Line Technician - Canning & Pouch
This role is pivotal to business continuity at Oceania Dairy and requires a proactive, technically capable individual who takes ownership of asset performance and reliability.
You will work autonomously within a dynamic manufacturing environment, diagnosing and resolving mechanical, electrical, and automation-related issues, while collaborating closely with production teams, planners, and contractors. The role also plays a key part in upskilling process controllers, supporting specification and packaging changes, and applying reliability engineering principles to reduce downtime and optimise plant performance.
Key responsibilities include:
Monitoring line condition, efficiency, and performance to ensure continuous operation of canning and pouch lines.
Carrying out preventative and predictive maintenance in line with industry best practice to minimise breakdowns during production runs.
Diagnosing and rectifying mechanical, electrical, and automation faults using strong fault-finding and failure analysis techniques.
Responding to breakdowns with a multi-skilled approach to restore equipment safely and efficiently.
Supporting maintenance planning activities and coordinating with subcontractors to maximise in-house capability.
Acting as a key technical interface between maintenance and operations, including upskilling process controllers and supporting specification and packaging changes.
Driving continuous improvement initiatives through condition monitoring, root cause analysis (RCA), FMEA, and reliability-centred maintenance (RCM) principles.
Ensuring all maintenance activities comply with health & safety, food safety (FSSC22000), and environmental standards, with accurate CMMS documentation.
A bit about you:
You are a trade-qualified technician with strong hands-on experience in a high-speed manufacturing or processing environment. You take pride in asset care, work well under pressure, and have a proactive, problem-solving mindset. You are confident working independently, comfortable making decisions in real time, and able to communicate effectively with a diverse range of stakeholders across operations, quality, and maintenance teams.
You bring solid technical depth, a continuous improvement focus, and a commitment to safe, compliant work practices.
Who are we?
Oceania Dairy (ODL) is a dairy manufacturing plant located in Glenavy, South Canterbury, with a diverse workforce of 400 staff, who specialise in the creation of Milk Powder (adult and infant formula) and UHT milk. 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 Ltd (Rolleston), Canary Foods (Hamilton) and EasiYo Ltd (Auckland) form a group that we refer to as the Yili Oceania Business Division (YOBD).The combined business produces over 170,000mt of finished goods which are then exported to over 40 countries, driving annual revenue in excess of $1.3B – and growing. Our family thrives on a sense of unity and collective success and through focusing on innovation, quality and our diversity, we can successfully contribute to maintaining Yili's title of Asia’s leading dairy product provider.
Why choose Oceania Dairy?State-of-the-art manufacturing facilities
Competitive salary package
Free employee bus from Timaru and Oamaru to site
Southern Cross Health Insurance.
Life + Trauma Insurance.On-site gym, annual health checks, and on-site physiotherapy
Long-service leave and enhanced parental leave coverage
Employee Assistance Program
Free parking
Strong safety-first culture
Values-led organisation committed to ongoing training and development
Subsidised butter!!!
Applicants must have valid work rights in New Zealand to be considered.