Lead Technician – High‐Performance Butter & Powder Packing Lines

Westland Milk Products; Hokitika; Remote; NZD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Westland Milk Products seeks a Packing Technician Lead to own the heart of the Hokitika site’s packaging operation. You will manage Butter WAL, Benhil, GEA Avapac, and JMP robotic systems, ensuring safe, high‑performing lines and strong asset reliability.

You’ll mentor a dedicated shifts and maintenance team in a 24/7 environment, driving safety, quality, and continuous improvement. You bring hands‑on technical leadership, diagnostic and troubleshooting skills, and a collaborative approach to

Qualifications

• Seasoned packaging/engineering professional with hands-on maintenance and reliability experience.
• Ability to lead from the floor, guide teams, and prioritise work.
• Formal engineering qualifications and diagnostics/troubleshooting experience.

Responsibilities

• Lead a 24/7 shift team on packing lines and related equipment.
• Oversee predictive and preventative maintenance and rapid fault response.
• Drive asset reliability, continuous improvement, and loss reduction.
• Mentor and develop the packing team to build resilience and capability.

Skills

Maintenance expertise

Asset reliability

Team leadership

Diagnostics

Troubleshooting

Education

Engineering degree

Tools

GEA Avapac

Technopak powder packing

JMP robotics

Job description

Lead Technician – High‑Performance Butter & Powder Packing Lines

About the role

Step into a role where your expertise truly makes an impact. As the Packing Technician Lead, you’ll be at the heart of ensuring the seamless, safe, and high‑performing operation of all packing equipment at our Hokitika site.

You’ll take ownership of a diverse and critical portfolio of assets — from Butter WAL and Benhil machines to GEA Avapac and Technopak powder packing lines, along with advanced JMP robotic systems — keeping them running at peak performance.

Leading a capable and committed team across a 24/7 shift environment, you’ll bring hands‑on technical leadership to the floor. Your influence will drive asset reliability, operational excellence, and continuous loss reduction, while shaping a high‑performing culture built on capability and accountability.

Collaboration is key. Working closely with production, engineering, and site stakeholders, you’ll ensure packaging operations consistently exceed expectations in safety, quality, and compliance.

This role spans the full equipment lifecycle — from predictive and preventative maintenance through to rapid fault response, shutdown planning, and continuous improvement initiatives. Just as importantly, you’ll play a vital role in developing and mentoring your team, strengthening capability and building resilience across the packing function.

If you’re looking for a role where you can combine hands‑on technical expertise with leadership influence, and make a tangible difference every day while shaping long‑term performance — this is it.

A bit about you

You’re a seasoned packaging or engineering professional who thrives in a fast‑paced manufacturing environment. With solid experience in maintenance, asset reliability, or process operations, you bring both deep technical know‑how and a practical, solution‑focused mindset.

You’re known for your ability to solve problems, guide others, and lead from the front. Whether working alongside contractors or internal teams, you confidently prioritise work, drive outcomes, and uphold high standards.

You communicate clearly, adapt quickly, and bring a strong attention to detail — all qualities that help you succeed in a dynamic environment like ours.

Ideally, you’ll also bring formal engineering qualifications, along with hands‑on experience in diagnostics, troubleshooting, and plant reliability practices.

A bit about the organisation

Westland Milk Products is a proud New Zealand dairy manufacturer with deep roots on the South Island, operating from Hokitika and Christchurch. This role sits within our Shifts and Maintenance Team, playing a key part in supporting production excellence across our packing operations.

As part of the globally recognised Yili Group (Top 5 dairy company worldwide), Westland contributes to the wider Yili Oceania network, alongside:

• Oceania Dairy (Glenavy)
• Pure Nutrition (Rolleston)
• Canary Foods (Hamilton)
• EasiYo (Auckland)

Together, this group produces over 170,000 metric tonnes of finished goods annually, exporting to more than 40 countries and generating revenues exceeding $1.3 billion — and growing

Where to from here?

Applications close: 22nd November 2026
Please note: we review applications as they come in, and the role may close early if the right candidate is found.

Applicants must have valid New Zealand work rights.