Orchard Cadets Needed!

About Southern Cross Horticulture
We are recruiting for our client Southern Cross Horticulture. SCH is driven by a mission to create and manage the worlds best kiwifruit orchards. They are known for their incredible developments and for delivering industry leading productive outcomes from the orchards they own & manage.
Family owned for over 40 years, the team at SCH are inspired by the opportunity to add value to each other, their customers, stakeholders and the community.
From the moment you walk in the door, or onto an orchard, the first thing you'll notice is the kind of people SCH attracts; they are humble and approachable, completely without pretence. They know their stuff and have put the effort in to become world class in their roles, and they are focused on making every development and every orchard world class.

What does SCH actually do?
Primarily across the Bay of Plenty, SCH manages hundreds of hectares of Gold and Red kiwifruit.
Check them out at www.southerncrosshorticulture.co.nz

About the role of Orchard Cadet
As an Orchard Cadet, you'll support the Orchard Manager with the day-to-day running of the orchard, from planning jobs to helping lead the team. You'll be hands-on across everything - keeping things safe, organised, on time, and running smoothly. This is a great role if you're keen on furthering your career in horticulture, with career progression to Vine Manager or Orchard Manager for the right people.
There are also other roles available, including Orchard Supervisor (a step below Cadet) and Vine Manager (a step above Cadet), if one of those feel like a better fit for you.

These roles will be onsite at SCH developments across the Bay of Plenty. While most of the work is likely to be around the Paengaroa, Maketu, Pukehina area, there are projects that could be further away.

Understanding of orchard canopy and nursery tasks is an advantage but is not a necessity. These roles require a minimum of 30 hours per week commitment.

What you can expect

• A competitive income package.
• Full training.
• An incredible team of experts to use as sounding boards while you pick up the role.
• Respectful and supportive managers and team.
• Exciting opportunities to develop your skills further, there will be opportunities for some of the people in these roles to move up into roles with more responsibility, and opportunity to go further within SCH over time!

Are you the one we are looking for?
This role requires a set of skills and capabilities, listed below. Does this sound like you?

• You bring leadership experience: You’ve supervised teams before and know how to lead, motivate, and create a positive team culture. You’re skilled at building strong working relationships and work well alongside people from all backgrounds and cultures.
• You’re hands-on and practical: You enjoy solving problems and are willing to jump in and do the mahi alongside your team when needed.
• You’re a strong communicator: You understand the value of clear communication. You’re able to build trust and manage relationships with a wide range of people, both internal and external. You embrace cultural diversity and communicate with respect and care.
• You make good calls: You bring strong decision making skills and use your initiative to plan ahead, organise effectively, and adapt as needed. You can prioritise, think laterally, and work independently.
• You improve things: You bring a continuous improvement mindset and are always looking for ways to make systems, processes, and outcomes better.

If you think your experience and skillset is a good match for this role, we’re keen to talk to you.

Eligibility:
To be considered for this role, you must have the current legal right to work in New Zealand at the time of application. This means you are either:
- A New Zealand citizen or permanent resident, or
- The holder of a current visa that entitles you to work in New Zealand for the duration of the role (full time/permanent).
We are not able to support visa applications or sponsorships for this position. Evidence of your right to work will be requested as part of the recruitment process.

Application Process:
If you are interested in applying, please click the ‘Apply’ button below and include your CV and cover letter.

James People will review applications and pass on those that could be a good fit to the team at SCH to reach out directly. Your first contact may be directly from SCH.