Head of Innovation - Nutritionals and Bioactives

Head of Innovation - Nutritionals and Bioactives

Shape the Future of Nutrition

Lead the innovation agenda for nutritional and bioactive dairy products, making a real impact on health and wellbeing for consumers in over 40 countries.

Leadership, Growth & Influence

Take charge of a high-performing team, collaborate with senior leaders, and drive a five-year innovation strategy—your expertise and vision will be valued and visible.

Enjoy a competitive salary, company incentive scheme, health and life insurance, enhanced parental leave, and delicious discounted grass-fed butter!

A bit about your role

As the Head of Innovation – Nutritionals and Bioactives, you’ll play a pivotal role in shaping the future of nutritional and bioactive dairy products at Westland Milk Products. You’ll provide strategic, scientific, and technical leadership across a dynamic portfolio—including infant, toddler, and adult nutrition, as well as dairy bioactives like lactoferrin and colostrum. Reporting directly to the GM Innovation, you’ll work closely with cross-functional teams to deliver our five-year strategy for product innovation.

You’ll oversee recipe systems, integrated formulation tools, and product evaluation capabilities, while driving improvements and resolving complex technical challenges. Your work will ensure our products meet the highest standards and stay ahead of industry trends.

A bit about you

You are passionate about food and human nutrition, with a proven track record in product innovation and technical leadership within the dairy or food nutrition sector. You thrive in collaborative environments, enjoy solving complex problems, and have a forward-thinking mindset that anticipates industry trends. Your experience includes leading teams, managing product development, and ensuring quality and compliance in a global context. Most importantly, you’re driven by continuous improvement and scientific excellence.

A bit about the organisation

Westland Milk Products is a well-known New Zealand end-to-end dairy manufacturer based in the beautiful South Island, with offices and production facilities in both Christchurch and Hokitika. As part of the Yili Oceania group—which includes Oceania Dairy (Glenavy), Pure Nutrition (Rolleston), Canary Foods (Hamilton), and EasiYo (Auckland)—we produce over 170,000mt of finished goods annually, exporting to more than 40 countries and generating revenue well in excess of $1.3B—and growing.

Where to from here?

Please submit your application through our careers page at

Applicants must have valid work rights in New Zealand to be considered.

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