Jess (Ngāi Tahu and Ngāti Toa) is Team Lead in Sealord’s Coated Factory where battered hoki, crumbed dory fillets and fish fingers are produced year-round to meet a strong and steady demand for New Zealand seafood.
In the Coated Factory Jess has a varied set of responsibilities. She oversees daily production activities, ensures quality standards for the products, attends operations meetings and leads factory tours. Alnd throughout the day she leads her team, finding the best place for them in the factory and co-ordinating their activities.
One of the team she leads is her mum Viv, a long-standing Sealord employee who encouraged Jess to take her first job on the Wetfish Factory line as a school-leaver.
Jess was 16 at that time, so appreciated the buzzy and social nature of the factory where she packed fish alongside many other young people. It was a great start for Jess’ career, which later took an exciting turn when she was promoted into a quality control role after settling back into work after maternity leave.
The promotion opened another set of doors to Jess – the challenge and reward of Sealord’s training and professional development programme where she completed national certificates, a level 4 apprenticeship, a leadership development programme and more.
While confident in her work, Jess was less sure about taking courses at first.
“It used to be quite scary but the more I did, the easier it became.
“As a school leaver I would never have seen myself taking on these responsibilities, but I really love my role. I really do enjoy it. It’s busy – but I like being busy – and that keeps things interesting,” Jess says.
“My advice to others would be to give it a go, until you do, you just don’t know what you’re capable of!”
