Farm Operations Manager

Humans of Agriculture; Dubbo; On-site; AUD 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Humans of Agriculture, in partnership with The Little Big Dairy Co., seeks a Farm Operations Manager for a Central West NSW property near Dubbo. You’ll link family owners with the farm team, coordinating people, machinery and priorities to keep daily work on track.

You’ll oversee centre pivot irrigation, bores and pumps, fertiliser, tractors, stock work and repairs, with dairy experience valued but not essential.

Qualifications

• Dairy farming or broadacre farming experience preferred.
• Experience supervising or leading a farm team is advantageous.
• Strong communication and leadership skills are essential.

Responsibilities

• Set daily and weekly priorities with the owners and plan tasks.
• Allocate work across the farm team and ensure on-time completion.
• Keep owners updated on progress and issues.
• Train and develop team members, including seasonal staff.
• Foster a productive, accountable team culture.
• Troubleshoot farm, machinery and irrigation issues.
• Organise repairs and quotes for contractors.
• Coordinate seasonal contractors for silage, hay, sowing.
• Join the team on practical tasks when needed.

Skills

Dairy farming experience

Team leadership

Problem solving

Communication

Education

Farm management experience/education

Tools

Centre pivot irrigation

Machinery maintenance

Stock management

Job description

Humans of Agriculture have proudly partnered with The Little Big Dairy Co. to run a specialist recruitment search for a Farm Operations Manager in Central West NSW.

The Little Big Dairy Co. is a family-owned dairy about 15 minutes from Dubbo. They milk around 1,200 cows year-round, and the farm also runs centre pivot irrigation, cropping, fodder production and feed-out. What makes this business different is that it’s paddock to bottle. A large share of the milk is processed in their own Little Big factory, and their brand is now on shelves in Sydney, Newcastle, Coffs Harbour and Canberra.

The Opportunity

The Farm Operations Manager will be the trusted link between the family owners and the farm team. You’ll report directly to the owners and work closely with them on daily priorities, projects and repairs.

You’ll be out on farm every day. You’ll coordinate people and machinery, solve problems and step in with your own experience when it’s needed. You’ll oversee work across centre pivot irrigation, bores and pumps, fertiliser spreading, tractors and telehandlers, mixer wagons and feed-out, silage, fencing, welding and repairs, and stock work.

The role doesn’t involve routine milking. The whole operation exists to support the milking herd, so dairy experience is valuable, but it isn’t essential.

Key Responsibilities

• Work with the owners to set daily and weekly priorities, projects and tasks
• Allocate work across the farm team, communicate the plan clearly and follow up so jobs are done properly and on time
• Keep the owners updated on progress, issues and new priorities
• Train, support and develop team members, including less-experienced and seasonal staff
• Build a positive, productive and accountable team culture
• Spot problems early and troubleshoot farm, machinery and irrigation issues
• Make sure feed rations are followed and machinery is maintained
• Organise repairs, contractors and specialist help, and get quotes when needed
• Coordinate seasonal contractors for silage, hay and sowing
• Work alongside the team on practical jobs when needed

About You

Practical farming experience, leadership and attitude are the key attributes we’re looking for.

You’ll have the experience and awareness to see what needs doing. If a fence needs fixing, a pivot isn’t running right or a job hasn’t been finished properly, you’ll make sure it gets sorted. Sometimes you’ll fix it yourself. More often, you’ll get the right person onto it.

You’ll also bring:

• Experience in dairy or broadacre farming, ideally including team supervision or farm management
• Enough practical knowledge across machinery, irrigation and general farm work to oversee others and spot when something isn’t right
• Strong communication skills and natural, respectful leadership
• Comfort setting clear expectations and following up when things haven’t been done
• Sound judgement on day-to-day decisions, and the sense to know when to escape to the owners
• A hands-on, can-do attitude

The Location

The farm sits between Dubbo and Narromine, so you get the space and lifestyle of a working farm with a regional city 15 minutes away. Dubbo has an airport with flights to Sydney, a base hospital, schools, sporting clubs, cafés and everything else you need day to day.

HOA Key Takeaways

Most dairy farmers send their milk off the farm and never see where it ends up. This family decided to do things differently. They built their own processing factory and their own brand, and now run their own fleet of trucks. Today you’ll find Little Big milk in fridges from Sydney and Newcastle to Coffs Harbour and Canberra. They’ve had their share of tough years, but they kept backing themselves and turned a family farm into a paddock-to-bottle success story. Whoever steps into this role becomes part of that story.

Process

At Humans of Agriculture, we pride ourselves on living up to our namesake by keeping the human element at the centre of how we recruit. Once we’ve reviewed applications, we’ll contact candidates of interest for a confidential conversation about the opportunity. It’s a two-way chat: we’ll share what we know about the role and the business, and you can ask us anything.

***Please note, candidates must have full Australian working rights to be considered for this opportunity***