Operations Manager Agricultural Contracting

Central Feeds Limited; Winchester; On-site; NZD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Company vehicle

Phone

Laptop

Development opportunities

Job summary

Central Feeds Limited, based in Winchester, South Canterbury, is seeking an Operations Manager to lead our agricultural contracting operation. The role involves 50% field work and 50% office planning, coordinating a team of around 40 at peak and 15 in off-season, and guiding divisions managers to deliver reliable service.

You'll oversee day-to-day operations, bookings, scheduling, and the administration behind operations, while promoting safe practices and continuous improvement.

Qualifications

• Experience leading agricultural contracting or similar operations.
• Proven ability to lead people and make decisions in busy periods.
• Digitally savvy with office admin and data handling.
• Comfortable using technology, learning new systems and spreadsheets.

Responsibilities

• Lead, support and develop the division managers and operational teams.
• Coordinate labour, machinery, transport and daily work requirements.
• Manage job bookings, scheduling and seasonal planning.
• Ensure job information, records and administration are accurate and complete.
• Use and help improve our digital planning and job management systems.
• Work with operational data to help make better business decisions.

Skills

Leadership

People management

Digital systems

Office administration

Job description

Operations Manager Agricultural Contracting

Central Feeds Limited - Winchester, South Island

Operations Manager
Central Feeds | Winchester, South Canterbury
Know your way around agricultural operations - and around a computer? Ready for a bigger challenge?

Central Feeds is a well-established agricultural contracting business based in Winchester, servicing farming clients throughout South and Mid Canterbury across forage harvesting, cultivation, drilling, planting, baling, effluent spreading, stock feed and cartage.
We're a busy, progressive operation with a great team - and we're looking for an Operations Manager who can help us take the business forward.

The Opportunity
This is a role for someone with a unique combination of operational know-how, leadership ability and business smarts.
Working alongside the business owner and management team, you'll lead our Division Managers and oversee the day-to-day operational delivery of the business.
You'll need to be equally comfortable out in the field understanding machinery, people and jobs, and back in the office making sure the planning, systems, information and administration behind those operations are spot on.
It's approximately 50% field and 50% office - and being effective in both is critical.
You'll help lead a team of around 40 people at peak and 15 during the off-season, bringing together people, machinery, customers and information to keep a fast-moving contracting operation on track.

What You'll Be Doing

• Lead, support and develop Division Managers and operational teams.
• Coordinate labour, machinery, transport and daily work requirements.
• Manage job bookings, scheduling and seasonal planning.
• Keep on top of the detail - ensuring job information, records and administration are accurate and complete.
• Confidently use and help improve our digital planning and job management systems.
• Work with operational information and data to help make better business decisions.
• Support recruitment, onboarding, training and staff development.
• Build strong relationships with customers and help deliver the service Central Feeds is known for.
• Champion safe working practices and a positive, accountable team culture.
• Find smarter, more efficient ways of doing things.

Who Are We Looking For?

You may already be an experienced Operations Manager looking for your next challenge. Or you might be a Division Manager, Supervisor, or experienced agricultural contractor who's hungry to step up and see how far you can go.

We're interested in capability, attitude and potential - not just the title on your CV.

You'll bring strong agricultural contracting or relevant operational experience, along with the ability to lead people and make good decisions when things get busy.

But there's another side to this role that's just as important.

You'll need to be digitally savvy, organised and genuinely effective in the admin space. You'll be confident using technology, learning new systems, working with spreadsheets and operational information, and following things through. If computers and paperwork are something you'd rather leave to someone else, this probably isn't the role for you.

We're looking for someone who can see the big picture without losing the detail - practical, switched-on, solutions-focused and always looking for a better way.

What to Expect

Agricultural contracting has its own rhythm. When the weather is right and the work is on, things move fast, the days can be long and everyone needs to pull together.

If you thrive on that energy, enjoy responsibility and get satisfaction from seeing a complex day come together, you'll feel at home here.

Then, when the seasonal pressure eases, the focus shifts - giving you time to develop people, improve systems, plan ahead and work on making next season even better.

You'll also have the advantage of a structured handover with our current Operations Manager, giving you time to learn the people, customers, systems and operation before taking full ownership.

We offer a company vehicle, phone and laptop, ongoing development and the opportunity to take on a significant role with plenty of scope to grow, influence the business and make your mark.

If you've got the operational experience, the digital capability and the drive to take on something bigger, we'd love to hear from you.