Head of Business Unit – Proteins

• Christchurch (Hornby) | Permanent, full time | Global B2B ingredients
• Own it end to end – strategy, P&L, pricing, portfolio and global customers for Westland's entire protein business
• Real decision-making, not just delivery – shape where we play and how we win across MPC, WPC and caseinates
• Global reach, local company – backed by Yili Group, a global top-5 dairy company, with a close-knit team based in Christchurch

A bit about the role

As Head of Business Unit – Proteins, you'll take ownership of Westland's global protein business, supplying customers across nutrition, dairy, food manufacturing and specialised applications worldwide.

You'll set the commercial strategy, own the P&L, shape pricing architecture and portfolio direction, lead our most significant global customer relationships, and decide where we invest, where we push for volume and where we protect value. Reporting to the GM Sales & Marketing, you'll sit at the table where the decisions get made.

You'll lead our sales and product management teams, work shoulder to shoulder with Operations, Supply Chain, S&OP, Innovation, Quality and Finance, and have genuine influence over product mix, innovation priorities and how much value we pull through our protein assets.

A bit about you

You're an innovative leader who gets the best out of the whole business. You bring Operations, Innovation and Finance along with you early, and you're comfortable making a decision and standing behind it.

What you'll need:

10+ years in B2B ingredient markets, ideally protein ingredients

Genuine depth in dairy proteins – how they're made, what they do in a customer's application, and what actually drives margin

Experience leading commercial teams, with financial results you can point to

Ownership of numbers, not just influence over them

Strong negotiation and stakeholder skills

A degree in Business, Food Science, Nutrition or similar

Nice to have, but not essential:

An MBA

Experience across infant, sports, medical or specialty nutrition markets

International or export market exposure

What We Offer

• Generous bonus structure
• Health insurance, life insurance and wellbeing support
• Enhanced parental leave
• Discounted Westland products
• Long service leave and awards
• Leadership development and training
• Free on-site parking
• Genuine progression opportunities – we're big believers in growing our own
• * Global Organisation Exposure

A bit about us

Westland Milk Products is a proud, end-to-end New Zealand dairy manufacturer with a heritage stretching back over 80 years and a home in the beautiful South Island. From our Hornby (Christchurch) offices and our Hokitika site, our people turn West Coast milk into premium products enjoyed the world over.

We're owned by the global top-5 dairy company, Yili Group. Together with our related New Zealand companies – Oceania Dairy (Glenavy), Pure Nutrition (Rolleston), Canary Foods (Hamilton) and EasiYo (Auckland) – we form the Yili Oceania group. Combined, we produce over 170,000mt of finished goods each year, exported to more than 40 countries, driving annual revenue well in excess of $1.3B – and growing.

Our values say it best: Excellence, Accountability, Innovation, Win-win and Respect. It's a genuinely global stage, with a close-knit Kiwi team behind it.

Where to from here?

We'd love to hear from you, even if you don't tick every single box – no one ever meets 100% of the criteria, and the best people rarely do. If this sounds like your kind of challenge, back yourself and apply.

Apply through our careers page at westlandcareers.co.nz, where you'll also find the full position description.

Applications

All applications will be treated in confidence.

Applications close 12 Oct 2026. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and interviews may be conducted prior to the closing date.