Commercial Manager - Farming

Six Degrees Executive Pty Ltd; Melbourne; On-site; AUD 140,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Six Degrees Executive Pty Ltd in Hobart seeks a commercially minded finance leader to shape the farming operations' financial strategy. Reporting to the GM Commercial Finance, you’ll move from reliable reporting to strategic commercial insight that informs major production and investment decisions.

You’ll partner with operational leaders, map cost drivers, and drive cost savings across feed, labour, energy and overheads.

Qualifications

• Experience in agriculture or high-volume manufacturing with costing expertise.
• Proven track record in process mapping and change delivery.
• Ability to lead a remote-based team and navigate ambiguity.

Responsibilities

• Lead the savings program and track against baseline.
• Build cost visibility across spend, translate into actions.
• Own performance reporting, budgets and forecasts.
• Model production scenarios to inform investments.
• Develop improved processes and automate reporting.
• Lead and grow a small finance team at a key site.

Skills

Strategic finance

Budgeting & forecasting

Costing and cost drivers

Stakeholder management

Leadership

Education

CA or CPA qualification

Tools

Power BI

Snowflake

AI tools

Job description

About the company Our client is a well-established Australian food producer with operations across farming, processing and supply. Their business covers every stage of production, giving their people exposure to a wide and varied operation. The culture is practical and down to earth, shaped by people who work hands‑on in the field, and the team values getting things done. It is a business that backs its people to take ownership, find better ways of working and grow with the organisation.

About the role This is a chance to shape how one of Australia’s leading integrated food producers runs its farming operations. The business is investing in its commercial finance function under a newly appointed GM Commercial Finance. Reporting to them, you’ll lead the shift from reliable reporting to commercial insight that drives the big decisions across the largest part of the business.

Key Responsibilities: You’ll be the go‑to commercial partner for the General Managers across the agricultural operations, with a seat at the table on major decisions. Your focus is on understanding what drives performance across the full production cycle and turning it into clear, practical action. That means understanding cost drivers, challenging how things are done, and identifying the commercial priorities that make the biggest difference. Working closely with operational leaders, you’ll explain the numbers in plain language and help them make better calls on production, investment and cost.

• Lead a savings program: own the agricultural savings pipeline, with a clear target to deliver and savings tracked against baseline.
• Cost visibility: build clear visibility of spend across feed, labour, energy and overheads, and turn it into action.
• Own the numbers: lead performance reporting, budgets and forecasts, including cost per kg, production yields and inventory values.
• Model the options: test production and supply scenarios to quantify their impact on earnings and cash, and support capital investment business cases.
• Build better ways of working: map and improve processes, and use Power BI, Snowflake and AI tools to automate reporting and create a single source of truth. The business isn’t held back by a legacy system, so you can move quickly.
• Lead and grow a team: develop a small finance team, including a newly created business partner role at a key regional site.

Why it’s compelling:

• Real influence in a large, vertically integrated business with operations from farm to shelf
• A function being built up, so you’ll shape it and help grow it
• Clear succession potential into the GM Commercial Finance role, plus sideways moves across the business’s commercial manager roles

About you: You’re a commercially minded finance leader who thinks strategically but is happy to roll your sleeves up. You relate easily to people at every level, from the field to the executive team, and can influence across the business to get things done. You’re energised by the chance to build something rather than maintain the status quo. This is a full‑time, on‑site role in Hobart, with some flexibility once relationships are established, so you’re either already based in Hobart or open to relocating for the right opportunity.

• Experience in agriculture or high-volume, complex manufacturing, with a strong understanding of cost drivers and product costing
• Track record of mapping processes and making change happen
• Comfortable with ambiguity and making decisions with incomplete information
• Learning agility, with the ability to apply what you’ve seen in other industries
• Experience leading and developing a team, including people based remotely
• CA or CPA qualification preferred, but demonstrated application matters more

Six Degrees Executive acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which we work and live. We are also committed to equal opportunity and strive to promote diversity, inclusion, belonging, flexibility, and accessibility in all that we do.

Should you require assistance in your interactions with us or through a recruitment process, please let us know so we can provide adjustments for you.