Lead the Engine Room of Coffee Production
At UCC Coffee, we partner with some of New Zealand’s most iconic café, retail, and out-of-home brands to deliver market-leading roasted coffee. From bean to cup, we’re redefining what great coffee looks like- and our Roastery at Twenty-Three is where it all comes together.
The role:
If you're looking for the opportunity to influence and lead real change - from improving processes and training, to embedding a culture that balances health and safety with innovation - this is where you can make your mark. You’ll be stepping into a role backed by a respected leader one year into coffee, with over a 20 years of food manufacturing experience, who is committed to collaboration and continuous improvement. And yes -there’s coffee on tap while you do it. In this role, you’ll drive daily and future-focused planning, support operational excellence, and guide an engaged production team to consistently deliver fresh, high-quality coffee. Your ability to align supply with demand, optimise raw material flow, and lift planning discipline will have a direct impact on our performance.
Your focus:
- Take full ownership of the production planning function, ensuring the right product is in the right place, at the right time.
- Lead and develop a team of 8 production staff and shift leads, fostering a high-performance culture grounded in safety, accountability, and continuous innovation.
- Build and maintain robust production schedules that adapt to changing demand, while improving output and line efficiency.
- Oversee raw and packaging inventory, generate timely purchase orders, and reduce out-of-stocks through effective material planning.
- Play a key role in cross-functional initiatives including NPD launches, supply chain optimisation, and the S&OP process.
- Drive continuous improvement across systems, processes, and supplier relationships in collaboration with procurement and quality teams.
- Enjoy a stable Monday–Friday day shift, with the support of a capable and experienced operations leadership team.
About you:
You’re a proven production planning leader with around 5 years of experience in FMCG, food, or beverage manufacturing. You thrive in hands-on environments, know what great looks like on the floor, and understand how planning accuracy and production efficiency directly impact the customer experience. You know that every decision you make affects not only the factory but also the product in our customers' hands.
You bring solid experience in demand forecasting, scheduling, and working with ERP systems, along with the accountability and follow-through to turn plans into action. While coffee experience isn’t required, the pace, precision, and structure of high-output manufacturing is essential.
You’ll bring strong stakeholder engagement, commercial acumen, and the confidence to influence at multiple levels. You’re not just planning workflows- you’re coaching teams, solving problems on the go, and building a culture where safety, performance, innovation, and continuous improvement are part of one whole.
Check out our state-of-the-art Roastery at Twenty-Three here:
- Published on 09 Apr 2025, 4:56 AM