe hoggets and dairy heifer replacements from Pāmu Farms.

About us

Pāmu Landcorp Farming Limited is a State-Owned Enterprise with over 110 farms across New Zealand. Our purpose is to lead the delivery of innovative and sustainable agriculture solutions for future generations.

We're proud to have a supportive and inclusive culture at Pāmu, and we encourage applications from people who share our values – even if you don't tick every box.

Benefits

We care about your wellbeing - that's why we offer health and life insurance, enhanced parental leave benefits, and up to 4% KiwiSaver matching as part of a competitive salary package. You'll also receive an extra day of leave over Christmas, along with ongoing training and development to help you thrive.

Apply now

Applications close midnight Sunday 6 September 2026, and we will be interviewing candidates as we go.