Whether you are a Commerce or Technical Graduate, Fonterra’s Graduate Programmes offer an opportunity to have a range of diverse experiences before you settle on a particular role that suits you best. This gives Fonterra Graduates the chance to find out how your specific skills and quality fare in the real world, and discover which roles you will find satisfying.
Fonterra Graduate Commerce Programme
The Fonterra Graduate Commerce Programme is designed to build Fonterra’s talent pipeline by developing future leaders.
The FGCP provides an intensive, continuous programme over two years offering a multitude of experiences by way of rotations through different businesses to equip graduates with the necessary skills and knowledge needed for an accelerated start to their careers in Fonterra. We do this by providing stretching, challenging roles with real decision making responsibility, providing exposure to a range of developmental and learning experiences while continuously developing functional/technical competence.
Fonterra Graduate Technical Programme (Engineers and Food Technology/Science)
The Fonterra Technical Graduate Programme gives graduates a broad overview of Fonterra and all the technical aspects that go with the business. The first 12 months includes an induction, practical work at a dairy plant and an integrated course at the Fonterra Research Centre (based in Palmerston North), the largest dairy research centre in the world. The second year further develops our graduates skills and expertise through rotations through the business or placements.
Launched in 1969, the Fonterra Graduate Technical Programme (FGTP) is an intensive, induction course that equips Science, Technology and Engineering Graduates with the skills and knowledge for an accelerated start to their careers. The aim is to develop graduates with the potential to become technical leaders and managers in Fonterra.
The FGTP gives an excellent broad overview of Fonterra where graduates gain a good insight into the structure and function of all technical aspects of Fonterra including making contacts with people in diverse areas of the industry that will be of great benefit in building your career. You will also have the opportunity to attain a Masters in Food Science as part of programme.
The FGTP year begins in December with a three-week induction course held at Fonterra Research Centre (FRC) in Palmerston North. During the summer, you will be immersed in dairy with practical work experience at a Fonterra dairy plant -- working shifts in a process operator role. Over the winter, you will be based back at the FRC for a 10 week integrated course of lectures, tutorials, practical work, exercises and projects covering business units, dairy science, technology and engineering, operational excellence, and the technology, science, product development and marketing of dairy products. You then return to a Fonterra site and have the option to complete an individual research project.
What We Look For - New Zealand Graduates
We are looking for talented people who are passionate, innovative and possess a "can do" attitude to help us lead the way in dairy. The following competencies will give you a hint of what we look for in a potential leader:
Information Technology
As an Information Systems (IS) graduate you will be working in a strong business focused environment. Fonterra is a multi vendor environment with a focus on partnering for business success. As such we are interested in IS graduates with good interpersonal skills, problem solving skills and confidence.
You will demonstrate both technical and business acumen be driven as well as taking part in extra-curricular activities. Our preferred candidates will have a combination Commerce and IT degree perhaps combined honours or have taken papers in Finance, Marketing or Business in addition to IT.
Graduate roles within IS work on a rotational basis giving you exposure to different areas. You will be given a mentor and have regular meetings with the CIO.
Your training is a high priority and we will support your career through a well defined career development framework. You will be rewarded with an attractive salary and a yearly incentive based on your skills, experience and performance - and promotion when you are ready to take that next step!
Are you ready to join a market leader and give your career the best start? If so, apply now!
Zach Ward
Milk Pricing Project Manager
BBS / BSc (Massey Scholar), Massey University
Having completed degrees in animal science and agribusiness, I was faced with the big "what next" question.
The opportunity to join Fonterra Milk Supply as a graduate at the start of 2005 was by far the best opening that was available to me and one that I couldn't pass up.
Milk Supply is the business unit that is responsible for all of the interactions between farmers (the owners of the Co-operative) and Fonterra. As a graduate I was employed as a general business analyst and had the opportunity to work on a range of projects and initiatives that built on my existing skills, but also allowed me to develop a whole lot of new ones.
Some of the most interesting projects I have worked on include: The Pastures from Space project where we are using satellite imagery to measure pasture cover, Working on the feasibility and initial implementation of a dairy farm that Fonterra is developing in China and New milk pricing initiatives.
These projects have been quite varied and have allowed me to interact with people right across the business. Most recently, I have moved into a role where I focus almost entirely on milk pricing. Each year Fonterra pays out billions of dollars to our farmers, as part of my job I calculate a range of parameters that determine how this money is paid out.
Outside of Fonterra my interests are mainly in farming and on weekends I regularly find myself relief milking various herds in the Waikato. It is always useful to hear what the real owners of the business think and it gives me an opportunity to explain some of the things we are trying to achieve.
Coming from a farming background I still plan to return to this in the future. For now I am enjoying the challenge of working in Fonterra and am trying to make the most of the opportunities that it opens up.
