Multi-Site Asset & Engineering Leader, Reliability

Vitaco Group; Whangarei; On-site; NZD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual pay reviews

Product discounts

Onsite café

Wellness initiatives

Birthday day off

Job summary

Vitaco is seeking an experienced Engineering Leader to head the Asset Management function for its manufacturing footprint across New Zealand. You will embed best-practice asset care, lead reliability-centered maintenance, and collaborate with Operations, Capital Projects and Supply Chain to maximize performance.

Leading a team of about 16 engineers, you will develop Vitaco's Asset Management Strategy and 5-Year Roadmap, ensuring assets are managed through a lifecycle framework that optimises

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Mechanical, Electrical or Industrial Engineering.
• Extensive engineering leadership experience within FMCG, food manufacturing or another complex manufacturing environment.
• Proven experience leading engineering teams across multiple manufacturing sites.
• Strong expertise in Reliability Centered Maintenance, preventative maintenance and asset management.
• Strong expertise in asset lifecycle management, reliability engineering and risk-based maintenance strategies.
• Experience driving continuous improvement and digital transformation initiatives.
• Strong commercial and financial acumen, including budgeting and capital planning.
• Outstanding stakeholder management and communication skills.
• A leadership style that builds trust, accountability and high-performing teams.
• Demonstrated success developing technical capability, succession planning and engineering leadership pipelines.
• A genuine passion for safety, quality and operational excellence.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Engineering and Maintenance function across multiple manufacturing sites.
• Develop and maintain Vitaco's Asset Management System, ensuring governance, standards and lifecycle processes support sustainable manufacturing performance.
• Drive reliability improvement through the application of asset criticality, FMEA, root cause analysis and defect elimination methodologies.
• Develop and embed a best-in-class Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) framework.
• Build a positive, high-performing engineering culture through coaching and leadership.
• Lead continuous improvement and digital manufacturing initiatives.
• Lead digital engineering and manufacturing initiatives including CMMS governance, engineering master data quality, MES integration, data analytics and predictive maintenance capabilities.
• Manage engineering budgets, maintenance planning and long-term asset replacement strategies.
• Lead spare parts optimisation, inventory governance and critical asset support strategies to minimise operational risk and optimise working capital.
• Partner with Operations, Capital Projects, Quality, Supply Chain and Safety teams to deliver outstanding business outcomes.
• Ensure world-class Health, Safety, Quality and Environmental standards are maintained across all engineering activities.
• Establish engineering standards, contractor governance and lifecycle project handover requirements across all manufacturing sites.

Skills

Engineering leadership

Reliability Centered Maintenance

Asset lifecycle management

Digital transformation

Budgeting & capital planning

Stakeholder management

Safety & quality

Multi-site leadership

Data analytics

Root cause analysis

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in Mechanical, Electrical or Industrial Engineering

Tools

CMMS

MES integration

Data analytics tools

Engineering software suite

Job description

Vitaco is seeking an experienced Engineering Leader to head the Asset Management function for its manufacturing footprint across New Zealand. You will embed best-practice asset care, lead reliability-centered maintenance, and collaborate with Operations, Capital Projects and Supply Chain to maximize performance.

Leading a team of about 16 engineers, you will develop Vitaco's Asset Management Strategy and 5-Year Roadmap, ensuring assets are managed through a lifecycle framework that optimises