Senior communications lead

Flexible working, with Monday as our team in-office day

Senior role shaping how Farmlands handles media and trust

Proudly Kiwi-owned - Aotearoa’s largest farming co-operative

Mō te whai waahi | About the opportunity

Farmlands’ marketing team is growing, and this role is central to how we show up for rural New Zealand. You will set the direction for how we handle media and reputation, and how we respond when things go wrong. You will also make sure comms has a voice in decisions that affect trust, reputation and commercial outcomes.

You will lead our media pitching and proactive PR in-house, own our stakeholder communications and engagement, and own the customer incident and response process with our Risk team and our Health and Safety team. You will also reset our internal comms strategy with People and Culture, look after our supplier, partner and government relationships, manage our corporate social good partnerships, including the Rural Support Trust and our rugby partnership, and build the capability of the wider comms team.

This is a hands-on role. You will think strategically and also roll up your sleeves, from writing email campaigns to writing for our senior leaders.

Reporting to the Head of Marketing, Brand and Communications, this is a full-time role with flexible working and Monday as our team in-office day.

Mōhou ake | About you

We’re looking for someone who has:

• 10 or more years in a senior communications, corporate affairs or public relations role, with hands-on media relations experience
• Direct experience in incident, crisis or issues communications, ideally in a customer-facing business
• Experience managing complex stakeholder relationships in a public environment
• A track record of growing capability in others, through formal people leadership or informally

You’ll also bring:

• Sound judgement on risk and governance, and comfort working at senior and executive level
• A strong brand and channel background: you know what content belongs in our emails, on our website and on social, and you keep our brand story and tone of voice consistent across them
• Willingness to work alongside our Product and Merchandising team on supplier and partner co-marketing

Bonus if you have:

• Exposure to government relations, industry bodies or sector partnerships
• A background in local government, central government, an iwi organisation or a co-operative
• Rural or agricultural experience

In addition, you are:

• Level-headed and resilient when the pressure is real
• Quick and highly productive, able to hold a lot of information and reframe it simply
• Able to tell the difference between managing a crisis and managing the story
• Comfortable presenting to senior leaders, and able to take a brief and run with it

Mō ngā painga | About the benefits

Based at our Burnside Support Office, you'll be rewarded with:

• Competitive pay and great staff discounts
• Generous leave, including leave purchase opportunity, your birthday off and sick leave from Day 1
• Ongoing training and development and access to LinkedIn Learning
• Shareholding opportunity with great partner perks through the Farmlands Card
• Extra support for parents
• Free parking and great coffee

Mō matou | About us

At Farmlands Te Whenua Tāroa, we’re here to support NZ farmers and growers to thrive. With over 1,200 people across the country, we’re proud to be a Kiwi-owned co-operative built on our values: Be You, Minds Open, See It Through.

Te Tono | How to apply

Apply online with your CV and a short cover letter – we’d love to hear from you.

As part of your application you’ll answer two quick video questions, so we can get to know you.

Applications close: 5th November 2026.

You must have the legal right to work in New Zealand. Pre-employment checks include references, Ministry of Justice check, right to work, driver’s licence check, and ACC history. Additional checks may apply for some roles.