Senior Food Technologist

• Great salary package and benefits
• Kaiapoi Based Position - 15 minutes from central Christchurch
• Leading FMCG Industry Brand
  
  

Hellers Ltd is a leading New Zealand manufacturer and distributor of Bacon, Ham and Smallgoods. Our award-winning quality brands enjoy significant and growing customer and consumer recognition.

We are looking for a talented technical professional based in Kaiapoi, where we operate our factory, product development and warehousing & logistics facilities and maintain our head office.

To be successful in this role you will need to have very strong technical skills and expertise to be able to guide the team not only in terms of functionality of ingredients and meat donors but also in terms of achieving the desired outcomes and products. Solid experience working as a Food Technologist ideally within processed meat, otherwise processed foods is required for this role. A tertiary qualification in food technology or food science would prove advantageous.

Very strong interpersonal skills and communication skills are critical to this role.

This role will effectively lead, manage and mentor our Food Technologists (3) within the PD team.

This role is earmarked to eventually take over the Product Development Manager position in a few years time.

Skills Required For This Role

• Tertiary qualification in a relevant discipline
• Minimum of 5 years' experience in a similar role
• Technical Knowledge - Meat Development/Process background
• Strong leadership qualities, including the ability to coach and mentor
• Sound business acumen and commercial understanding
• Passion for food and developing new and existing products
• Idea generator for new opportunities
• Able to analyze and problem solve effectively
• Advanced computer literacy level required esspecially with MS Excel
• Ability to negotiate with relevant stakeholders with confidence
• Strong people management and influencing skills
• Effective communication skills
• Excellent literacy and numeracy skills
• HACCP experience and understanding the principles of food safety
• Comprehensive knowledge of ingredients and their functions in processed meat product development will be an asset
• A solid knowledge of relevant legislation in Australia and NZ will be required
  
  

Key Job Elements & Responsibilities

• Smooth transferring of new products into production with full engagement from Operational, Quality and Engineering teams
• Developing new products in conjunction with all internal stakeholders and achieving set launch dates and profit expectations
• Ensure innovation, renovation and cost out initiatives are conducted within a operational excellence framework from a strong understanding of operations capability and is in line with the Stage Gate Process
  
  

Great salary package and company benefits and great location with free staff parking.

Applicants for this role must have NZ residency or a valid work visa.

All applicants can email their CV and Cover Letter to [email protected]

Hellers Limited is a safety conscious employer: pre-employment drug testing is mandatory for prospective candidates.