Electrical and Instrumentation Lead

Abbott; Pokeno; On-site; NZD 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Abbott, a global healthcare leader, is seeking an Electrical and Instrumentation Lead based in Pokeno, Waikato. You will oversee plant maintenance, drive a world-class culture, and ensure equipment safety, reliability, and cost-effective operation to meet manufacturing targets.

You will mentor maintenance staff, deploy the maintenance strategy, collaborate across departments, and own breakdown resolution and loss elimination. Abbott offers diverse opportunities and a supportive environment.

Qualifications

• NZQA Level 4 trade or equivalent (Mechanical or Electrical)
• CMMS software experience
• NZ qualified electrician
• Arc flash and/or hazardous area qualifications preferred
• NZCE, Dairy Degree or Engineering Diploma
• Strong coaching and team development skills
• Maintenance planning, scheduling and prioritisation capability
• Strong problem-solving and root cause analysis skills
• Ability to coordinate resources and manage equipment breakdowns effectively
• Strong stakeholder management and cross-functional collaboration skills
• Continuous improvement mindset focused on reliability and loss elimination
• Sound knowledge of maintenance systems, safety and compliance requirements

Responsibilities

• Lead maintenance staff to support a high-performing, safety and quality first culture.
• Deploy maintenance strategy by driving planning and scheduling of preventative and corrective maintenance activities.
• Collaborate with other area Maintenance Leads, Production Schedulers and Production Leads to plan, schedule, and execute site-wide work.
• Own resource coordination to ensure rapid and effective equipment breakdown resolution.
• Identify, minimize and eliminate maintenance- and breakdown-related losses across the facility.
• Build and maintain robust relationships with internal and external stakeholders across the processing plant.

Skills

Mechanical knowledge

Electrical knowledge

Root cause analysis

Stakeholder management

Education

NZQA Level 4 trade or equivalent

Tools

CMMS software

Job description

Abbott is a global healthcare leader, creating breakthrough science to improve people's health. We're always looking towards the future, anticipating changes in medical science and technology.

Our nutrition business develops science-based nutrition products for people of all ages, from helping babies and children grow, to keeping adult bodies strong and active. Millions of people around the world count on our leading brands, including Similac®, PediaSure®, Pedialyte®, Ensure® and Glucerna®, to help get the nutrients they need to live their healthiest life.

Working at Abbott

At Abbott, you can do work that matters, grow, and learn, care for yourself and family, be your true self and live a full life. You will have access to:

• Career development with an international company where you can grow the career you dream of.
• Benefits that support you and your family to stay healthy, financially secure, and supported throughout life's journey, including comprehensive medical insurance coverage, wellbeing support, and competitive rewards that recognize your contributions.
• A company recognized as a great place to work in dozens of countries around the world and named one of the most admired companies in the world by Fortune.

The Opportunity

As the Electrical and Instrumentation Lead, oversee operations within our production facility. In this role, you will be responsible for ensuring that all equipment operates safely, reliably, and is maintained cost-effectively to consistently meet our manufacturing targets. A core focus of this position is driving a world-class maintenance culture through leadership, asset optimization, and continuous improvement.

What You’ll Do

• Team Leadership & Mentoring: Guide, develop, and mentor operational and technical maintenance staff to support a high-performing, safety & quality first culture.
• Planning & Scheduling Deployment: Deploy and the plant's maintenance strategy by driving the planning and scheduling of both preventative and corrective maintenance activities.
• Cross-Department Collaboration: Partner closely with other area Maintenance Leads, Production Schedulers and Production Leads to effectively plan, schedule, and execute site-wide work.
• Breakdown Resolution: Take full ownership of internal and external resource coordination to ensure rapid and effective equipment breakdown resolution.
• Loss Elimination: Support to Identify, minimize, and eliminate maintenance- and breakdown-related operational losses across the facility.
• Stakeholder Management: Build and maintain robust professional relationships with key internal and external stakeholders across the processing plant.

Requirements

Essential

• Mechanical or Electrical NZQA Level 4 trade or equivalent
• CMMS software experience
• NZ qualified electrician,
• Having Arc flash and/or hazardous area qualifications would be preferred.

Desirable

• NZCE, Dairy Degree or Engineering Diploma
• Strong coaching, and team development skills.
• Effective maintenance planning, scheduling, and prioritisation capability.
• Strong problem-solving and root cause analysis skills.
• Ability to coordinate resources and manage equipment breakdowns effectively.
• Strong stakeholder management and cross-functional collaboration skills.
• Continuous improvement mindset focused on reliability and loss elimination.
• Sound knowledge of maintenance systems, safety, and compliance requirements.

Location

This position is based in Pokeno, Waikato.

Follow your career aspirations to Abbott for diverse opportunities with a company that can help you build your future and live your best life. Abbott is an Equal Opportunity Employer, committed to employee diversity.

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