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 Summer Interns
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:
Supply Chain Graduates
We are a NZ co-operative who exist to secure the prosperity for the future NZ by bringing dairy goodness to the world. Our dairy know-how and expertise is built on generations of knowledge, expertise and passion. We are committed to sustainable dairying and the communities where we operate. Are you ready for Fonterra?
We realise you may not yet have decided on an area of speciality within Supply Chain, so the Fonterra Commerce Graduate Programme will provide you with exposure to a wide variety of roles through four or more rotations over a two year period. You will have the opportunity to shadow senior managers and will contribute to team projects.
As a Supply Chain Graduate you will be working in one of the largest and complex supply environments in the world. Graduates in this area have strong communication and relationship management skills, are highly numerate and can cope with a fast paced environment. You’ll need to think strategically, and to be able to work with complex scenarios in a team based environment.
Supply Chain Graduates typically start in the our Customer Service Centre based in Auckland though our two year Graduate Programme offers six month rotations that will give you exposure to all the key areas.
Qualifications
With a degree in Engineering or Commerce, our preference is for graduates who have majored in Operations Management, Logistics or Supply Chain.
Ideally we employ graduates who couple their studies with extra-curricular activities that demonstrate ambition to perform at a high level, lead others and achieve results.
You will be rewarded with an attractive salary, an annual incentive based on your performance as well as that of the business and opportunities for promotion when you are ready to take that next step.
We have opportunities in central Auckland though to get the most out of your career with Fonterra, it is an advantage that you are mobile.
If you have a positive attitude, willingness to learn and are a real team player, give your career the best start!
Adam Jaidin Fonterra - University of Canterbury (BCom Management)
Before coming to Fonterra I studied at the University of Canterbury, doing a BCom in Management and Management Science.
I always loved leadership and interacting with people so Management was a perfect fit for this and I really enjoyed Management Science which gave me more of a quantitative view of businesses. So I was able to get a good overall picture of how businesses are run and I loved my time there!
Upon completing my degree I knew I had to find a job where I could take all the information I had learnt at University and put it to practical use and Fonterra was an obvious choice. It was such a large and well recognised organisation, both within NZ and abroad, with so many opportunities available and I felt that I could take what I had learnt and be able to apply it in so many different ways. I really liked the idea of the Fonterra Graduate Programme as it allowed me to be introduced into the "real" world at a good pace and enabled me to take all that I had learnt and apply it while still continuing my learning as well. I really liked the idea of being able to transfer around the various functions of the Supply Chain to gain a broader understanding of how everything interacts, as this would help me in the future, and being able to work in positions of responsibility and leadership from very early on was also very appealing.
These thoughts turned out to be true and my time on the Fonterra Graduate Programme was well spent as it provided me with the base depth, and understanding of the organisation to make the organisational moves that I have. It enabled me to move between the various Supply Chain functions, working in all positions of responsibility right from the shop floor to shift foreman, to ensure that I knew each function, and its workers, intimately.
Since then I have moved through a number of positions within the organisation and am currently the Distribution Manager. This means I am responsible for managing all FBNZ domestic finished goods warehouses in New Zealand as well as all domestic third party freight providers in New Zealand. This means I am managing approximately 115 staff and with a multimillion dollar budget to control. I have been given the opportunity to work on a variety of key projects including Milk in Schools and the Christchurch earthquake recovery. I have also worked on initiatives that have been implemented and resulted in increased customer service and the design and implementation of a number of new milk depots throughout New Zealand.
Whilst this may be a far cry from my original Graduate position, I know that the Graduate programme was instrumental in providing me with the opportunities, experience, and relationships required to make such a transition into this role and I look forward to continuing my experiences with Fonterra.
