Agronomic Technical Program Lead

Location:

Wayzata, Minnesota (headquarters)

About Us:

OCP North America (OCPNA) is a subsidiary of OCP Group, the world’s largest phosphate manufacturer based in Casablanca, Morocco. Our mission is to empower productivity and prosperity through innovation. For over 100 years, OCP Group has provided phosphate solutions for agriculture, feed, chemical manufacturing, and food processing.

Position Summary:

As an organization further expanding our focus on innovation, across new and enhanced solutions and markets globally, we are advancing our internal R&D team through the hire of an Agronomic Technical Program Lead.

As a key member of the research and development team at OCP North America, this role will facilitate efforts spanning across science, innovation, business development, and commercial teams. This role requires a combination of technical project management, soil fertility and crop nutrition subject-matter expertise, data science, and technical communication skills in order to support OCPNA’s agronomic R&D program as well as broader innovation, business development, and commercial efforts.

Responsibilities:

This role will lead the day-to-day operations of OCPNA’s agronomic R&D program, which spans across agronomic performance and product development trials, fertilizer technology development, and other key innovation initiatives. Specifically, coordinating and facilitating collaboration across a diverse set of internal and external partners in order to ensure seamless planning and execution of technical projects. This role will lead the execution of data aggregation and analysis from the agronomic R&D program as well as the communication of technical findings to science, business development, and commercial teams. This role will also be a key stakeholder for translating data into compelling value propositions for customers, supporting the business development and commercial teams in developing and articulating customer value propositions. Finally, this role will support relationship building across the innovation ecosystem, including customers, startups and technology partners to identify insights and unmet customer needs, and translate them into strategic, value-driven initiatives.

  • Lead the day-to-day operations of OCPNA’s agronomic R&D program
  • Develop and implement experimental protocols aligned to technical project objectives
  • Coordinate and facilitate collaboration across external partners (e.g., contract research organizations (CROs), universities, joint development partners) and internal stakeholders
  • Leverage project management tools to plan, execute, and communicate R&D projects
  • Execute data aggregation and data analysis for data generated from the agronomic R&D program
  • Support development and utilization of data science infrastructure, tools, and best practices
  • Communicate technical findings from the OCPNA’s agronomic R&D program appropriately tailored to the needs of key internal and external stakeholder, with particular focus on support for the scientific research governance function of OCPNA
  • Support relationships with strategic partners and customers across the broader crop nutrition, soil fertility, and agronomic BioSolutions industries
  • Translate technical and scientific knowledge into compelling collateral and value propositions to effectively support product launches and enhance customer adoption

Qualifications:

  • M.S. in Agronomy, Soil, Crop, or related science required, with Ph.D. preferred
  • 5+ years of experience in agronomic research, including managing field trials and executing trial data analysis
  • Demonstrated project management skills, including technical program execution and capability to build strong working relationships across diverse internal and external stakeholder teams
  • Demonstrated ability to effectively communicate complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders tailored to the unique needs of each audience and across written, visual, and oral mediums
  • Strong technical knowledge across crop nutrition, soil fertility, and agronomic BioSolutions
  • Proficiency in at least one scientific computing and data science programming language (e.g., R, Python, etc.) & demonstrated experience leveraging data science tools and best practices (e.g., git, Jira, databases, Jupyter/Quarto notebooks, APIs, etc.)
  • Experience implementing generalized linear mixed effect modeling statistical methods (e.g., lmer, nlme, brms, PROC MIXED/GLIMMIX, etc.)
  • High learning agility with demonstrated ability to deliver high value contributions, both as part of a team and individually
  • Proven ability to influence, develop and build business relationships
  • Demonstrated ability to leverage scientific insights to develop innovative solutions that deliver measurable value to customers
  • Ability to adapt to continually changing business and work environment
  • Proficiency in using MS Office suite including Excel, PowerPoint, and Word

Benefits:

We offer a comprehensive total rewards package including annual incentive eligibility, a robust paid time off package, 401k plan, medical coverage, vast health and wellbeing benefits, and tuition reimbursement.

Grow with Us:

Be a part of something great on a global scale. A culture rooted in innovation, where empowerment and learning drive expertise and customer-focused partnership. Apply your passion and further your impact with OCP North America.

OCP North America is an Equal Opportunity Employer

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