Head of Digital Partnerships

Westland Milk Products; Christchurch; Hybrid; NZD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Westland Milk Products in Christchurch is seeking a Head of Digital Partnerships to lead the Digital Partnerships function and connect Digital investment with business strategy across Yili Oceania.

Based in Hornby, Christchurch, you will oversee a team of five Digital Business Improvement Partners and the Planning & Intelligence Lead, collaborating with executives across Operations, Supply Chain, Quality, Innovation, Sales.

Qualifications

• 10+ years' experience in digital, enterprise applications, business operations or transformation with significant senior leadership experience
• Proven ability to develop digital strategies, roadmaps and portfolios delivering measurable business outcomes
• Strong commercial judgment to prioritise investments by value, risk and priorities
• Experience leading cross-functional transformation and business change
• Understanding of enterprise applications, data, integration, automation, reporting, AI and digital governance
• Outstanding stakeholder management with executive-level credibility
• Strong people leadership, coaching and capability development
• Ability to navigate ambiguity and competing priorities while focusing on long-term value

Responsibilities

• Lead the Digital Partnerships strategy, portfolio and roadmaps, ensuring investment aligns with business priorities and enterprise strategy
• Act as a trusted senior Digital partner to executive leaders, translating business challenges into clear Digital priorities
• Lead portfolio prioritisation and investment decisions across value, risk, cost, complexity and delivery capacity
• Oversee Digital business improvement initiatives from discovery through delivery and benefits realisation
• Strengthen use of business intelligence, data and insight for planning and decision-making
• Partner with Data & AI, Master Data, Development, Architecture and Infrastructure teams to deliver integrated solutions
• Lead, coach and develop a high-performing Digital Partnerships team
• Position Digital as a business improvement partner, not just technology service

Skills

Digital strategy

Portfolio management

Stakeholder engagement

Leadership

Data & AI awareness

Change management

Business transformation

Cross-functional collaboration

Job description

We have an exciting opportunity for an experienced and commercially focused Head of Digital Partnerships to join our Digital leadership team and play a key role in shaping the future of Digital across our New Zealand businesses.

Based in Hornby, Christchurch and reporting to the GM Digital, this is a highly influential leadership role responsible for connecting business strategy with Digital investment, transformation and delivery across Yili Oceania.

Leading a team of five Digital Business Improvement Partners and our Business Planning & Intelligence Lead, you will work closely with executive and senior leaders across Operations, Supply Chain, Quality, Innovation, Sales, Commercial and other areas of the organisation.

This is not simply about technology. It is about understanding where the business is heading, identifying where Digital can create the greatest value, bringing competing priorities together and ensuring investment translates into practical, measurable business outcomes.

What you'll be responsible for

You will:

• Lead the Digital Partnerships strategy, portfolio and roadmaps, ensuring investment aligns with business priorities and enterprise strategy.
• Act as a trusted senior Digital partner to executive and senior leaders, translating business challenges and opportunities into clear Digital priorities.
• Lead portfolio prioritisation and investment decisions across value, risk, cost, complexity and delivery capacity.
• Oversee Digital business improvement initiatives from discovery through delivery, implementation, adoption and benefits realisation.
• Strengthen the use of business intelligence, data and insight to support better planning and decision-making.
• Partner across Data & AI, Master Data, Development, Architecture, Infrastructure and other Digital specialist teams to deliver integrated and sustainable solutions.
• Lead, coach and develop a high-performing Digital Partnerships team.
• Contribute to enterprise Digital strategy and help position Digital as a business improvement partner, not simply a technology service.

What you'll bring

We are looking for an accomplished leader who can operate comfortably at the intersection of business, technology and transformation.

Ideally, you will bring:

• 10+ years' relevant experience across Digital, enterprise applications, business operations or transformation, including significant senior leadership experience.
• Proven experience developing Digital strategies, roadmaps and portfolios that deliver measurable business outcomes.
• Strong commercial judgement and the ability to prioritise investments based on value, risk, cost and organisational priorities.
• Experience leading complex cross-functional transformation and business change.
• Strong understanding of enterprise applications, data, integration, automation, reporting, AI and Digital governance.
• Outstanding stakeholder management skills with the credibility to influence executive and senior leaders.
• Strong people leadership, coaching and capability-development skills.
• The ability to navigate ambiguity and competing priorities while maintaining a clear focus on long-term business value.

Experience within dairy, food manufacturing or another regulated manufacturing environment would be advantageous, but is not essential.

Why this role?

This is an opportunity to have genuine enterprise-wide impact.

You will influence where Digital investment is directed, shape a significant portfolio of business improvement activity and lead the team that connects Digital capability with some of the organisation's most important operational and commercial priorities.

You will also be joining Yili Oceania, bringing together Westland Milk Products, Oceania Dairy, EasiYo, Canary Foods and Pure Nutrition, producing high-quality dairy and nutrition products for markets around the world.

If you are a commercially minded Digital leader who thrives on connecting strategy, people, technology and business outcomes, we would love to hear from you.