HR Intern

About the role 

Are you a university student or recent graduate looking to get some real-world HR experience under your belt?

We’re looking for multiple HR Interns to join our team over the summer to do paid internships with us. This is a great opportunity to gain practical experience across a range of HR activities, build your professional network, and add some valuable experience to your CV. Instead of working in a supermarket as your summer job, this is your opportunity to spend the summer adding skills and experience to your CV. 

You’ll work alongside our People & Capability team to help us get audit-ready for a re-registration happening in 2027. The work will be hands on as you partner with key stakeholders across our business to identify competencies for roles, update and/or create position descriptions, identify training and assessment requirements, and work with our L&D team to design and implement learning. While there’s work to be done, there will be lots of opportunities to get exposure to what HR looks like in a real workplace — from recruitment and onboarding through to employee engagement, HR administration, employment relations, and supporting our people initiatives.

While we’re ideally looking for people who can be with us for 6 months across October – March, we’ll be flexible around your study and exam requirements and schedule. If that means you can’t start until November and need to finish in February that’s okay, apply anyway and let’s have a chat.

A key requirement is an ability to be on site here with us in Dunsandel. This is where our team is based and where our stakeholders are, and it’s important you’re part of the business this summer. We have a free bus service that runs from Rolleston multiple times a day to help with transport and we have free parking here on site. You may just find you enjoy the drive to the countryside every morning, lots of us do!

This is your chance to get meaningful, hands-on HR experience before you graduate or start your career. You’ll gain insight into different areas of HR, work alongside experienced professionals, and develop practical skills you can take into your next role. Plus, you’ll have some great experience to talk about on your CV and in future interviews. If you’re keen to spend your summer learning, contributing and getting a head start in your HR career, we’d love to hear from you.

Key Responsibilities:

• Work alongside stakeholders across Synlait including Quality, Technical, Assets & Engineering, Labs, Operations and Leaders to identify and capture key competencies for their roles
• Update and create Position Descriptions for roles across the business
• Identify audit-critical tasks in roles and assess current training and assessment provided 
• Work with the Learning & Development team to create training and assessment materials for critical role tasks
• Address learning gaps as they are identified for audit purposes
• Ensure all our paperwork ducks are in a row for audit-readiness
• Provide general support to the Safety, People & Culture team and gain exposure to the employee lifecycle of activity at Synlait. 

Skills and Experience  

The ideal candidate will have the following skills and attributes:  

• Studying towards a Tertiary Qualification in Human Resources, Organisational Psychology or related field (advantageous)
• Proactive, reliable, and willing to get stuck in
• Confident communication skills with an ability to build rapport and relationships across different teams and levels of an organisation
• Strong listening skills and the confidence to ask questions and seek clarification
• High attention to detail and a methodical approach to keeping information accurate and up-to-date
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to prioritise tasks and achieve timeframes and deadlines
• Ability to assess information, identify what matters, and focus on the most relevant details
• Clear and concise written communication skills
• Willingness to learn new systems and processes

About us – The Synlait Spirit 

Synlait is more than a global leader in milk nutrition – we're a purpose-led team that’s Doing Milk Differently For A Healthier World. Our Synlait Spirit guides everything we do, from how we show up each day to the impact we create together. You’ll be joining an authentic, down-to-earth team that lives the three values that underpin the Synlait Spirit. 

Be The Difference means we understand before we act – that means asking why, supporting each other to think differently, stay curious, and continuously look for smarter ways to deliver value. Whether it’s in the paddock, the plant or the boardroom, we’re driven by impact and inspired to make a meaningful difference every day. 

We Move as One by working together with respect, trust and a shared commitment to doing what’s right. We collaborate across teams to deliver innovative solutions and create opportunity for those around us. 

We feed the world’s most vulnerable, including newborn babies, so we have to be Right on the Mark. That means we take accountability seriously, act with courage and focus our energy on what matters most. We combine expert farming and state of the art processing to deliver high quality nutritional products to all over the world. 

At Synlait you’ll be challenged and supported to grow. We know everyone brings something unique to the table so we’re an inclusive workplace, where diverse perspectives fuel innovation and success. 

What we offer:

• Partnered with top brands for great benefits and discounts
• Free parking
• Access to our free staff Synlait bus, leaving from Rolleston multiple times daily
• State-of-the-art facilities with hush rooms for quiet work, drop-in meeting spaces, ample meeting rooms, training room facilities, and a cafeteria that would rival many. 
• Work-life flexibility
• B Corp^TM certified 
• Social Club membership opportunities 

What's next? Apply now!

Include your most recent CV and cover letter summarising why you want to come and work at Synlait. We wish you the best of luck in your application. We encourage you to apply early as we will be reviewing applications regularly and may close the advertisement early. 

Together we will continue to create a workplace where everyone can thrive and contribute their best.

Applicants outside of New Zealand will only be considered if you have the legal right to live and work in New Zealand.   

#LI-KT1