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Our client is a well-capitalised agribusiness with a track record in developing and managing large-scale horticulture and broadacre properties across Australia. They are research-driven and back their people with the resources and trust to deliver.

The site is a 2,500ha-plus aggregation in the Riverina, with irrigation infrastructure in place and being extended as each planting round goes in, and a substantial Murrumbidgee entitlement behind it. The business is converting it to super high-density (SHD) olives. The first trees went in during 2025, and planting continues in rounds every six months until the planted area reaches 1,500ha.

The site sits within the client's Riverina portfolio, run under a regional General Manager with support shared across the wider Riverina team.

The Role

Reporting to the Farm Manager, who leads the site and carries the technical decision-making, you'll be his second on the ground. He is hands-on, and so is this role. You'll work from the paddock rather than the office, running the farmhand crew day to day and keeping establishment work moving on the planted blocks.

The crew is around four farmhands year-round, with labour hire brought in through peak periods. Development contractors deliver the planting and capital works programme, and you'll sequence their work around in-house operations. On the planted blocks the crew runs irrigation, nutrition, pest management and weed control to plan, and you'll bring experienced hands, current starters and contractors together as one crew.

This is an establishment-phase role. The work is land preparation, planting and bringing young blocks through their first seasons, not harvest. What takes three or four years to learn as a 2IC in an established almond operation happens here inside about eighteen months, and everything is new for the next two years: crop, machinery, farm and plantings.

A typical week blends setting the crew's daily tasks and supervising the work, time on a tractor when the day needs it, and checking sheds, machinery and irrigation across a site that grows each season. You'll help the Farm Manager build the site's operating rhythm from the start rather than inherit a settled system.



Success looks like a Farm Manager who can be off-site knowing the day runs.

Key Responsibilities

- Establishment & Orchard Operations. Support the Farm Manager in planning and executing land preparation, planting, irrigation, nutrition, and pest and weed management, working to production, quality and financial targets on the planted blocks. Operate tractors and orchard machinery alongside the crew when the day needs it.
- Crew Supervision. Set daily tasks for farmhands and labour hire, and keep the crew productive when weather or breakdowns shift the plan.
- Contractor Coordination. Supervise contractor work on site, sequence it around in-house operations, and represent the business with contractors, suppliers and stakeholders on the ground.
- Infrastructure, Machinery & Irrigation. Monitor sheds, machinery, irrigation systems and equipment; flag faults early and see repairs through.
- Planning, Budgets & Reporting. Assist the Farm Manager with annual budgets, cashflows and operational planning. Report monthly on machinery repairs and maintenance, chemical usage and stock. Bring forward continuous improvement and new technology where it lifts the operation.
- Safety & Compliance. Run toolbox meetings, take part in management meetings, carry out WHS inspections, report incidents, and hold the crew and contractors to protected practice across all operations.
- Team Culture. Build and develop team culture across experienced hands, new starters and contractors.

What You Bring

Attitude and drive outrank experience here. Prior people leadership is not expected; this is the role where it is learned. You bring energy to a crew and keep it moving, stay optimistic when the plan changes mid-week, and want to learn the whole operation rather than your own patch.

Essential:





- Three or more years in viticulture, permanent plantings or orchard operations.
- Hands-on operator who drives tractors and orchard machinery, or is willing to learn from day one.
- Willing to live on farm in the Riverina.
- Current driver's licence.
- Chemical accreditation, or willing to obtain it after starting.
- Australian work rights.

Advantageous:

- Wine or table grape background, given SHD olives grow on trellis with vineyard-style machinery. Tree crop and other permanent planting backgrounds are also well regarded.
- Has stepped up to direct others on farm, with or without a 2IC or supervisory title.
- Greenfield or development-phase experience in land preparation and planting.
- Irrigation exposure.
- Forklift licence.
- Exposure to budgets, cashflows and operational reporting.
- Tertiary qualification in agriculture or horticulture.

Individuals coming from a Leading Hand or similar position, ready to step into their first management role, are encouraged to apply, provided the orchard, vineyard or permanent planting experience is there.

What You'll Gain

- Package: $90k - $110k + 12% Super + Ute + House.
- Incentive: STI up to 10% of base.
- Learning: 5% of your annual salary for learning and development, paid in addition to base.
- Extras: Phone allowance, enhanced leave options, salary sacrifice and wellbeing programs.
- Support: A hands-on Farm Manager who carries the technical decisions, backed by the wider Riverina team, with an Irrigation Manager to be added as the planted area expands.
- Growth: The business treats this role as a step toward Farm Manager or Irrigation Manager as the site structure fills out.
- Lifestyle: Family-sized house on farm, utilities and internet included, within an hour of Griffith and Wagga Wagga.

How to Step Forward

For more information or a confidential chat, please contact Nick Marchant, Director, on 0466 333 066 or Dai Yoshida, Talent Manager, on 0413 000 844.

Who Are March

March offers permanent recruitment and workforce planning services tailored exclusively to Australian agribusinesses. We're about connecting top talent with great businesses - plain and simple.

📌 Assistant Farm Manager (Griffith)
🏢 March Talent Partners
📍 Griffith