Agronomy Services Lead (Illinois)

InnerPlant is the place for curious people who want to create innovative traits that harness plant physiology and unlock data at scale to boost global agricultural yields and sustainability. We’re backed by industry giant John Deere and other veteran venture capitalists and are poised for growth as we develop crops that can tell us what they need by turning plants into living sensors.

If you’re a dreamer and an optimist, someone who believes they can change the world and want to take action to leave a positive lasting impact - this is the opportunity for you.

Job Description

We are seeking a highly motivated and experienced Agronomy Services Lead (Illinois) to join our team. InnerPlant is rolling out our first products in the Midwest this summer and we are looking for a motivated operator who can provide planning, oversight, and guidance that ensures end-to-end success for the field operations of our plots for 2024 and future growing seasons. This is a remote role that will require regular visits to a growing number of plots throughout the Midwest, many of which located in Central Illinois. This will be a highly visible role within our organization which requires strong leadership skills, attention to detail, and a deep understanding of agricultural technology.

Key Responsibilities

• Establish and maintain strong relationships with CROs, growers, cooperatives, and extensions to ensure seamless collaboration and successful project execution. During the growing season, the candidate must be willing to travel to our plots throughout the Midwest to check in and provide direct oversight or intervention when needed.
• Help design our plot growth strategy including guiding from agronomic and economic perspectives. Contribute to building our unit economics and revenue as part of our planning process.
• Recruit, lead, and manage a team of part-time or full-time employees, providing oversight, guidance, and support to ensure project goals are met.
• Develop and implement plots that meet our commercial needs as well as experimental protocols to further validate our technical and agronomic benefits.
• Oversee the plant health of our plots and provide appropriate agronomic remediation as needed.
• Oversee field detection and remote sensing processes to ensure accuracy and reliability of data collected from our plots. This includes troubleshooting and performing maintenance on custom-built field imaging equipment.
• Track all inventory including seeds and remote sensing equipment. Provide timelines and calendars to keep a geographically-spread, cross-functional team on track.
• Analyze experimental data and generate reports to inform decision-making and drive continuous improvement.
• Help develop our marketing material including incorporating the data from our plots, or coordinating farmer case studies.
• Ensure all operations comply with regulations and industry standards.
• Share information, results, and needs with our internal cross-functional team, upwards to leadership, and externally to partners.
• Help us build this function as part of our startup team. This includes not only guiding on best practices, but also proactively building our “playbook” for future seasons.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Crop Science, Agronomy, Ag Business, Plant Science, or a related field. CCA preferred.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in agricultural research, operations management, or a related field. Specifically looking for experience overseeing, maintaining, and gathering data from soybean and corn field experiments or research plots at scale. 
• Strong mechanical aptitude with ability to diagnose and troubleshoot equipment issues. Ideally with basic knowledge of circuit systems such as lighting arrays.
• Experience working with ag retail and sales is a plus.
• Strong leadership and team management skills, excellent communication and interpersonal abilities, proficiency in experimental design and data analysis, and a thorough understanding of agricultural technology.
• Detail-oriented, proactive, and able to work independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced environment.
• Need to have your own truck available for visiting plots and carrying equipment. 
• Experience working with a dynamic startup where project goals and resources are constantly shifting is a huge plus

Benefits

InnerPlant provides an amazing opportunity to work on some of the hardest problems facing humanity and help design the agricultural systems of the future. In addition to working with a fun team, we offer competitive compensation, insurance benefits, and flexible time-off.

InnerPlant provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.