Research Engineer

About the Role

Fonterra seeks three Research Engineers to join its Research and Development Centre in Palmerston North on a permanent basis. Opportunities exist in three specialized areas: Cheese Foods supporting the Cheese, Cream and Milkfat team; Cultured Foods supporting the Protein and Powders team; and Milkfat Products supporting the Cheese, Cream and Milkfat team.

In these roles, candidates will develop commercially viable engineering solutions to advance new product and technology development. Leveraging strong engineering principles, they will tackle complex technical challenges and translate early-stage research into scalable and practical applications.

Key Responsibilities

• Utilize engineering fundamentals and rigorous hypothesis-driven research to solve intricate product, processing, and technological issues, creating viable solutions that add commercial value.
• Maintain expertise relevant to research areas, technologies, manufacturing processes, and applications while assisting project teams as necessary.
• Identify opportunities and provide technical insights to support the research strategy and prioritize projects that yield business benefits.
• Collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams including researchers, innovators, manufacturing staff, IP advisors, regulators, customers, and external partners.
• Contribute to scale-up processes, implementation, and ongoing improvements in project delivery.
• Document and communicate research plans, experimental data, modeling results, literature reviews, and lessons learned clearly.

Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in engineering disciplines such as Chemical, Process, Bioprocess, or Food Engineering; PhD preferred.
• At least two years of experience in R&D, pilot plants, or research environments with familiarity in process scale-up, experimentation, uncertainty assessment, and statistical analysis.
• Solid understanding of unit operations, engineering modeling, fluid dynamics, reaction kinetics, mixing/blending, refrigeration, and thermal processing technologies.
• Beneficial familiarity with capital project design and process scale-up.
• Strong research curiosity, problem-solving skills, and the capacity to work independently and collaboratively.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement capabilities to build trusted relationships across technical and business teams.

Our Values and Culture

Our values – Good Together, Better Every Day, and Every Drop Counts – shape our inclusive and collaborative workplace culture. We welcome diverse backgrounds, identities, and perspectives, fostering innovation and fair participation for all.

Employee Benefits

• Competitive and equitable salary
• Health and well-being programs including medical and mental health support
• Opportunities for professional development and career progression
• Flexible work-life balance options with hybrid possibilities where feasible
• Employee recognition programs
• Support for community involvement and cultural connection initiatives

Additional Information

Applications close at midnight on Thursday, 13th August. We encourage candidates who may not meet all criteria but show potential and willingness to grow to apply. Accessibility accommodations are available upon request to ensure fair and supportive recruitment.