---
title: 'Senior Leading Hand at Mr Apple'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/senior-leading-hand-mr-apple-all-33bc4pgkw2kb'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-08'
---

# Senior Leading Hand at Mr Apple

- **Company:** Mr Apple
- **Location:** All
- **Posted:** 2025-11-12
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-08
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/mrapple/jobs/4940113007

## Job description

Are you passionate about horticulture and keen to grow your skills? We're looking for an experienced Senior Leading Hand to join our team and help drive orchard success.

## What you’ll be doing

In this role, you will support the Orchard Manager in the day-to-day running and maintenance of the orchard to produce a high-quality export crop of apples. You'll help ensure work is completed safely, efficiently and in line with company procedures, while supporting and developing orchard employees to achieve great results. You will play an important role in maintaining orchard performance, developing people, and contributing to the success of the wider team.

Your day-to-day tasks will include but are not limited to:

- Motivate and manage team members to ensure the orchard is optimally profitable
- Support work quality, productivity and day-to-day orchard operations
- Supervise and train seasonal staff
- Utilise technology to access, record and identify information
- Complete general orchard work such as property maintenance, redevelopment, tractor driving, spraying and pruning.

## What you’ll bring

- Proven horticulture experience, including supporting, training or supervising orchard teams
- Excellent communication, organisation and time management skills
- Knowledge of machinery operation and maintenance
- Pest, disease and chemical knowledge
- Comfortable using technology and keen to continue developing your horticultural and operational capability
- A future thinker – you are passionate about learning and owning change
- You must have reliable means of transport to and from work
- You have the right to work in New Zealand and can pass pre-employment checks

## What we offer

- This is an opportunity to develop and grow alongside a team of experts
- Industry leading technology to optimise the work environment
- High health and safety standards
- Teammates who believe we are stronger together
- Competitive pay to match your skills and experience
- Support and encouragement to obtain certification and qualifications
- Clear opportunities for career growth and progression within Mr Apple

Mr Apple have 400 permanent staff across their orchards, post-harvest facilities and business support services departments. With 15 orchard blocks across in Napier, Hastings and Central Hawke’s Bay, we are Future Thinkers working with cutting edge orchard machinery and equipment.

## About Mr Apple

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Mr Apple is New Zealand’s largest integrated grower, packer, and exporter of apples, obsessed with delivering safe, crunchy, and delicious fruit to markets around the world.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Subsidiary of Scales Corporation, NZX: SCL)
- **Headquarters**: Whakatu, Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand
- **Founded**: 2001 (merger of two largest growers following deregulation)
- **Founders**: Not individually named; formed from Grocorp Pacific Limited and another grower

## Core Business
- Primary industry/industries: Agriculture (apple growing, packing, and export) / Food & Beverage
- Target customers: B2B (retailers, distributors in 60+ countries) and B2C (consumers via branded retail boxes)
- Mission or purpose statement: “Pure Perfection” – delivering the highest quality apples from New Zealand’s ideal growing conditions, backed by the **5 Point Promise** (safety, crunch, sweetness, juiciness, consistency)

## Products & Services
- **Mr Apple Fresh Apples**: A range of New Zealand-grown apple varieties (e.g., Royal Gala, Braeburn, Jazz, Envy) sold globally. Product is marketed with a 5 Point Promise that guarantees taste and quality.
- **Technology-Enabled Sorting**: World-leading scanning (external and internal) plus hand-checking to ensure every apple meets strict standards before packing.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly available (Mr Apple is a wholly owned subsidiary; Scales Corporation Ltd has a market cap of approximately NZD ~350M as of mid-2025)
- **Key Metric**: Annual Revenue – not disclosed for Mr Apple alone; Scales Corp’s Horticulture segment (primarily Mr Apple) reported revenue of NZD ~200M in FY2025 (approximate). Total funding: NZ$6.0K (minimal, likely a historical figure; company is self-sustaining)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Scales Corporation (parent); RSE (Recognised Seasonal Employer) partnerships with Pacific governments; customers in 60+ countries
- **Growth Signals**: Headcount of 2,000+ staff; export volume accounts for ~25% of New Zealand’s total apple crop; continuous investment in automation (packhouse scanning, coolstore technology); 13.9% YoY LinkedIn headcount growth (65 office-based roles)

## Competitive Advantages
- **Scale & Integration**: As NZ’s largest integrated grower-packer-exporter, Mr Apple controls the entire supply chain from orchard to port.
- **Technology & Quality**: Proprietary scanning (inside/outside) combined with manual inspection ensures consistent premium quality—hard for smaller operators to match.
- **Brand Trust**: The **5 Point Promise** creates a strong consumer and retail brand, differentiating Mr Apple from commodity apple suppliers.
- **Geographic Moat**: Hawke’s Bay climate and soil are ideal for apple growing; existing orchard and processing infrastructure is difficult to replicate.

## Strategic Focus
- **Automation & Innovation**: Investing in world-leading packhouse technology, coolstore automation, and IT systems to improve efficiency and quality consistency.
- **Global Market Expansion**: Growing export presence (currently 60+ countries) and strengthening brand in key markets like Asia, Europe, and the Americas.
- **Sustainability & People**: Enhancing workforce via RSE programmes and Pacific partnerships; maintaining “Always Growing” culture while scaling operations.
- **Operational Excellence**: Upholding high health & safety standards, traceability, and environmental stewardship across orchards and packhouses.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Values-driven environment (“We are one team”, “Always Growing”, “Embrace Diversity”, “Live the Standard”) with a strong focus on integrity, respect, and continuous improvement.
- **Work Style**: Predominantly on-site roles based in the Hawke’s Bay region (Whakatu, Hastings, CHB). Roles span orchards, packhouses, workshops, technology delivery, and head office functions.
- **Growth & Impact**: Opportunity to work in a world-leading agribusiness that exports a quarter of NZ’s apple crop. Career paths from hands-on technical roles to senior leadership (e.g., Head of Technology Delivery, Head of People & Culture).
- **Perks**: Being part of a close-knit, diverse team in a beautiful region; exposure to innovative agricultural technology; support for professional development through the “Always Growing” value.

## Sources
1. [mrapple.com – Overview & 5 Point Promise](https://www.mrapple.com/en)
2. [mrapple.com – Our Story & Leadership](https://www.mrapple.com/en/our-story)
3. [mrapple.com – Work With Us (Jobs)](https://www.mrapple.com/en/work-with-us)
4. [job-boards.greenhouse.io – Careers Page](http://job-boards.greenhouse.io/mrapple)
5. [nz.linkedin.com – Company Profile](https://nz.linkedin.com/company/mr-apple-new-zealand-ltd)

## Other roles at Mr Apple

- [Pastoral Care Coordinator](https://feeny.ai/job/pastoral-care-coordinator-mr-apple-whakatu-5b17vyajytv7) — Whakatu, New Zealand
- [Communications & Content Partner](https://feeny.ai/job/communications-content-partner-mr-apple-whakatu-afj4ytnkv01x) — Whakatu, New Zealand
- [Export Sales Executive](https://feeny.ai/job/export-sales-executive-mr-apple-whakatu-4eqzz3gkhcxv) — Whakatu, New Zealand
- [Orchard Foreman](https://feeny.ai/job/orchard-foreman-mr-apple-all-p9nfeswckxke) — All
- [Senior Leading Hand](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-leading-hand-mr-apple-careers-site-remote-k3dr6f67vr53)