Port Otago Cadetship Programme

Port Otago Group’s business comprises a regional container terminal, bulk port activities, cruise, and property investment and development. We service South Canterbury, Otago, and Southland, working with customers to streamline their supply chains. Our culture is hands-on, safety focused and encourages continuous improvement.

The programme is a fixed-term, two-year programme which is full time hours, paid, structured, and supported by a mentor. The role is diverse, and you will obtain knowledge and experience across several teams at Port Otago including Supply Chain, Operations, and Commercial teams.

Over the two-year programme, you will:

• Start your cadetship in our Commercial team as a Cruise Assistant during our busy cruise season.
• Enjoy a placement with our Supply Chain team - you will work across our different warehouse locations and with different inbound and outbound products such as Dairy, Timber and Fish.     
• Work alongside our Depot team, where you’ll learn to steam clean empty containers so they’re ready for customers to pack their products into. 
• Learn to operate a variety of machinery, your training will start with you learning to drive a forklift (no prior Forklift experience necessary!), but the goal is to also train you to drive our large straddle carriers before the end of your Cadetship.
• Depending on your skillset and physical ability, you may also work within our Operations team as a Cargo Handler, which involves:
• Lashing, where you work in teams securing and un-securing containers onboard the deck of a ship using lashing bars.
• Learning to operate our large straddle carriers.

There’s no shortage of variety in the work you’ll learn to complete, and on top of all that you’ll also be exposed to some other pretty cool parts of our business such as learning about health and safety, a ride onboard our Pilot Launch vessel, a Tug Ride, and you will get to have a look at our Dredging Operation.

If you love learning new things and are genuinely excited about the opportunity to explore and build a career in the port logistics industry, we’d love you to apply.

Men and women encouraged to apply

While the port industry has traditionally attracted men, times are changing. We strongly encourage women to apply and investigate this opportunity. 

You also may not have operated Heavy Machinery before and that’s ok as long as you are enthusiastic and keen to learn.  Shortlisted applicants will be taken through a computer-based assessment initially to see if you have got what it takes to operate heavy machinery. 

What's great about the Cadetship:

• Guaranteed 40 hours per week paid employment. 
• Mentorship and career development throughout the two-year programme.
• Working alongside and learning from a fantastic and supportive team of people. 
• You will gain your forklift licence and, in time, be trained to drive larger machinery.
• An awesome view from your workplace.

What's not so great:

• Flexibility is a must as throughout the programme, as you will work different days and hours, due to various shift rosters across different teams. 
• Frequent weekend work and public holiday work is required. Port Otago is an essential service, so the team doesn’t stop. 
• Due to the nature of shipping schedules and weather, your shifts will be allocated on a weekly and daily basis depending on your cadetship rotation.
• Your days off may be staggered during the week.

Heads up, you will need:

• A full clean NZ driver’s license.
• The physical ability to undertake some heavy labouring work at times.
• Safety is our #1 priority and therefore you will need to bring a high standard of safety, including being comfortable to speak up. 
• To pass Ministry of Justice, ACC checks and a medical, which includes a drug and alcohol test.
• To expect random drug and alcohol testing on an on-going basis.
• We are committed to looking after our people and we are excited about being a Smoke Free Workplace!

If you are interested in hearing more about our Cadetship Programme and expressing interest, please reach out to our People Team via people@portotago.co.nz or apply via our website: www.portotago.co.nz/careers