AI & Machine Learning Engineer

Date: 30 Sept 2025

Location: Mount Maunganui, NZ

Company: Zespri Group Limited

Kō wai mātou? Who are we?

Zespri is more than simply the world’s single-largest marketer of kiwifruit. We like to think of ourselves as fruit on a mission and as rebels with a cause: to help people, communities and the environment around the world thrive through the goodness of kiwifruit. We are proudly the world’s largest marketer of kiwifruit, selling kiwifruit in more than 50 countries. We work with around 2,800 New Zealand and 1,500 international growers and post-harvest companies to source the best-quality Zespri Kiwifruit which we supply through our distribution partners to wholesale and retail customers. We are one of New Zealand’s best-known international brands, dedicated to creating sustainable long-term value for growers.

He aha te mahi? What’s the role?

As Zespri accelerates its digital transformation to enable long-term growth and sustainability, this role is pivotal in shaping and delivering AI and ML initiatives that drive smarter operations, predictive insights, and automation at scale.

As an AI/ML Engineer, you will design, develop, and operationalise AI and machine learning solutions that improve efficiency, accuracy, and insight across Zespri’s operations. Working alongside data engineers, business process specialists, and product teams, you will embed AI into core processes, build scalable ML models, and explore new opportunities for AI-driven value creation.

Key Responsibilities

Solution Development and Delivery

• Design, build, and deploy production-ready AI/ML models to solve high-value business challenges — such as yield forecasting, quality prediction, logistics optimisation, demand forecasting, and customer engagement.
• Translate business needs into robust data science solutions with measurable outcomes.
• Select appropriate techniques and frameworks (e.g. supervised/unsupervised learning, NLP, computer vision, reinforcement learning, or GenAI/LLMs).
• Develop and maintain reusable components such as prompt libraries, pipelines, and evaluation framework

Data Management and Feature Engineering

• Work closely with Data Engineers to acquire, clean, and structure data from multiple sources (sensor data, ERP, CRM, satellite imagery, external datasets).
• Develop feature sets that optimise model performance and align with domain context.

Experimentation and Innovation

• Drive experimentation with new ML techniques, generative AI capabilities (e.g. LLMs), and open-source tools.
• Evaluate performance metrics, tune hyperparameters, and conduct A/B testing or pilots.

Collaboration and Integration

• Partner with Product Managers, Business Analysts, and Technical Leads to embed ML models into digital products, APIs, and analytics platforms.
• Support MLOps practices including versioning, monitoring, and retraining pipelines.

Ko wai koe? Who are you?

With 3-6 years of experience in developing and deploying AI/ML models in real-world business contexts, you will also meet the following criteria:

• Proficiency in coding skills (Python, R) and familiarity with ML frameworks (TensorFlow, PyTorch, Scikit-learn)
• Experience with Databricks, Azure ML and SAP Data Platforms (such as BW/4 Hana) would be an advantage
• Experience deploying models into production environments, ideally on cloud platforms.
• Exposure to generative AI (e.g. fine-tuning LLMs or using models via APIs like OpenAI or Claude).

He aha e tika ai a Zespri? Why Zespri?

Our people are what makes our culture so irresistible and uniquely Zespri. We are a passionate and mighty team of 850+ employees in 23 different locations globally. Working at Zespri is an opportunity to join a fast-paced, culture-driven environment unlike any other. We want people who share our values of making it happen, creating real connections, and leaving a legacy. Join us in shaping our future and be part of a truly unique organisation.

• Competitive overall remuneration package, including a Short-Term Incentive scheme opportunity
• FlexWELL flexible work ethos; WFH & the office.
• Additional paid annual leave day per year (Zespri Day).
• Two additional paid leave days for you to proactively support the moments that genuinely boost your mental, physical, emotional, and social wellbeing (Boost Days).
• Global Life and Permanent Disability Insurance.
• Group Medical Insurance benefits.
• Convenient Mount Maunganui office location, with free onsite parking.
• Your daily dose of Vitamin C with free kiwifruit!

Tono mai inaianei!

At Zespri, we understand the importance of diverse perspectives and experiences, and a fair hiring process is the first step to getting there. We want to attract a diverse range of people and encourage everyone from all backgrounds and walks of life to apply. Please let us know if you need any assistance or reasonable adjustments to take part in the recruitment and selection process by reaching out to our Talent Acquisition team via email at careers@zespri.com.