GROUNDWORK AND CULTIVATION SUPERVISOR
About The Role
Are you an experienced agricultural or horticultural professional who enjoys leading from the front? We are looking for a Groundwork and Cultivation Supervisor to support the successful delivery of groundwork, cultivation, and block preparation activities across our Gisborne farming operations.
Reporting to the Groundwork Manager, you will play a key hands-on leadership role, coordinate daily field activities, supervising operators and seasonal staff, and ensure cultivation and soil preparation work is completed safely, efficiently, and to a high standard. Working closely with crop production, agronomy, irrigation, planting, transplanting, and engineering teams, you will help prepare blocks for successful crop establishment while maintaining strong health and safety, environmental, and quality standards.
This role is ideal for someone with practical experience in field operations, cultivation, and machinery management who enjoys problem-solving, motivating teams, and delivering results in a fast-paced agricultural environment. You will be instrumental in maintaining productivity, supporting machinery utilisation, monitoring work quality, and ensuring daily operations stay on track despite changing weather and field conditions.
If you’re a proactive leader with a passion for farming, strong operational knowledge, and a commitment to safety and continuous improvement, we’d love to hear from you.
About You
You are a hands-on leader who thrives in a fast-paced agricultural or horticultural environment and enjoys working alongside your team to achieve operational goals. With experience in groundwork, cultivation, field operations, or crop production, you understand the importance of quality soil preparation, machinery performance, safety, and teamwork in delivering successful crop establishment.
To be successful in this role, you’ll bring:
- Proven experience in cultivation, groundwork, farm machinery, horticulture, or agricultural field operations.
- Strong knowledge of soil preparation, bed forming, drainage, field conditions, and machinery operation.
- The ability to lead, coach, and motivate operators and seasonal staff while maintaining high standards of safety, quality, and productivity.
- Excellent problem-solving skills and the confidence to make practical decisions in changing weather and operational conditions.
- Experience coordinating machinery, labour, and daily work programmes to meet deadlines and operational targets.
- A strong commitment to health and safety, environmental stewardship, and compliance with industry standards and procedures.
- Effective communication skills and the ability to build positive working relationships across teams.
- Relevant licences and endorsements, such as forklift, tractor operation, WTR, Class 1 or Class 2, would be advantageous.
Most importantly, you are reliable, adaptable, and take pride in delivering quality work. You lead by example, stay calm under pressure, and are passionate about supporting a high-performing team that helps deliver quality crops from the ground up.
About LeaderBrand
At LeaderBrand, we’re passionate about evolving fresh food for a healthier world. As a proud family-owned business, our goal is to be New Zealand’s most innovative and consistent fresh food producer. We farm across three key growing regions, process and pack in state-of-the-art post-harvest facilities, and are supported by a nationwide sales team delivering fresh produce to every corner of Aotearoa. Our 400+ people are central to our success. We’re always on the lookout for new talent with energy, passion, and a drive to learn – people excited to help shape the future of fresh food.
Gisborne is the heart of our business and the place where LeaderBrand was founded more than 50 years ago. Over that time, LeaderBrand has become integral to the story of our community, with the next generations of those who started with us returning to shape the future alongside us. We also have farms in Pukekohe and Chertsey.
We have a strong vision for the future of our business, our people, and our industry. We’re constantly pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. Our continuous improvement mindset grounds us as one of New Zealand’s leading horticultural businesses. We seek, harness, and develop the best people, technology, land, and machinery to shape the future of food.
