Agronomy Services Lead

About Us

Inner Plant is on a mission to transform farming as never before imagined:
We give crops a voice by turning plants into living sensors that signal the onset of stress, enabling farmers to increase yields and reduce costs by optimizing inputs.

The Agronomy Services Lead is responsible for Inner Plant’s field trials supporting the rapid growth of our commercial product, Crop Voice. The Crop Voice platform translates signals from our living sensors to pinpoint stress well before visible symptoms, giving farmers and agronomists critical and timely insights and removing the guesswork behind key in-season decisions. The Agronomy Services Lead supports field trials for R&D and our commercial pipeline and serves as the expert for corn and soybean production.

The Agronomy Services Lead will be based in Iowa or eastern Nebraska, with regular in-season travel to trial and network sites.

As the Agronomy Services Lead, you will operate hands-on across trial sites in Iowa and eastern Nebraska, work directly with contract research partners, farmers, retailers, seed dealers, and researchers. You will shape how Inner Plant’s agronomy function grows:
As our sentinel network scales, you will have the mandate to build and lead the agronomy services team. To achieve success as an Agronomy Sales Manager, you will:

• Design and execute field trials, including:
  • Planning, placing, and managing a network of biosentinel fields across Nebraska and Iowa that are representative of regional commercial corn and soybean fields; and
  • Translating trial results into clear findings for product, commercial, and regulatory teams and into proof points for farmers.
• Own the Inner Plant seed supply chain, including:
  • Production planning, grower/partner contracting, conditioning, quality assurance, and inventory;
  • Ensuring genetic purity, germination quality, and regulatory stewardship compliance for engineered seed from production through planting; and
  • Forecasting seed demand against trial plans and commercial network expansion.
• Serve as Inner Plant’s expert on corn and soybean production systems, including:
  • Disease pressure (e.g., frogeye leaf spot, white mold, foliar corn diseases), and fungicide decision-making in the western Corn Belt; and
  • Supporting commercial teams with farmers and retail partners as the credible agronomic voice of the company.
• Build the agronomy services team:
  • Establish scalable processes, SOPs, and vendor relationships for trials and seed operations.
  • As the network grows, hire, develop, and lead a team of agronomists and field staff.

The successful Agronomy Services Lead will possess extraordinary organizational skills to follow through on all projects while working collaboratively and transparently across multiple teams. In particular, you will:

• Manage all projects in a disciplined manner, making sure that all deliverables are fulfilled timely and accurately, that all costs are managed within budget and with a view to generating future savings, and planning proactively for future needs and growth.
• Leverage your existing network of Contract Research Organizations and winter nursery seed service providers for field trials and seed production.
• Champion the company’s mission to transform farming and effectively communicate that vision to farmers and partners.
• Lead creative efforts to explore scientific breakthroughs enabled by biosensor technology.

• B.S. in agronomy, crop science, plant pathology, or a related field; M.S. or Ph.D. preferred.
• 7+ years of hands-on experience in field research, agronomy services, and seed production in corn and soybean systems.
• Demonstrated expertise designing and executing field trials, including protocol development and data quality management.
• Working knowledge of seed production and supply operations — contracting, conditioning, QA, and logistics.
• Deep familiarity with corn and soybean disease management and crop protection practices in Nebraska, Iowa, or comparable Corn Belt geographies (LATAM a plus).
• Experience with regulated or engineered crop trials and stewardship programs preferred.
• CCA/CPAg certification or equivalent (preferred).
• Willingness to travel…