Technical Manager - Potatoes

Bring your technical growing expertise to a role with real impact!

Are you an experienced horticultural professional looking for an opportunity to take your technical expertise to the next level?

A.S. Wilcox & Sons is looking for a Technical Manager – Potatoes to join our Growing team. This is a broad technical role where your knowledge of crop production, agronomy, seed, crop optimisation and continuous improvement will make a real difference across our growing operations.

You don't need to have spent your entire career working with potatoes. We’re interested in people with strong transferable technical skills from horticulture, arable production or other relevant cropping environments who can bring fresh thinking and practical expertise to our business.

About The Role

The Technical Manager - Potatoes is responsible for ensuring that their technical expertise supports strong potato crop performance while also helping to drive continuous improvement.

This full-time collaborative role will require travel throughout our North Island growing operations. You will work alongside the GM of Growing, our Crop Supervisors and our wider Growing teams to ensure crop success.

Main Duties of the role include the following

Providing specialist technical and agronomic support across crop production

Developing and managing crop protection and nutrition strategies

Supporting irrigation optimisation and efficient water use

Managing and developing our seed programme, including planning, quality, storage and production

Supporting research, development, trials and innovation

Helping optimise crop outcomes against customer and market requirements

Supporting supply planning and visibility across our growing operations

Monitoring crop performance and yield forecasts

Providing clear technical reports, recommendations and practical advice

Supporting quality, HSEQ and compliance initiatives

Working collaboratively with growing, production and operational teams to identify opportunities for improvement

About you

We're looking for someone who can demonstrate strong technical capability and brings practical growing experience. This role is ideal for someone who enjoys solving problems, making informed decisions and seeing their recommendations translate into results.

You'll also ideally bring:

A tertiary qualification in horticulture or a related discipline

At least 5 years' practical experience in horticulture, arable production or a related cropping environment

Strong technical and agronomic knowledge

Experience managing or supporting commercial crop production

Sound decision-making and commercial awareness

Strong written and verbal communication skills

The ability to build effective relationships across technical, growing and operational teams

A practical, solutions-focused approach to crop optimisation and continuous improvement

What matters the most is your technical capability, active growth mindset and the ability to transfer your experience into a new crop environment.

In return

• We offer flexibility for the successful candidate to be based at either our Pukekohe or Matamata site, depending on your preference and location.
• Competitive remuneration based on experience.
• A supportive, collaborative growth environment so you can grow with us too.
• Why Wilcox?

A.S. Wilcox & Sons is afourth-generation, family-owned New Zealand business growing and marketing produce for domestic and export markets.

Potatoes, onions and carrots are at the heart of our business, alongside our growing portfolio of other crops.

Our purpose is “Growing healthy communities from the ground up” — and that applies equally to the produce we grow and the people who make it happen.

You'll join a business that values

Respect at our Core | Expect the Best | Together Growing

If you're an experienced technical growing professional ready for your next challenge, we'd love to hear from you today. Reach out for a confidential chat to [email protected] or apply today.