Populous People Limited Looking for Commercial Head of Orchard Operations / Chief Operating Officer (Orchards) at Havelock North, Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand Full Time

Executive level roles of this nature combining commercial performance, people leadership and technical guidance are rare in our region. The right person, with a really strong finance and commercial lens, and the ability to relate well to the NZ Pipfruit sector will have significant influence across this large producer and global exporter in this senior executive level role.

Mr Apple, sitting under the umbrella of publicly listed Scales Corporation, has an excellent reputation, both as an employer, and in the international market. This business is New Zealand’s largest vertically integrated grower, packer and exporter of premium apples. They continue to navigate their market and conditions well. Based in Whakatu, this role will see you taking the commercial reins, to further develop and drive performance of their orchard operations. There is a tonne of knowledge across this experienced team of technical and orchard managers. This is about monitoring and further driving commercial performance of the orchard division; so as to get the best out of the orchard teams and orchard operations to ensure Mr Apple continues to be well poised for the future.

Reporting to the CEO, and managing a broader team of 220 people, your core focus will be to ensure the profitable management of the orchards business unit. You will be responsible for the ongoing development and maintenance of the orchard strategy which includes orchard development, contract and lease management, annual business planning, budget management and performance monitoring. You will work closely with the technical managers to oversee financial performance, ensuring tree and fruit production is managed to the highest cost efficiency, yield, expected market demands and market profiles. And you will be an active and key commercial leader in the ELT to ensure cross-division alignment to achieve company goals.

To be successful here you will need to relate well to primary industry drivers. You must be both a people leader and a commercial leader with a real bent toward driving commercial returns and performance. An accounting and finance background would be helpful but it will be your rounded skillset and ability to manage risk, analyse performance and commercialise operations that is most important here. You must also be able to absorb and relate quickly to teams expert in pipfruit. People leadership and influencing skills will be crucial here as this is all about guiding, developing and nurturing teams for the future.

This is an exciting time to be joining this highly regarded business. The scope and scale of this role is reflected in remuneration. If you have the required expertise we would love to hear from you. Please apply through this online portal now, or telephone Rachel Cornwall at Populous People on 0272 565620 in confidence to learn more.

Please note, only candidates who can demonstrate full NZ working rights will be eligible for this role.