Expert Grower, Deployment

We grow the world’s BEST Strawberries & our Expert Growers are a major reason why!

As part of our Research & Development Team an Expert Grower at Oishii contributes to our exceptional product development, and plant health by working cross-functionally to ensure the success of short term and long-range goals in both production farms and R&D farms. Expert Growers serve as subject matter experts to our production teams monitoring & problem solving for plant health, diseases, pest, environmental stresses, quality and yield opportunities and often oversee projects or experiments in various farms to improve growing systems and to characterize plant responses in controlled environments.

The role is hands-on and strategic with a large portion of time spent in the farm with our plants.

What You’ll Be Responsible For

• Drive deployment initiatives as it relates to farm yield and quality KPI outcomes (Yield and Brix) across all farms, with target environmental conditions being met
• Develop feasible and sustainable improvement plans to execute, driving team alignment with strong individual ownership
• Facilitate cross-functional collaboration with Operations, Facilities, Maintenance, and Engineering to ensure that all stakeholder inputs are in place to achieve positive outcomes
• Own the health of all plants and environmental controls (including IPM and commissioning) across farms, making key decisions on solutions and corrective actions when necessary
• Accelerate R&D outcomes by reviewing data with team members on a weekly basis to determine next actions and provide additional direction as needed.
• Leads alignment and execution of improvement initiatives with Engineering, Operations, and Commercial teams
• Collaborates with R&D members to design and implement experiments aimed at improving yield and quality
• Manage and develop the manager-level growers, junior growers and R&D operators that report to you
• Accountable for team structure and scope, defining competency requirements, career planning for direct reports, and lead ongoing hiring initiatives
• Defines 2-year production deployment roadmap in alignment with overall company goals

Physical Requirements

• Ability to lift up to 30 lbs
• Ability to climb a ladder
• Ability to crouch or kneel
• Ability to reach and stretch
• Hand dexterity
• Comfortable in an active, non-sedentary role for lengths of up to 5 to 6 hours at time
• MUST NOT be allergic to bees