Production Manager - Powders

a2M Career Site; Pokeno; On-site; NZD 150,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Life & Income Protection

Annual Bonus

Learning and development opportunities

Free breakfast and lunch in onsite can

Subsidised gym membership

Social club

Job summary

a2 Milk Company in New Zealand's Waikato region seeks an experienced Powder Manufacturing Leader to run day-to-day operations at the Pokeno site, driving safe, efficient production and high quality standards.

You will develop and coach production leaders, monitor productivity, yield and waste, and partner with Quality and site teams to deliver continuous improvement in a fast-paced dairy environment.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in dairy manufacturing leadership.
• Experience in infant formula manufacturing and spray drying desirable.
• Strong understanding of production processes and process control.
• Experience leading health and safety, quality and food safety standards in manufacturing.
• Proven ability to drive productivity, yield improvements and cost reduction.
• Strong people leadership and coaching frontline teams.
• Excellent problem solving and data-driven decision making.
• Proficient with ERP and manufacturing systems.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day powder manufacturing operations, ensuring plans, volumes and targets are achieved.
• Drive a strong safety culture, risk controls and worker training.
• Ensure processes meet quality and food safety standards and partner with Quality.
• Monitor performance: productivity, yield, waste, controllable costs; seek improvements.
• Lead, coach and develop production leaders to build a high-performing team.

Skills

Manufacturing leadership

Operational leadership

Dairy manufacturing

Spray drying experience

ERP systems

Data-driven decisions

Health & safety leadership

Quality & food safety

People leadership

Continuous improvement

Tools

ERP systems

Production management software

Job description

Our Story:

The a2 Milk Company, driven by science and a pioneering spirit, disrupted the dairy and infant milk formula industry. Our vision is to create an A1-free world where dairy nourishes all people and our planet.

The a2 Milk Company seeks to achieve this through the naturally occurring a2 Milk® difference and by bringing a more sustainable approach to dairy.

The role:

Based at Pokeno, you'll be responsible for leading our Powder manufacturing team and overseeing day-to-day production operations. You'll focus on ensuring production targets are achieved safely and efficiently, maintaining high standards of quality and food safety, and driving improvements across the operation. Working closely with other site teams, you'll support production performance while developing and building capability within your team.

More specifically, you will be involved in:

• Leading day-to-day powder manufacturing operations, ensuring production plans, volumes and performance targets are consistently achieved.
• Driving a strong health, safety and wellbeing culture, ensuring critical risk controls, safe operating practices and employee training requirements are maintained.
• Ensuring manufacturing processes meet required quality and food safety standards, working closely with Quality to resolve issues and drive continuous improvement.
• Monitoring production performance, including productivity, yield, waste and controllable costs, identifying opportunities to improve efficiency and reduce losses.
• Leading, coaching and developing production leaders and employees to build a capable, engaged and high-performing team.

What you will bring:

• At least 10 years' experience, with strong manufacturing and operational leadership capability within a dairy manufacturing environment. Experience in infant formula manufacturing and spray drying is highly desirable.
• Strong understanding of production processes, manufacturing operations and process control.
• Demonstrated experience leading health and safety, quality and food safety standards within a manufacturing environment.
• Experience driving operational performance, productivity, yield improvements and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Strong people leadership capability, with experience coaching and developing frontline leaders and building accountable teams.
• Excellent problem-solving, decision-making and communication skills, with the ability to use operational data to drive performance.
• Confident using ERP, production management and other manufacturing systems.

What we offer:

• Medical, Life & Income Protection Insurance.
• Annual Bonus.
• A supportive team culture with learning and development opportunities.
• Free breakfast and lunch provided in our onsite cafeteria.
• Subsidised gym membership.
• Social club.