Engineering Manager - Stirling

Fonterra; Otago; On-site; NZD 180,000 - 250,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Fair pay

Health and wellbeing programs

Flexible/hybrid working

Employee recognition

Community involvement

Job summary

Fonterra Stirling site in Otago seeks an Engineering Manager to translate strategy into safe, reliable, and sustainable operational performance. You will lead the Maintenance team, oversee asset care and capital projects, and partner with site leaders to deliver day-to-day results and longer-term improvements.

You will bring plant maintenance leadership experience in manufacturing, with an engineering qualification, and the ability to develop a capable team while driving strategic asset care

Qualifications

• Engineering degree or equivalent qualification.
• Experience leading plant maintenance in a manufacturing environment.
• Strong financial management, budgeting and business-case skills.
• Proven leadership in dispersed organisations and change management.

Responsibilities

• Provide end-to-end leadership for asset care, facilities management and site capital delivery.
• Lead and coach the Maintenance team in a standardised site leadership model.
• Oversee facilities contracts, operating and capital budgets and governance requirements.
• Foster health, safety, wellbeing, quality and compliance across the site.
• Build strong relationships with internal partners, contractors and external stakeholders.
• Drive continuous improvement and sustainable performance outcomes.

Skills

Financial management

People leadership

Problem solving

Stakeholder management

Education

Engineering degree or related technical field

Job description

At Fonterra Te Mātāpuna, we want everyone to feel they can be themselves.

Whether you're early in your career or ready for your next step, Fonterra offers a unique opportunity to grow with a global dairy co-operative that values care, collaboration, and contribution.

Owned by New Zealand dairy farmers and supported by a dedicated team, we are all working together to create a better future. Imagine tomorrow with us, where your career can grow, and you can create positive change.

Established in 1982, Stirling site is Fonterra’s only manufacturing site in the Otago region. Specialising in Cheese, the site has picked up awards from both in New Zealand and internationally for their Cheddar and Colby. Stirling produces around 10,500 20kgs blocks of cheese everyday.

About the Opportunity | Mō tēnei tūranga

Joining our team at Stirling as an Engineering Manager, you will play a pivotal leadership role - translating organisational strategy into safe, reliable, and sustainable operational performance.

Operating within a standardised site leadership model, you will lead and coach the Maintenance team, working closely with site leaders and partners to deliver both day to day results and longer term improvement.

You’ll have end to end accountability for asset care, facilities management, and site capital delivery, ensuring assets are optimised for reliability, performance, and long term value. This includes oversight of facilities contracts and approved capital projects, alongside stewardship of operating and capital budgets.

Safety, quality, and care sit at the heart of this role. You’ll respond to events with care, foster open reporting and continuous learning, and build a strong culture of health, safety, wellbeing, food safety and quality, while ensuring compliance with all organisational, regulatory, and environmental obligations.

This is a leadership role with real impact—balancing operational excellence, people leadership, and continuous improvement to support the site’s licence to operate and long term success.

You will bring sound experience in plant maintenance leadership within a manufacturing environment, ideally supported by a tertiary qualification in Engineering (e.g. Process, Electrical, Mechanical, Civil) or a related technical field. Equally important is your ability to lead, influence, and develop a capable team while driving strategic asset care initiatives.

You will also bring to this role:

• Demonstrated capability in financial management, including operating budgets, capital planning, and business cases.
• Proven people leadership skills, with the ability to lead, coach and develop teams through change in complex, dispersed organisations.
• Experience delivering facilities services and capital projects, including contractor and service provider management.
• Strong problem solving, critical thinking, and decision making skills.
• A strong commitment to health, safety, wellbeing, food safety, quality, and compliance, with the confidence to uphold standards and governance requirements.
• Demonstrated ability to build relationships with internal partners, contractors, and external stakeholders.
• A continuous improvement mindset, with the ability to build strong stakeholder relationships and drive sustainable performance outcomes.

This role is an excellent opportunity to further develop your strategic engineering leadership while making a meaningful impact on site performance and long term asset resilience.

At Fonterra, our values of Good Together, Better Every Day, and Every Drop Counts, are for everyone – no matter your background, identify or experience. These values guide us in delivering exceptional outcomes for our farmers, customers, communities, and each other. Discover how your values align with ours by taking our Values Quiz

We care for our people globally. Our comprehensive benefits support your well-being, development, and work-life balance:

• Fair and equitable pay
• Health and well-being programs (medical, mental health support)
• Work-life balance options (flexible/hybrid working where possible)
• Employee recognition
• Support for community involvement and cultural connection

At Fonterra, we are inspired by purpose and guided by our principles and values. Together, we create goodness for generations and make a global impact at a local level. As part of our Co-operative, you are an everyday creator, imagining what Fonterra, dairy, and you can be here.

Together, we're shaping a future of inclusion | He Wāhi mō te Katoa

Inclusion is key to our Co-operative. We're building a team that reflects the diverse world we live in, believing it drives better decisions and innovation.

We welcome applications from all backgrounds (ethnicities, genders, identities, orientations, ages, abilities, neurotypes, cultures, religions).

Applications close at midnight on Wednesday 18 November