Engineering Team Leader - Safety, Reliability & CI

Barker Fruit Processors Limited; Canterbury; On-site; NZD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Barker’s Fruit Processors Limited in Geraldine, NZ seeks an Engineering Team Leader to drive safety, reliability and continuous improvement within the manufacturing site.

You will lead a skilled engineering and maintenance team, manage budgets and capital projects, and champion Lean practices while coordinating with operations and external contractors to ensure optimal uptime and compliance.

Qualifications

• Trade qualification in mechanical, electrical, fitting & turning or related engineering discipline.
• Proven engineering leadership or maintenance management experience.
• Experience in food manufacturing or similar industrial production environment.
• Understanding of Lean manufacturing principles and continuous improvement methodologies.
• Strong planning, budgeting and project management capabilities.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a skilled engineering team focused on safety, reliability, and continuous improvement.
• Champion a Safety First culture and drive health and safety initiatives across the engineering function.
• Manage preventative and corrective maintenance activities to maximise equipment uptime and performance.
• Own and continuously improve the Fiix maintenance management system.
• Plan and execute annual maintenance shutdowns and preventive maintenance programmes.
• Support capital investment projects from proposal through to implementation, on time and within budget.
• Manage engineering and repair & maintenance budgets while maintaining spare parts inventory.
• Provide leadership and oversight of site utilities, energy center operations and compliance.
• Collaborate with Manufacturing, Operations, Quality, Health & Safety, and contractors to support objectives.
• Use Lean methodologies and problem-solving tools to drive improvements across the site.
• Participate in the site's 24/5 on‑call engineering support roster.

Skills

People leadership

Lean manufacturing

Problem solving

Safety culture

Stakeholder management

Education

Engineering trade qualification

Tools

Fiix CMMS

Job description

Barker’s Fruit Processors Limited in Geraldine, NZ seeks an Engineering Team Leader to drive safety, reliability and continuous improvement within the manufacturing site.

You will lead a skilled engineering and maintenance team, manage budgets and capital projects, and champion Lean practices while coordinating with operations and external contractors to ensure optimal uptime and compliance.