Research & Development Farm Manager

About The Opportunity

The Research & Development Test Plot Farm Manager is a people-first leader responsible for building, developing, and leading a high-performing, technically skilled research farm team. This role drives excellence by aligning team capabilities, priorities, and execution with Driscoll’s innovation strategy, ensuring the successful delivery of experimental farming and research trials.

UK - Maidstone

Research & Development

Full time

R0008880

Regular

Partnering closely with cross-functional stakeholders, the Manager establishes a culture of accountability, continuous learning, and operational excellence, enabling teams to consistently generate high-quality data, implement best-in-class agronomic practices, and deliver strong outcomes for breeding and applied research programs.

This leader plays a critical role in talent development, succession planning, and organizational capability building, ensuring the research farm teams are equipped to scale and support the enterprise’s long-term innovation goals. Through strong leadership, strategic execution, and team engagement, this position enables the full expression of new genetic material and maximizes enterprise value.

• Build, lead, and develop a high-performing, engaged research farm team that consistently delivers high-quality trial execution and data.
• Enable team success by fostering strong technical capability, ownership, and accountability across all levels.
• Translate innovation strategy into clear team priorities and execution plans that maximize the potential of proprietary genetics.
• Strengthen organizational capability through talent development, succession planning, and continuous improvement.
• Ensure research farms serve as a center of excellence, influencing commercial practices and grower adoption.

• Lead, coach, and mentor a team of research farm professionals, fostering a culture of high performance, collaboration, and continuous improvement
• Build team capability by developing technical expertise, leadership skills, and career growth pathways
• Drive succession planning and talent pipeline development for key operational and leadership roles
• Establish clear goals, provide ongoing feedback, and conduct performance management, evaluations, and development planning
• Create an inclusive and motivating work environment that reflects Driscoll’s values of passion, humility, and trustworthiness

• Align team priorities with cross-functional partners (Breeding, Agronomy, Applied Research) to ensure seamless execution of trials and initiatives
• Ensure teams consistently execute against best-in-class agronomic and research practices
• Develop systems and processes that enable teams to efficiently manage labor, resources, and equipment
• Champion a culture of data integrity, accountability, and operational discipline

• Partner with key stakeholders to translate strategy into clear, actionable plans for the research farm teams
• Influence enterprise decisions by ensuring teams deliver reliable, high-quality data and insights
• Lead the adoption of innovative practices, technologies, and process improvements across research farms
• Engage with external stakeholders, including growers, to demonstrate and scale successful practices

• Provide leadership oversight of farm operations, ensuring safety, compliance, and adherence to company policies
• Guide teams in maintaining accurate records, plant material tracking, and treatment documentation
• Ensure effective budget management through team accountability…