Operations Quality Lead

As the Operations Quality Lead, you will play a key role in leading quality and food safety performance across your designated manufacturing operation, ensuring products are produced safely, consistently, and in full compliance with regulatory, customer, and certification requirements. You will provide operational quality leadership, drive continuous improvement initiatives, oversee quality and compliance systems, and support the development of a strong food safety culture across the site. Reporting directly to the Site Quality & Compliance Manager, you will lead a small team of Operations Quality Officers and work closely alongside Manufacturing, Laboratory, TPM, Supply Chain, and wider Quality teams. This is a hands‑on leadership role where you will champion quality standards on the production floor, lead audits and HACCP reviews, manage product quality issues, and support the ongoing evolution of quality systems and processes. A bit about you You are an experienced quality and food safety professional with proven leadership capability and a passion for driving high standards in manufacturing environments. You bring several years of experience working within quality, food safety, compliance, or a related field, along with a strong understanding of food safety management systems, regulatory requirements, and continuous improvement methodologies. You are comfortable building relationships across all levels of the business and have a proven ability to influence positive outcomes while balancing quality expectations with operational demands. Your attention to detail, analytical thinking, and practical problem‑solving skills enable you to make sound decisions in fast‑paced environments. Just as importantly, you enjoy developing people, fostering collaboration, and creating a culture where food safety and quality are everyone's responsibility. A bit about the organisation Oceania Dairy Limited (ODL) is a leading dairy manufacturer based in Glenavy, South Canterbury, producing premium dairy ingredients and nutritional products for customers around the world. As part of the Yili Oceania group, ODL operates a modern processing facility with a strong focus on quality, innovation, food safety, and operational excellence. Owned by the Global Top 5 dairy company Yili Group, Westland Milk Products and its related companies in New Zealand, Oceania Dairy (Glenavy), Pure Nutrition (Rolleston), Canary Foods (Hamilton) and EasiYo (Auckland) form a group that we refer to as the Yili Oceania group. The combined business produces over 170,000 mt of finished goods which are then exported to over 40 countries, driving annual revenue well in excess of $1.3 B – and growing. Applications close on 3rd August 2026. Please note that this advertisement may close earlier than the listed closing date if a suitable candidate is identified. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and interviews may be conducted earlier than the closing date. Applicants must have valid work rights in New Zealand to be considered. #J-18808-Ljbffr