Plant Manager - Cambridge Further Processing

Inghams Chickens; Cambridge; On-site; AUD 146,000 - 195,000; Full time

Job summary

Inghams Chickens in Cambridge, NZ, seeks a Plant Manager to lead day-to-day operations of the processing facility and drive continuous improvement aligned with network strategy. You will oversee 5 direct reports and sit on the Senior Leadership Group.

The role focuses on food safety, quality, production planning, budgeting, and delivering efficient performance while building capability across engineering and production teams.

Qualifications

• Degree or trade qualification in Engineering, Supply Chain Management, Agriculture Business, Economics, Business or similar field
• MBA is advantageous
• Proven ability to develop, communicate and implement production plans to budgets and service delivery
• Experience leading large high performance team across multiple disciplines
• Experience working within Food Production or FMCG would be highly advantageous
• Demonstrated implementation in TPM, LEAN/Six Sigma and CMMS
• Strong interpersonal skills to influence senior stakeholders
• Ability to coach and develop others and drive cultural change

Responsibilities

• Coach the team to ensure understanding of Food Safety and Quality requirements
• Inspire safety with a clear vision and reduce risks
• Lead continuous improvement in plant performance and efficiency
• Build engineering capability to support growth
• Lead projects on time, within budget and framework
• Support new product development with scheduling and resourcing of trials
• Coordinate production demand, supply and labour planning
• Reduce turnover and optimise labour cost base
• Manage budget and apply levers to hit budget
• Comply with company policies and SOPs
• Lead audit processes with support services and auditors

Skills

Production planning

Budgeting

Team leadership

Cross-disciplinary leadership

Food/FMCG experience

Lean Six Sigma

CMMS

Stakeholder management

Coaching & development

Education

Engineering / Trade qualification

MBA (advantageous)

Job description

Plant Manager - Cambridge Further Processing

Posted: 30/09/2026

Closing Date: 30/10/2026

Job Type: Full Time

Location: NZ - Cambridge

Job Category: Operations

We've been proudly bringing joy to tables and smiles to faces with the delicious food we've been crafting for over 100 years.

A large part of our strong growth and success is because we're always looking for new ways to do things and thinking about how we can create a better, more sustainable future world together.

Our success as an industry leader in providing deliciously good food means we can continue to invest in our future as we work towards becoming Australia and New Zealand's first choice for poultry.

Job Description

PURPOSE OF THE POSITION

Our Plant Manager is responsible for leading the day to day running and continuous improvement of the plants performance. As well as the implementation of a medium - long term strategic site plan in line with Network strategy. You will be leading 5 direct reports as well as forming part of the Senior Leadership Group of Inghams

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Coach the team to ensure a clear understanding of the requirements relating toFood Safety and Quality
• Inspire others with a compelling safety vision and demonstrate your commitment to reduce risks by motivating and encouraging your team
• Lead continuous improvement in plant performance and efficiency, refining planning tools to optimise network cost and utilisation
• Build engineering performance, increasing capability to support growth across the site
• Leads projects and completes projects on time and within framework and to budget
• Supports the new product development team through appropriate scheduling and resourcing of trials
• Work with planning to map out production demand, supply and labour requirements
• Reduce turnover and ensure labour cost base is the most productive, efficient and cost competitive for the industry
• Manage, monitor and keep within budget, utilising appropriate levers to achieve budget where possible
• Comply with all company policies and standard operating procedures
• Lead audit process’s with support services and auditors

MORE ABOUT YOU

• Degree or Trade qualified in Engineering, Supply Chain Management, Agriculture Business, Economics, Business or similar field
• MBA is advantageous
• Proven ability to develop, communicate and implement production plans to budgets and service delivery
• Experience leading large high performance team across multiple disciplines.
• Experience working within the Food Production or FMCG would be highly advantageous
• Demonstrated implementation in any of the following, TPM, LEAN/Six Sigma and CMMS
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to develop relationships and influence senior stakeholders internal and external to the organisation
• Ability to coach and develop others, monitor and measure performance and provide direct feedback. Implementing cultural change through leadership, engagement and coaching

We’re looking for people who arecurious, caring, courageous and committed to join us; people who want to contribute their best work every single dayand continue delivering deliciously good food that’s…Always Good!

Inghams values diverse experiences. If your skills align with some but not all of the listed requirements, we encourage you to still apply and explore the opportunity to join our team

PLEASE NOTE - Only candidates currently in NZ and with valid working rights need apply