Job Title: LatAm Berry Partner Manager
Reporting to: VP of Commercial - Berries
Location: Flexible
About Pairwise: Pairwise is a mission-driven food+tech company dedicated to building a healthier world through better fruits and vegetables. Founded in 2017 by eminent scientists in the gene editing and biotechnology fields, Pairwise holds licenses from Harvard and Massachusetts General Hospital to base editing and high-fidelity enzymes. We also are tuned in to consumer food trends, and we believe that consumers deserve more variety and innovation in their fresh food choices. Our team is primed to deliver that innovation through one of the best gene-editing platforms in food and agriculture. Pairwise has an exclusive 5-year research collaboration with Bayer to develop products in corn, soybean, wheat, canola, and cotton. Plus, Pairwise is developing new types of leafy greens, berries, and stone fruit, with the first product expected in mid-2022. Pairwise is based in the start-up friendly Research Triangle Park area of North Carolina.
About This Role: Pairwise is a dynamic ag-techp which is poised to enter the berry market in the third quarter of 2022 and scale rapidly thereafter. Latin America is a critical piece of year-round berry supply for the North American market, particularly in winter, and has the capability to export fruit around the world in any timeframe. This position will initiate, develop and maintain constructive relations with our business partners there, and ensure that high-quality, delicious berries serve the US and Canadian markets during the parts of the year when growers farther north can’t deliver, with other export opportunities TBD. The position will initially manage all aspects of the berry business there, from plants/nursery, production and supply chain through transportation to the ports of arrival in the US and beyond. The candidate will above all else be product-oriented and laser-focused on delivering the best berries in the world to consumers in our target markets during seasons when the US is unable to meet consumer demand.
Essential Functions:
· Focuses all participants in the value chain on the product and on meeting consumers’ expectations for premium berries in all markets.
· Coordinates foundation plant deliveries from the US to nursery partners and ensures finished plant production is to Pairwise’ specifications and cost targets.
· Working with partners on Pairwise’ team, manages all aspects of grower relationships including initial sourcing, contracting and plant IP protection, agronomic support, food safety, harvest quality specifications and fruit delivery to cooling locations.
· Manages relationships with packaging suppliers, local or otherwise, to provide sufficient inventory of materials to growers to harvest all ripe fruit in a timely manner while minimizing overage and waste.
· Initiates and manages relationships at fruit receiving locations to ensure berries are graded, palletized, cooled and shipped according to Pairwise’ specifications.
· Coordinates land and air transportation from cooling locations to airports and then to ports of arrival in all export markets.
· Candidate will start as a generalist ‘team of one’ by establishing initial relationships in all facets of our nascent business in Latin America, with the goal of eventually building and leading a team of specialists to manage business relationships with partners in their areas of expertise.
· Other responsibilities outside of the core LatAm function may be assigned, particularly in pre-seedless product launch years of 2023-24; as ap, employees at Pairwise are sometimes required to ‘wear multiple hats’ including managing outside of their core areas of responsibility.
Required Education & Experience:
· Relevant education and experience which supports an entrepreneurial general management role, including an understanding of business contracting, accounting, finance, budgeting, inventory management, quality management, supplier relationships and human resources.
· Optimally the candidate will have 10+ years’ experience in agricultural production and management in Latin America, and an MBA; demonstrated experience in the areas listed above can substitute for more formal business education.
· Familiarity with berry production is strongly preferred; some experience with agricultural production and operations is required.
· Spanish fluency, both spoken and written, is required.
Offerings:
· Comprehensive Benefits Plan, including Medical, Dental, Vision, HSA/FSA, 401k, Life Insurance, Short-Term & Long-Term Disability, and more!
· Flexible PTO (use what you need, when you need it), in addition to company holidays.
· Casual work environment.
· Mission-driven organization focused on creating healthier fruits and veggies.
· A cutting-edge, driven community looking to lead the industry in innovation and nutrition.
EEO Statement:
We're an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.