Regional Operations Manager (South Island)

Jora New Zealand will close on 9th September 2026. Thank you for being with us, we are cheering you on as you continue your career journey. Regional Operations Manager (South Island) At Fern Energy , we’re more than a fuel distribution business — we’re a team of people driving progress together. Our purpose is simple: to be New Zealand’s most trusted provider of fuel solutions, meeting the evolving needs of our customers and communities, now and into future. Our success is powered by our people and guided by three core behaviours: We back each other: fostering a culture of trust, care, and shared accountability. We’re not what you expect: exceeding customer expectations through creativity, empathy, and genuine connections. We make sense (and cents): making smart, practical decisions that create value and keep us moving forward. These behaviours shape how we collaborate, solve problems, and celebrate success — and they’re at the heart of everything we do at Fern. About the Role At Fern, we are passionate about keeping the heart of New Zealand pumping. Responsible for Fern's South Island operations, you'll lead an experienced team of fuel tanker drivers across multiple locations throughout the South Island, ensuring the safe, efficient and reliable delivery of fuel to our customers. You will understand the challenges of operating in a dynamic fuel environment while keeping a strong focus on what our customers need and expect. A key part of your success will come from being visible in the field, building strong relationships with drivers, customers and internal stakeholders, and ensuring everyone is aligned to deliver exceptional service. Reporting to the National Transport Manager, you'll be accountable for all regional operational activities, ensuring our people, fleet, systems, and facilities operate safely, efficiently, and effectively every day. You'll provide visible leadership across the region, building an engaged, high-performing team while driving continuous improvement in customer service, fleet utilisation, productivity, and operational performance. Working closely with Operations, Logistics and Sales, you'll deliver on operational plans, maintain strong stakeholder relationships, and ensure the highest standards of safety, compliance and service are consistently achieved. What You'll Be Responsible For Leading and developing a team of drivers and operational staff Driving a proactive health, safety, and wellbeing culture Managing day-to-day regional operations and fuel movements Ensuring customers receive exceptional service and supply reliability Improving fleet utilisation, operational efficiency, and cost performance Managing operational budgets and resources Overseeing fleet, asset, and facility management Supporting recruitment, onboarding, training, and workforce development Building strong relationships with customers, partners, contractors, and internal stakeholders Identifying and implementing operational improvement opportunities across the business What We're Looking For Proven management experience, ideally within the fuel or rural sector Strong leadership experience with the ability to motivate and inspire teams A track record of delivering operational excellence and continuous improvement Sound financial and commercial acumen Excellent planning, organisational, and problem-solving skills Strong stakeholder and customer relationship management capability The ability to balance multiple priorities while maintaining attention to detail A commitment to creating a positive, collaborative, and safety-focused culture Knowledge of the fuel, transport, rural, or primary sector industries would be advantageous. What We Offer At Fern, you'll join a values-driven organisation where collaboration, innovation and commercial success go hand in hand. We offer a competitive salary and benefits package which includes an annual incentive scheme opportunity following a qualifying period. A company Ute is also provided, which includes personal use. Applicants must have NZ residency or a valid NZ work visa. Successful candidates will undergo a pre-employment health assessment, including drug and alcohol screening. #J-18808-Ljbffr