Upper North Island Portfolio Manager

About Fonterra Te Mātāpuna

At Fonterra, we foster an inclusive workplace where everyone feels valued and able to bring their authentic selves. We provide opportunities for career growth within a global dairy cooperative owned by New Zealand farmers, committed to collaboration, care, and making a positive impact.

About the Role

The Capital Projects team is central to delivering Fonterra's significant investments. Regional Projects manage diverse capital projects across multiple sites to ensure safety, compliance, reliability, and growth. This role leads the capital investment portfolio for the Upper North Island operations, acting as a strategic advisor to senior leaders on capital allocation to maximize long-term value for farmer owners.

Key Responsibilities

• Partner with regional and site leadership to shape capital investment strategies and convert business priorities into a prioritized portfolio.
• Integrate asset life cycles, operational needs, national programs, and growth projects into one executable regional capital portfolio.
• Optimize investment decisions balancing safety, risk, compliance, reliability, growth, affordability, and delivery capacity.
• Lead governance processes to enable transparent, evidence-based capital investment decisions and manage portfolio risk and performance.
• Collaborate with Finance to underpin investment proposals with commercial analysis and affordability metrics.
• Ensure a strong pipeline of investment-ready projects and maintain alignment between asset condition, operational priorities, and resource capabilities.
• Provide guidance to Delivery and Project Managers for smooth execution and effective resource deployment across multiple sites.
• Build and nurture a high-performing regional projects team, fostering continuous improvement, accountability, and collaboration.

Candidate Profile

• Proven leadership managing complex capital project portfolios or major capital investments with competing priorities.
• Experience in engineering, manufacturing, food, FMCG or related capital project environments.
• Strong commercial skills including business cases, capital allocation, procurement, vendor management, and knowledge of contracts like NZS3910/FIDIC.
• Adept in governance and making informed decisions weighing risk, cost, value, and delivery constraints.
• Excellent stakeholder engagement and communication skills to influence senior leaders across diverse functions.
• Track record in developing high-performing teams with a coaching approach promoting sustainable results.
• Committed to continuous improvement of systems and processes for better investment outcomes.
• Leadership embodying manaakitanga values—respect, care, authenticity, and fostering trust and success.

Why Join Fonterra?

This unique leadership role influences how hundreds of millions in capital investments are allocated across New Zealand's largest manufacturing network. You'll impact operational excellence, safety, sustainability, and growth while ensuring capital efficiency and value for our farmer co-op owners.

Fonterra Values and Commitment

Our core values—Good Together, Better Every Day, and Every Drop Counts—are embedded in our culture and guide our impact globally. We provide equitable pay, health and well-being programs, professional development, career advancement support, flexible working options, recognition, and community engagement opportunities.

Inclusion and Application Information

We are devoted to creating an inclusive environment and welcome candidates from all backgrounds and identities. We encourage applications from those who may not meet every qualification, recognizing potential and growth capability. Accessibility accommodations are available upon request.

Applications close at midnight on Thursday 23rd July.