About the role
Reporting to a new role of Head of People & Capability, we’re seeking an experienced Organisational Development (OD) Lead who combines commercial insight with practical HR expertise and a passion for driving culture and leadership impact.
This is a unique opportunity to step into a high-impact role with real influence, where you’ll have the opportunity to lead and deliver exciting, business-critical projects across culture transformation, leadership development, and people process improvement.
Key responsibilities of this role include.
- Create and embed initiatives that lift leadership capability, engagement, and team effectiveness.
- Lead culture and employee experience projects that make a lasting impact.
- Build fit-for-purpose OD frameworks tailored to our operational and commercial realities.
- Collaborate closely with HRBP's and business leaders to co-create outcomes.
- Use data and insights to continuously improve programs and frameworks.
- Design workshops, toolkits, and learning materials that are simple, effective, and engaging for a range of audiences.
- Design and implement improvements to all people processes to make life easier for our people
Skills and Experience
You’ll thrive in this role if you’re someone who operates comfortably in fast-paced, operational environment and knows how to turn big-picture thinking into practical outcomes. Ideally, you’ve spent time as a HR Business Partner or Generalist, so you get what works and what doesn’t to ensure changes stick and have an impact. Experience in a manufacturing environment would also be a bonus as our biggest impact to shift culture is with our frontline leaders.
The ideal candidate will have the following skills and attributes:
- Experience in OD or People Experience roles, grounded in strong HRBP or generalist experience, ideally in dairy, primary industry, manufacturing, or FMCG.
- Proven ability to develop leadership, culture, and team development programs.
- Strong facilitation skills with the ability to simplify complex ideas into engaging materials and confidently deliver in both frontline operational and senior settings.
- A track record of improving people processes and employee experiences.
- Strong communication, influence, and stakeholder management skills.
- Resilience, adaptability, and a delivery mindset.
This role will be based at our Christchurch site in Dunsandel we will not consider a remote working arrangement. Applicants outside of New Zealand will only be considered if you have the legal right to live and work in New Zealand.
About Us – The Synlait Way
Synlait is a dynamic, purpose-led milk nutrition company that is Doing Milk Differently for a Healthier World! We pride our organisation as being different and allowing our spirit to drive our success, shifting perceptions and driving value through new thinking and a new attitude.
You’ll be joining down-to-earth, authentic people working together to create the very best in milk nutrition as we combine expert farming with innovative thinking and state-of-the-art processing to produce a range of nutritional milk products for our global customers.
We will challenge you by providing the opportunities you’ve been seeking to expand your career; we believe that everyone brings unique experiences and perspectives to the table so are committed to creating an inclusive workplace and embrace diversity to drive innovation and business success.
What we offer:
- Health insurance cover + Partnered with top brands for great benefits and discounts
- Excellent parental leave with our Matua policy
- World Class manufacturing facilities and BCorp TM certified
- Social Club membership opportunities
What's next?
Include your most recent CV and cover letter summarising your abilities and what you can bring to Synlait. We wish you the best of luck in your application. We encourage you to apply early as we will be reviewing applications regularly and may close the advertisement early.
Together we will continue to create a workplace where everyone can thrive and contribute their best.
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