Our principles inform our decisions and unite us across geographies, languages, cultures, and generations.

We put The Five Principles at the centre of every decision we make. This means:

Tell us about your career Journey.

I graduated from Lincoln University at the end of 2019 with a Bachelor of Commerce Majoring in Supply Chain Management and Global Business.

I started with Mars in January 2020 in a field sales based role in Auckland. In early November I moved into my current role of Account Executive and VMI Buyer – Foodstuffs North Island.

Throughout my time at Mars I have expressed interest in our Quality function so have assisted this team with project work over my time at Mars. Recently I have also expressed interest in Business Development so have also been undertaking project work with our KIND brand in this space.”

What do you enjoy most about working at Mars?

“The people/culture and the varied opportunities we are presented with. Sustainability is also something that is very important to me and I am so proud of the fact that as a business we have some pretty audacious goals set in this space.”

Account Executive & VMI Buyer FSNI

Tell us about your career Journey.

I joined Mars in October of 2020 and started out in a Grocery Field Sales role. This position allowed me to learn about Mars products in a hands-on way, whilst also teaching me valuable sales and negotiation skills I use in my current role.

What do you enjoy most about working at Mars?

“My current role allows me to both negotiate and sell to a large variety of Mars customers, from convenience stores to pet speciality or The Warehouse.

Working with such a diverse customer base has allowed me to develop my sales skills outside of a grocery environment, assisting in working toward my goal of ending up in a permanent Sales position at Mars.

I love that I get to work with such passionate Mars associates. My team are incredibly experienced, and I have already learnt so much from them, only two months into my new role.”

What advice would you give someone thinking of applying for a role at Mars?

“DO IT! I am so grateful to be working at Mars, it was the best step for me and my career and I haven’t looked back since. My other piece of advice, as cliché as it sounds is to be yourself throughout the interview process. It isn’t just about your work experience or university grades; your personality is a huge piece at Mars.”

Multichannel Territory Business Manager

Tell us about your career Journey.

Hi there, my name’s Henry. I’ve been an associate at Mars for almost 9 months now after starting in February 2021. I’ve been all over the place really, growing up in Marlborough, boarding school in Wellington, and University in Otago. I continued with one year of post-grad after completing a BCom (Marketing & Management), to study for the Master of Marketing certification, with a thesis focused on the wine industry. I was fortunate enough to work in many functions of wineries growing up in Marlborough, and then again with client-facing papers in University, with exposure across a wide spectrum of Dunedin businesses from start-ups to law firms.

The attraction with Mars was strong from the start, its progressiveness, associate development, and not to mention family ownership was always a strong calling card. I wanted to begin my professional career somewhere which didn’t limit my options and therefore aimed to work somewhere with huge learning potential and diverse exposure across multiple functions. The sheer size of the organization and rotations through different teams allows an unlimited opportunity for growth.”

What do you enjoy most about working at Mars?

I like the culture. People really care about the grads. I’ve had brilliant line managers and the help of older grads in the program to settle in. As a grad, your voice and opinions are heard, we have facetime with our business’s leaders at regular intervals as Mars is always looking to improve the way we do business. The free chocolate, work trips to Waiheke and dogs in the office are an added bonus.

The foundational understanding of how FMCG operates from a field perspective has helped me work on team projects across functions and is insight I’ll take with me for the rest of my career. I’m looking forward to my next rotation in Marketing, beyond that, I’d love to head overseas to another one of Mars’s many locations.”

Field Sales Associate

What do you enjoy most about working at Mars?

The culture has always been my favourite part about Mars. I feel free to express my true self at work. I always have encouragement, support, and positivity around me, no matter which team I have been in and even if we are working from home.”

What advice would you give someone thinking of applying for a role at Mars?

“The most important qualities in your career will be soft skills; willingness to learn, willingness to try new ways of working, being a supportive team member. Do not worry if you do not have all the technical skills before you start a new role. If you have those soft skills, you can learn and develop technical and function skills during your working days. A positive attitude and good work ethic will take you a long way.”

Anything else you with to add?

“All roles and work experience will come with the opportunity to develop as a person and learn new skills. Any experience can help build the foundations of your future career if you have the right mind set to look at the positive side of any situation.”

Demand Planner – Mars Wrigley Confectionery

I joined Mars on the Graduate Program in 2013. Through my time on the program I had the opportunity to work in many different functions across Field Sales, Office Sales, Category Insights & Marketing. Post the Grad Program, I was lucky enough to be able to stay in Marketing for many years, working across Chocolate, Cat food & Wrigley Gum & Mints. My current role is in Sales, heading up our Digital Commerce channel. I believe the Grad Program gave me the best foundation for my career at Mars, because I got to build relationships and learn from so many different Mars associates, and work on all our various brands & segments. I think the cross functional experience you get from the program is invaluable. For example, I still use data & reporting skills that I learnt from my Category Insights rotation in my role today, and every day. I also drew hugely on my Field Sales experience when I was in my Brand Management roles, because it allowed me to put myself in the field teams shoes and ensure that the tools we provided were going to be useful & effective. The Grad Program gives you real responsibility from day one. I loved that within my first month I had actual stores to look after, and it was up to me to drive the Mars Portfolio in those stores and represent Mars with the buyers. This real responsibility continued in my other roles as well, working on store plannograms, category reviews, new launches, big projects, and much more!”

Business Acceleration Manager - Digital

I joined the Mars NZ Graduate Program in 2014, a move that set me up for the rest of my career. During the 3-year graduate program I was able to work in 3 different roles, first as a Field Sales Rep, then a Grocery Account Executive and finally as a Trade Marketing Executive. During these rotations I was able to fully immerse myself in all parts of the Mars NZ business, being able to enhance my cross functional knowledge, while working and collaborating with highly talented teams within the organisation. The Graduate Program gave me the opportunity to learn the intricacies of the FMCG industry while working with some of the most iconic global brands like M&M’s, SNICKERS and WHISKAS. The one thing that I value the most about the Graduate Program at Mars is the high level of importance that the business places on development. A couple of years after completing the Graduate Program I decided to make the move to London and was lucky enough to remain within the global business and was offered a role working for the Mars Wrigley UK business. During my time in London, I was able to further develop my career and lead NPD projects from inception to execution. I am now back home in New Zealand and currently managing our Petcare portfolio for Woolworths NZ, a role that has constantly pushed my learning curve and enabled me to be a leader within the business. My current role has also given me the opportunity to manage our current first year graduates. At Mars you are given opportunities, responsibility, and support to develop yourself along all stages of your career, it is an organisation I am proud to be a part of.”

Key Account Manager WWNZ (Pet) & First Year Grad Manager