General Manager Finance Partnering, Innovation & Brand

Job Name

GM Finance Partnering, Innovation & Brand

General Information

Date Published

24-Mar-2026

Advertising Ends

07-Apr-2026

ID#

15267

Role Type

General Management

Work Type

Permanent Full-Time

Workplace Type

Hybrid

Country

New Zealand

Location

Auckland

Position Description

Our Co-operative

Ata whakaarohia tō āpōpō | Imagine Tomorrow with Us

At Fonterra, we want everyone to feel they can be themselves.

Whether you're early in your career or ready for your next step, Fonterra offers a unique opportunity to grow with a global dairy co-operative that values care, collaboration, and contribution.

Owned by New Zealand dairy farmers and supported by a dedicated team, we are all working together to create a better future. Imagine tomorrow with us, where your career can grow, and you can create positive change.

He kupu mō mātou | About us

Fonterra is our global centre of excellence, connecting our farmers, customers and communities through world-class innovation and loved consumer brands. Innovation & Brand plays a critical role in shaping Fonterra’s portfolio, ensuring our investments in innovation across products, channels, and markets deliver long-term value for the Co‑op.

Our Business Finance team are trusted partners to leaders across the organisation. We bring together commercial insight, data driven analysis and deep stakeholder relationships to support smart, sustainable decisions that balance innovation, performance and prudent investment.

Mō tēnei tūranga | About the Opportunity

The General Manager Finance Partnering is a senior finance leadership role, responsible for leading finance business partnering for Innovation & Brand, one of Fonterra’s most strategically important portfolios. You will act as the senior finance leader and trusted advisor to the Innovation & Brand Leadership Team, providing enterprise-grade financial insight, challenge and stewardship to support high-quality decision-making.

This role combines strong commercial partnering with clear financial ownership. You will lead FP&A, performance management, budgeting, forecasting and financial reporting across the Innovation & Brand portfolio, while ensuring robust governance, discipline and transparency across innovation spend and investment decisions. The position reports into our Director, Finance M&A and Group Functions.

Working closely with the Innovation & Brand Leadership Team and enterprise stakeholders, you will help advance Fonterra’s innovation portfolio to create long-term value for the Co-op. You will also lead a small team of Finance Business Partners and work closely with central finance teams and shared service partners to ensure finance processes are executed to a high standard.

A few areas of focus will be to:

Lead end-to-end FP&A across Innovation & Brand, including budgeting, forecasting, performance reporting and insights, translating complexity into clear commercial recommendations for decision-makers.
Partner with Innovation & Brand leadership team to bring investment-grade financial thinking to innovation, balancing growth ambition with returns, risk and execution complexity across multi-year investment horizons.
Oversee measurement and reporting of innovation spend and performance within agreed enterprise guardrails and governance frameworks.
Ensure strong financial rigour in business case development, valuation and benefit realisation.
Drive continuous improvement in finance processes, reporting and performance management, including innovation performance
Lead, coach and develop a small team of Finance Business Partners to build financial business partnering and FP&A capabilities

Mōu | About You

You are a senior finance leader, who enjoys operating at both strategic and detailed levels in a complex, portfolio-based environment. Your commercial expertise enables you to bring investment-grade thinking to innovation, carefully weighing ambition against returns, risks, and execution. You bring strong FP&A and valuation experience. You are comfortable owning financial outcomes, not just advising on them, and you bring credibility with senior leaders through strong analysis, judgement and challenge. You’ll contribute across a wide array of innovation initiatives, providing finance partnering and commercial judgement to support growth and long-term value for the Co-op.

The ideal candidate will have:

10+ years’ experience in senior finance roles, with significant experience in FP&A and business partnering roles within large, complex or portfolio-based organisation
Strong grounding in financial accounting, reporting, governance and investment appraisal, alongside commercial and strategic capability
Deep experience in capital allocation, valuation and value-driver analysis, with the ability to challenge assumptions and trade-offs
Proven experience leading and developing finance teams and influencing senior stakeholders
Strong analytical and problem-solving capability, attention to detail and comfort navigating ambiguity using finance technology and analytics tools (e.g., enterprise planning systems, BI, predictive/advanced analytics)
An undergraduate degree in Finance, Economics or Accounting; CA or equivalent professional qualification is highly preferred.

Ngā Aura | Our Values

At Fonterra, our values of Good Together, Better Every Day, and Every Drop Counts, are for everyone – no matter your background, identify or experience. These values guide us in delivering exceptional outcomes for our farmers, customers, communities, and each other. Discover how your values align with ours by taking our Values Quiz

Tā mātou oati | Our Commitment to You

We care for our people globally. Our comprehensive benefits support your well-being, development, and work-life balance:

Fair and equitable pay
Health and well-being programs (medical, mental health support)
Professional development opportunities
Career growth support
Work-life balance options (flexible/hybrid working where possible)
Employee recognition
Support for community involvement and cultural connection

To learn more, visit Fonterra Careers

Ngā Mahi | A Career of Opportunities

At Fonterra, we are inspired by purpose and guided by our principles and values. Together, we create goodness for generations and make a global impact at a local level. As part of our Co-operative, you are an everyday creator, imagining what Fonterra, dairy, and you can be here.

Tātou Tātou | Join Us

Does this sound good to you? Come join our whānau - bring your whole self, and let's solve for better together.

You, me, us together, Tātou, tātou.

He Wāhi mō te Katoa | Together, we're shaping a future of inclusion.

Inclusion is key to our Co-operative. We're building a team that reflects the diverse world we live in, believing it drives better decisions and innovation.

We welcome applications from all backgrounds (ethnicities, genders, identities, orientations, ages, abilities, neurotypes, cultures, religions).

Even if you don't meet every requirement listed, we encourage you to apply; we value your potential and growth.

If you face accessibility issues or need accommodations during the process, please contact your recruiter. We ensure fair participation, allowing you to be at your best. Tātou, tātou.

Applications close at midnight on Tuesday 7th April

Fonterra Home Page

Fonterra Home Page

General Information

Position Description