Staff Engineer Decision Support & Planning Optimization

• Full-time

Syngenta Crop Protection is a leader in agricultural innovation, bringing breakthrough technologies and solutions that enable farmers to grow productively and sustainably. We offer a leading portfolio of crop protection solutions for plant and soil health, as well as digital solutions that transform the decision-making capabilities of farmers. Our 17,900 employees serve to advance agriculture in more than 90 countries around the world.

Syngenta Crop Protection is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, and is part of the Syngenta Group.

Our employees reflect the diversity of our customers, the markets where we operate and the communities which we serve. No matter what your position, you will have a vital role in safely feeding the world and taking care of our planet. Join us and help shape the future of agriculture.

We are looking for a Staff Engineer,
Decision Support & Planning Optimization to lead AI-powered decision making and planning applications for R&D. The solutions you design and build will shape how R&D works, advancing the AI ecosystem across R&D data, knowledge, skills, and workflows.

• Lead and apply deep expertise in Python or Java backend engineering to deliver durable, scalable outcomes.
• Lead and apply deep expertise in software architecture and API design to deliver durable, scalable outcomes.
• Lead and apply deep expertise in document ingestion and retrieval patterns to deliver durable, scalable outcomes.
• Lead and apply deep expertise in text embeddings and retrieval-oriented workloads to deliver durable, scalable outcomes.
• Lead and apply deep expertise in AI-assisted engineering with rigorous review to deliver durable, scalable outcomes.
• Lead and apply deep expertise in React or Angular awareness to deliver durable, scalable outcomes.
• Mentor and guide junior and mid-level engineers, fostering a culture of technical excellence and continuous learning.
• Design and implement comprehensive testing strategies, including unit tests, integration tests, and end-to-end validation for knowledge management systems.
• Establish and enforce security best practices and compliance standards throughout the development lifecycle to ensure audit-ready systems.
• Optimize system performance and scalability, identifying bottlenecks and implementing solutions to support growing data volumes and user demands.
• Collaborate across engineering, product and scientific teams to translate complex needs into practical solutions.
• Create and maintain comprehensive technical documentation, architecture diagrams, and knowledge repositories to support team alignment and future development.
• Set a high bar for quality, documentation and thoughtful use of AI-assisted engineering.

• Demonstrable experience in Python or Java backend engineering.
• Demonstrable experience in software architecture and API design.
• Demonstrable experience in document ingestion and retrieval patterns.
• Demonstrable experience in text embeddings and retrieval-oriented workloads.
• Demonstrable experience in AI-assisted engineering with rigorous review.
• Demonstrable experience in React or Angular awareness.
• Demonstrable experience in quality and documentation standards.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to influence across technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Proven mentorship and team leadership experience with junior and mid-level engineers.
• Fluent English, written and spoken.

• Experience in agriculture, life sciences, scientific computing, or a regulated enterprise environment.
• Experience building platforms, products, or services used by multiple internal teams.
• Experience working in distributed, international engineering organisations.
• Experience with knowledge management systems, enterprise content management, or information retrieval platforms.
• Familiarity with compliance frameworks, regulatory requirements, and audit-ready system design.
• Experience with cloud platforms and designing for scalability and performance optimization.

Jealott's Hill International Research Centre UK is situated in pleasant semi-rural surroundings between Bracknell…