Senior Manager, Agricultural Operations

Role Overview

• leading agricultural operations of McCormick’s Frank’s Red Hot Sauce
• partnering with procurement and plant operations to plan and forecast each year’s crop plan
• leading direct grower contracting in accordance with the plan and budget
• overseeing all aspects of the cultivation and harvesting
• playing a critical role in commercial seed development activities
• developing a long-term yield improvement strategy
• providing strategic recommendations of sourcing regions, farms, and longer-term transformational efforts
• maintaining and developing grower relationships
• monitoring the crop to ensure the crop hits each year's planned forecast
• leading on scouting, grower pricing recommendations, contract structuring, incentives
• ensuring compliance to all regulations and Good Agricultural Practices (GAP)
• leading the harvest readiness and planning in coordination with the plant and logistics team

Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree Agriculture or Agriculture Business or Ag Tech.
• 10-15 years experience in contracting growers and close monitoring of cultivation and harvest activities and influencing growers to improve practices
• Fluency in Spanish and English is a MUST
• Deep knowledge of chile pepper cultivation for fresh harvest
• Knowledge, relationships, and experience in the U.S. southwest and Mexico growing regions
• Extremely strong self-initiative, and sense of ownership and urgency to deliver targets in budget
• Strong personal network & industry reputation and willingness to leverage this to maintain and develop new grower relationships, negotiate the best grower contract pricing for both parties, obtain the best ground, and build McCormick as the processor of choice in the region
• Innovation and ability to think outside the box.
• Ability to effectively communicate barriers and risks to the corporate team and recommend solutions to mitigate and resolve issues
• Vision and strong people management skills: ability to help integrate new agricultural capabilities into the McCormick organization thru knowledge, expertise, and vision
• Demonstrated effective execution skills with little to no oversight and guidance needed
• Good knowledge of Microsoft Office
• ability to work effectively in MS Excel to build and manage crop forecasts and conduct analysis on crop yields and ability to prepare PowerPoint presentations for management-level audiences
• Strong knowledge of and experience implementing agricultural certification schemes including FSA/SAI, Global GAAP
• Substantial experience in the implementation of regenerative agriculture practices

Benefits

• Competitive compensation
• Career growth opportunities
• Flexibility and Support for Diverse Life Stages and Choices
• Wellbeing programs including Physical, Mental and Financial wellness
• Tuition assistance