Maintenance Lead

Abbott Laboratories; Pokeno; On-site; NZD 100,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Abbott Laboratories in New Zealand is seeking a Maintenance Lead at the Pokeno plant to ensure equipment safety, reliability and cost-effective upkeep to meet manufacturing targets. You will drive a world-class maintenance culture through leadership, asset optimization and continuous improvement, mentoring staff and coordinating with Production Leads and Schedulers.

The role emphasizes loss elimination, cross-functional collaboration and strong stakeholder relationships to sustain site

Qualifications

• Mechanical or Electrical NZQA Level 4 trade or equivalent.
• Proven knowledge of CMMS software is desirable.
• Experience in maintenance leadership and safety compliance.

Responsibilities

• Lead maintenance staff to uphold safety and quality culture.
• Plan and schedule preventive and corrective maintenance activities.
• Collaborate with maintenance leads, production schedulers and leads to plan site work.
• Coordinate resources to resolve equipment breakdowns quickly.
• Identify and reduce maintenance-related losses across the site.
• Build relationships with internal and external stakeholders.

Skills

Coaching

Maintenance planning

Root cause analysis

Stakeholder management

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Mechanical or Electrical NZQA Level 4 trade or equivalent

Tools

CMMS software

Job description

JOB DESCRIPTION

Abbott is a global healthcare leader, creating breakthrough science to improve people’s health. We’re always looking towards the future, anticipating changes in medical science and technology. Our nutrition business develops science-based nutrition products for people of all ages, from helping babies and children grow, to keeping adult bodies strong and active. Millions of people around the world count on our leading brands, including Similac®, PediaSure®, Pedialyte®, Ensure® and Glucerna®, to help get the nutrients they need to live their healthiest life. Working at Abbott At Abbott, you can do work that matters, grow, and learn, care for yourself and family, be your true self and live a full life.

You will have access to:

• Career development with an international company where you can grow the career you dream of.
• Benefits that support you and your family to stay healthy, financially secure, and supported throughout life's journey, including comprehensive medical insurance coverage, wellbeing support, and competitive rewards that recognize your contributions.
• A company recognized as a great place to work in dozens of countries around the world and named one of the most admired companies in the world by Fortune.

The Opportunity As the Maintenance Lead, oversee operations within our production facility. In this role, you will be responsible for ensuring that all equipment operates safely, reliably, and is maintained cost-effectively to consistently meet our manufacturing targets. A core focus of this position is driving a world-class maintenance culture through leadership, asset optimization, and continuous improvement.

What You'll Do

• Team Leadership & Mentoring: Guide, develop, and mentor operational and technical maintenance staff to support a high-performing, safety & quality first culture.
• Planning & Scheduling Deployment: Deploy and the plant's maintenance strategy by driving the planning and scheduling of both preventative and corrective maintenance activities.
• Cross-Department Collaboration: Partner closely with other area Maintenance Leads, Production Schedulers and Production Leads to effectively plan, schedule, and execute site-wide work.
• Breakdown Resolution: Take full ownership of internal and external resource coordination to ensure rapid and effective equipment breakdown resolution.
• Loss Elimination: Support to Identify, minimize, and eliminate maintenance- and breakdown-related operational losses across the facility.
• Stakeholder Management: Build and maintain robust professional relationships with key internal and external stakeholders across the processing plant.

Requirements

• Mechanical or Electrical NZQA Level 4 trade or equivalent
• CMMS software experience Desirable

Competencies and Attributes

• Strong coaching, and team development skills.
• Effective maintenance planning, scheduling, and prioritisation capability.
• Strong problem-solving and root cause analysis skills.
• Ability to coordinate resources and manage equipment breakdowns effectively.
• Strong stakeholder management and cross-functional collaboration skills.
• Continuous improvement mindset focused on reliability and loss elimination.
• Sound knowledge of maintenance systems, safety, and compliance requirements.

Location: This position is based in Pokeno, New Zealand

The base pay for this position is N/A In specific locations, the pay range may vary from the range posted.

WORK SHIFT: Standard

SIGNIFICANT WORK ACTIVITIES: Continuous sitting for prolonged periods (more than 2 consecutive hours in an 8 hour day)

JOB FAMILY: Manufacturing

DIVISION: ANSC Nutrition Supply Chain

LOCATION: New Zealand > Waikato: Pokeno Plant

Abbott is about the power of health. For more than 135 years, Abbott has been helping people reach their potential - because better health allows people and communities to achieve more. With a diverse, global network serving customers in more than 160 countries, we create new solutions - across the spectrum of health, around the world, for all stages of life. Whether it’s next-generation diagnostics, life-changing devices, science-based nutrition, or novel reformulations, we are advancing some of the most innovative and revolutionary technologies in healthcare, helping people live their best lives through better health. The people of Abbott come to work each day with relentless energy, enthusiasm and a promise to enhance the health and well-being of millions of people. They push the boundaries to help manage and treat some of life’s greatest health challenges.

An equal opportunity employer, Abbott welcomes and encourages diversity in our workforce.