Job Title: Senior Manager, Agronomy (Berries)
Reporting to: Vice President, Commercial
Location: Watsonville, California or Remote (within 2 hours of international airport)
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 2023. Pairwise is based in the start-up friendly Research Triangle Park area of North Carolina.
About This Role:
Pairwise will launch several berry varieties with compelling consumer benefits over the next few years, and this position will lead the development of a commercial agronomy support system for growers to enable rapid scaling in the market. Initially it will be a ‘learn by doing’ position that is closely connected with the R&D technical development team, but the candidate will eventually build and lead a team of commercial agronomists. This position will report to the VP of Commercial and co-report to the Caneberry Technical Lead (R&D) and will work closely with internal stakeholders (R&D, Business Development, Quality, Regulatory) and external stakeholders (growers, contract nursery organizations, nursery operators) to develop commercial agronomic understanding of our upcoming varieties to maximize production volume and quality. This position will spend a large percentage of time in the field working with caneberry growers in North and Latin America (Spanish required) to develop and extend best-known management practices in both soil and substrate production systems.
The ideal candidate will have a proven track record working in field extension with caneberries and must demonstrate a passion for plants and agronomy. They will possess a strong technical skillset including pest, fertility, and disease management as well as strong organizational skills, with an ability to multi-task and solve problems quickly. This candidate will also be comfortable understanding internally generated data and technical capabilities and how to best leverage externally. They should be motivated to provide feedback on the technical discovery and development processes. The candidate must be excited to contribute and lead in a fast-paced environment where ownership and action is encouraged. The candidate also optimally will have experience supervising field agronomists in specialty crops with berry experience a big plus.
Essential Functions:
· Collaborates with the relevant local operations teams, caneberry technology development team etc. to coordinate agronomic support across regions and with various grower partners.
· Collaborates with Commercial Leadership to ideate on, and eventually build a team of berry agronomists to support growers in the Americas.
· Monitor, evaluate and propose improvements of farming techniques of new cultivars prior to commercial release and helps develop recommended best management practices to assist growers upon release.
· Regularly visit production fields to support growers, contract research organizations and commercial nursery partners with technical advice on pest and disease management, irrigation and fertilization and other cultural practices.
· Assists with implementation of innovative grower projects and documentation of crop performance.
· Responsible for the documentation and update of best management practice documents for fruit production fields that include field preparation information, fertility and irrigation recommendation, pest and disease management programs etc.
· Designs, organizes and leads grower trainings and field tours to educate on best management practices.
· Support field and greenhouse research trials with data collection and entry into centralized databases, optimization of farming practices, training of local operators and visits/visit reports as needed.
· Valid passport with ability to travel overnight between 40-60% of the time within the continental US and internationally.
Required Education & Experience:
· BS in agronomy, horticulture, plant sciences or similar degree with a minimum of 8 years of relevant experiences. An MSc with a minimum of 5 years of relevant experience.
· 5+ years of experience in specialty crop agronomy/growing, caneberries preferred
· Experience with agronomic extension work in raspberry and/or blackberry
· Experience with creating pest and disease management and fertility programs
· Experience with both substrate and soil-based production systems required
· Spanish and English spoken and written fluency 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.
Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At Pairwise we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyways. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.