Optimisation and Productivity Lead

18-month fixed-term opportunity during an exciting time of change implementation

Flexible location in the North Island – Lower North Island preferred

Support day-to-day business operations and get involved in new projects

Ko wai mātou – About us

Kia ora. We’re Foodies. You know Gilmours, New World, PAK’nSAVE, and Four Square, right? That’s us!

With more than 320 stores and over 27,000 Foodies across Te Ika-a-Māui, Foodstuffs North Island is a co-operative proudly owned by our Members. Our purpose is simple – making sure New Zealanders get more out of life, and we’re driven by our aspiration to be one of New Zealand’s most customer-driven and productive retailers.

Te Tūranga – About the role

As our Supply Chain Optimisation & Productivity Lead, you’ll work closely with 8 stores across the Gilmours network to identify opportunities, simplify processes and embed best-practice ways of working.

This is not a role where you’ll be improving operations from behind a desk. You’ll spend time with store teams, understanding how work happens in practice, identifying root causes and helping turn operational challenges into practical, sustainable improvements.

Lead the review, design and optimisation of end-to-end supply chain and store operational processes

Establish clear operating standards, routines and accountabilities that can be consistently adopted across stores

Act as the Wholesale subject matter expert for SAP EWM and operational systems

Map and improve processes across goods receipt, storage, replenishment, picking, dispatch, customer service, sales support and post-sale activity

Partner with store leadership teams to understand operational challenges and develop fit-for-purpose solutions

Support the rollout and adoption of new systems, tools, features and business processes

Create practical process documentation, training resources and simple frontline guides

Use operational KPIs, dashboards and insights to identify bottlenecks, prioritise activity and measure impact

Work across DNA, IT, Customer, Supply Chain, Finance and store teams to develop scalable improvements

Lead and contribute to transformation and productivity initiatives that improve cost-to-serve, labour productivity, inventory accuracy, service execution and customer experience

He kōrero mōu – About you

You’re an experienced supply chain or operational improvement specialist who knows how to balance processes, systems and data with the realities of a busy store or warehouse environment.

Strong supply chain, warehouse, logistics or store operations experience, ideally gained within wholesale, FMCG, retail or another complex multi-site environment

Deep working knowledge of SAP EWM or a similar ERP warehouse management system

Proven experience delivering process improvement, operational excellence, transformation or change initiatives

Strong process mapping, root-cause analysis and problem-solving capability

The ability to simplify complex operational challenges and develop practical solutions

Excellent stakeholder engagement, coaching and influencing skills

Confidence building trust and credibility with store teams, owner-operators and senior leaders

A willingness to work alongside stores to observe, test, refine and embed improvements in live environments

Strong data literacy, including using reports, dashboards and performance measures to guide decisions

Commercial understanding of how productivity, inventory accuracy, cost-to-serve and service execution influence customer experience, margin and growth

Clear communication skills, with the ability to translate technical or operational concepts for different audiences

Most importantly, you’ll be curious, collaborative and resilient, with a practical mindset and a genuine commitment to helping teams adopt new ways of working that stick

Ngā painga - What we offer

We’re committed to providing awesome experiences for our people, including offering a range of benefits

Free carparking - we’ve got over 1,000 carparks including EV plugs

Onsite café with subsidised meals, mini mart, 5% discount at our retail stores

Flexible working options, a day off on your birthday, lots of fun on site activities

Inhouse learning and development programmes and courses, flu vaccinations, and social network groups (we call them Tribes).

Experience awesome. Achieve awesome. Be awesomely you.

We’re proud to have a focus on Diversity & Inclusion here at Foodies and welcome courageous behaviour, encourage togetherness, inspire our people to be their best selves in our Foodies whānau.

We encourage you to apply with all your awesomeness and welcome your diverse background, including any disability, additional health and mental health needs, and/or neurodiversity.

If you require accessibility support to ensure you can fairly access our recruitment process, please reach out to [email protected] . Accessibility support could include interview location, sign language interpreter, assistive technology.