Engineering Manager

Leaderbrand Produce; Gisborne; On-site; NZD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Leaderbrand Produce in Gisborne, North Island, seeks an experienced Engineering Manager to lead engineering, reliability and maintenance across our processing operations, including the state-of-the-art Salad House facility.

You will lead a capable engineering team, collaborate with production and technical teams, and ensure equipment and facilities are safe, reliable and fit for purpose. This is a hands-on leadership role in a fast-paced food-production environment.

Qualifications

• Trade qualification or engineering experience in electrical, mechanical or mechatronics.
• Experience leading maintenance or engineering teams in manufacturing, FMCG or fast-paced production.
• Strong people leadership: planning, coaching and performance management.
• Experience with GMP, HACCP, CMMS, Lean, TPM or continuous improvement is advantageous.
• Ability to diagnose issues and lead root-cause investigations.

Responsibilities

• Lead, coach and develop the Engineering team with clear expectations.
• Create a safety-first engineering culture including contractor management, permits and safe-work practices.
• Improve plant reliability, maintenance planning and shutdown execution across facilities.
• Reduce unplanned downtime and losses through disciplined problem solving.
• Strengthen preventive and predictive maintenance and CMMS discipline.
• Partner with Operations and Technical teams to improve factory performance, equipment capability and food-safe engineering standards.
• Scope and deliver capital projects from equipment selection to commissioning and benefit realization.
• Manage engineering budgets, maintenance expenditure, contractors and utilities.

Skills

Leadership

Maintenance management

Plant reliability

Safety culture

Budgeting

Communication

Project delivery

People management

PLC/Controls

Education

Trade qualification or engineering experience

Tools

CMMS

PLCs/Controls

Job description

Leaderbrand Produce – Gisborne, North Island

Lead the team that keeps our processing operations running—safely, reliably and ready for what’s next.

LeaderBrand is seeking an experienced Engineering Manager to lead engineering, reliability and maintenance across our processing operations in Gisborne, including our state-of-the-art Salad House facility.

This is a busy, practical leadership role within a fast-paced, high-spec food-production environment. You will lead a capable engineering team, work closely with production and technical teams, and make sure our equipment, utilities and facilities are safe, reliable and fit for purpose.

From garden gate to dinner plate, LeaderBrand takes quality seriously. This role is central to delivering that promise: keeping advanced systems operating at their best, strengthening plant reliability, and helping build the future capability of our processing operation.

What you’ll do:

Lead, coach and develop the Engineering team, building clear expectations, capability and accountability.

Create a safety-first engineering culture, including contractor management, permits, isolations and safe-work practices.

Improve plant reliability, maintenance planning and shutdown execution across Fresh Cut, PouchPack, Squash Packhouse and shared site utilities.

Reduce unplanned downtime, repeat breakdowns and engineering-related losses through disciplined problem solving.

Strengthen preventive and predictive maintenance, asset information, critical-spares planning and CMMS discipline.

Partner with Operations and Technical teams to improve factory performance, equipment capability and food-safe engineering standards.

Identify and implement practical opportunities for automation, technology and process improvement.

Scope and deliver capital projects—from equipment selection and installation to commissioning, handover and benefit realisation.

Manage engineering budgets, maintenance expenditure, contractors, utilities and cost-improvement initiatives.

What you’ll bring:

You are a practical, respected leader who can make sound decisions in a fast-moving environment. You bring technical credibility, but you also know that strong engineering performance comes from well-led people, clear planning, good communication and following through.

You will ideally have:

A relevant trade qualification or equivalent engineering experience—electrical, mechanical, mechatronics or a related discipline.

Proven experience leading maintenance or engineering teams in food manufacturing, FMCG, pharmaceutical or another fast-paced production environment.

Strong people-leadership skills, including coaching, setting expectations, developing capability and managing performance.

Experience improving maintenance systems, reliability, planned maintenance or engineering work planning.

The ability to diagnose issues, lead root-cause investigations and implement lasting solutions.

Experience managing contractors, health and safety requirements and engineering risk.

Exposure to capital equipment, automation, PLCs, controls, utilities or project delivery.

Commercial awareness, including budgets, costs, lifecycle decisions and prioritising investment.

Experience with GMP, HACCP, CMMS, Lean, TPM or continuous-improvement practices would be advantageous.

Why LeaderBrand?

At LeaderBrand, we are proud to produce fresh, high-quality food for Kiwi families nationwide. Our Gisborne Salad House is a modern, high-spec processing environment, supported by leading-edge equipment, automation and a strong focus on innovation.

This is an opportunity to lead engineering in a business that is investing in its people, technology and operational capability. You will have real scope to influence how we improve reliability, reduce downtime, develop technical capability and deliver capital and automation projects across our processing operations.

You will join a proudly New Zealand-owned, family business with more than 400 people nationwide—one where quality, innovation, accountability and continuous improvement matter.