Job Description

Syngenta Seeds is one of the world’s largest developers and producers of seed for farmers, commercial growers, retailers and small seed companies. Syngenta seeds improve the quality and yields of crops. High-quality seeds ensure better and more productive crops, which is why farmers invest in them. Advanced seeds help mitigate risks such as disease and drought and allow farmers to grow food using less land, less water and fewer inputs. 

Syngenta Seeds brings farmers more vigorous, stronger, resistant plants, including innovative hybrid varieties and biotech crops that can thrive even in challenging growing conditions.

Syngenta Seeds is headquartered in the United States. 

Job Description

At Syngenta, we believe every employee has a role to play in safely feeding the world and taking care of our planet. To support that challenge, the US East and Canada Market Segment Team is currently seeking a Product Placement Scientist , to be located in Leamington, Ontario, Canada area, with a focus on variety trialing in high-tech greenhouse cultivation. 

Role Purpose:

• Product Placement Scientists are key technical contributors, performing the testing, selection and advancement of new vegetable seeds products.
• To specialize in high-tech greenhouse cultivation techniques and their impact on variety performance and selection.
• To work with commercial sales team and growers, and directly perform and manage sowing, planting, and evaluating precommercial variety trials.
• To be a high impact team member by effectively collaborating with the Market Segment, Commercial Sales, Breeding, and other Crop R&D Teams.
• To develop deep knowledge of key crops and regional markets and to build a strong network of dealer & grower collaborators.
• To evaluate crop product performance using synthesized information from analysis of trial data, from growers, and from industry feedback on their needs. 
• To deliver recommendations for advancement and product placement of new varieties with high probability of success based on subject matter expertise and trial data analysis.
• To be an active adopter of high-throughput phenotyping technologies, environment typing, data capture tools, robust analysis, collection of crop management data, and data-driven decision making.

Accountabilities:

• Develop expertise in high-tech greenhouse crop management strategies and their effects on plant and variety performance.
• Manage off-site trialing and deliver quality data, analysis, and recommendations to support advancement decisions.
• Find, place, sow, transplant, check, and evaluate early stage, pre-commercial vegetable varieties in greenhouses. Work with growers, dealer partners, and greenhouse managers, to ensure continuity and prompt, professional communication with all collaborators. 
• In collaboration with crop team colleagues, establish the number of trials and varieties tested to support commercial objectives.
• Act as the primary liaison between breeding teams and North American greenhouse operations, providing critical field observations and insights.
• Develop and deliver yearly trial plans according to market segment strategies. Plan yearly resources allocations.
• Collect trial data in fields with Syngenta employees or third-party collaborators.
• Organize and lead Product Advancement Tours to present new product candidates for advancement, effectively communicating and 'selling' the story of each variety's potential.
• Track and deliver successful pipeline progress toward target product profiles.
• Partner with stakeholder groups to optimize trial designs and adopt new technologies to enhance quality, capacity, and/or efficiency of trialing program.
• In collaboration with the commercial organization, establish on-farm collaborations with key customers; create a customer centric culture; and deliver solutions to our customers faster by exchanging data and information.
• Use Syngenta tools for data storage, data collection, material tracking, and software for data analysis and data visualization.
• Be an owner and advocate for Biosafety, Health, Safety and Environment compliance and ethics, and the quality system requirements according to Syngenta internal standards.
• Contribute to achieving the company sustainability targets.

Critical success factors & key challenges:

• Work within the Syngenta Vegetable Seeds organization; achieve a collaborative, customer-focused team with Breeding, Product Development, and Sales/Marketing teams within a Market Segment and/or geography.
• Ability to discern variety performance characteristics while accounting for the significant impact of crop management in greenhouse environments.
• Be an owner and efficient steward of available resources.
• Good health state to stand hard work conditions (hot, cold, humid).
• A flexible and agile attitude; thriving in a dynamic environment, quick adaptation to new situations and requests.
• Open behavior in case of disagreement.
• Owning and acting with responsibility for the success of Syngenta Seeds.

Qualifications

Required:

• M.S. in Horticulture, Agriculture, Plant Breeding, Plant Genetics or a related field, or relevant crop related work experiences.
• Experience with or understanding of controlled environment agriculture, high-tech greenhouse cultivation systems and practices.
• Experience in plant variety trialing.
• Strong communication skills for planning with stakeholders, summarizing experimental results, and effectively presenting variety potential to support conclusions and recommendations.
• Ability to lift up to 50 pounds.
• Ability to work in high and low temperature conditions in field or greenhouse.
• Willingness to travel, with frequency changing through the year based on crop season. During main trialing season travel could be ~50-70%.

Preferred:

• M.S. or Ph.D. in relevant field preferred.
• Knowledge of agronomy and growing techniques.
• Experience in working with growers and related companies or functions in the crop production or value chain.
• Knowledge about plant breeding and genetics.
• Understanding the vegetable market and crop specifications.
• Ability to 'see through' crop management effects to accurately assess variety performance potential.

Additional Information

What We Offer: 

• We offer a competitive base salary and incentive bonus potential, combined with challenging and meaningful work, learning and career development opportunities and a great team environment. 
• A culture that celebrates diversity & inclusion, promotes personal and professional development and offers flexible work options to meet both your work and personal needs. 
• Comprehensive Benefit offering, Pension and Group Retirement program with company match, and Profit Sharing. 
• Focus on Wellness and innovative programs that support overall health and wellbeing such as annual Lifestyle Account and free Headspace App. 
• Progressive Employee Policies and Programs including a Flexible Work Location approach, and a vacation policy that provides up to 30 days’ vacation for all employees. 

Syngenta is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate in recruitment, hiring, training, promotion or any other employment practices for reasons of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital or veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected status. 

Syngenta Contact Information:  
If you need assistance during the application process, please contact the Service Desk at recruitment.na@syngenta.com  

Syngenta Canada welcomes applications from all qualified candidates and is able to accommodate persons with disabilities. For more information about accommodation.

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