Potato Breeding Technician

Overview

Pepsi Co is a major food enterprise sourcing a variety of raw materials of agricultural origin such as tuber, grain, and fruit & vegetable crops around the world. A motivated, hands‑on breeding technician with a passion for plants and experience working in a greenhouse, nursery, growth room, or horticultural/agricultural production environment is needed to execute breeding activities primarily across potatoes and oat, with potential of expansion to other crops at a Pepsi Co breeding facility in Rhinelander, WI.

The breeding technician will play a critical role in the propagation, cultivation, maintenance, and evaluation of breeding materials, while helping ensure healthy plant growth and successful breeding operations. This position will work closely with breeders, assistant breeders, and other technicians to execute breeding activities and maintain high-quality plant production in greenhouses, large walk‑in growth chambers, field environments, and seed storage facilities.

The position sits in the Agro Raw Materials Discovery function within Pepsi Co foods R&D. This position is located at the Pepsi Co research facility in Rhinelander, WI and will report to the breeders on site.

• Work with potato and oat breeders, assistant breeders, and other technicians to perform tasks primarily in greenhouses and growth room settings with additional responsibilities in supporting the work completed in the fields and phenotyping facilities.
• Support daily greenhouse, growth room, and controlled‑environment operations that are essential to successful breeding activities.
• Perform plant propagation activities including seeding, transplanting, cuttings, tuber handling, vegetative propagation, and establishment of healthy breeding materials.
• Prepare growth areas, growing media, containers, irrigation systems, and environmental controls to ensure optimal crop growth.
• Conduct routine plant care activities including watering, fertilization, pruning, staking, training, integrated pest management, and general crop maintenance.
• Monitor plant health and environmental conditions and proactively identify and address crop issues related to growth, pests, diseases, or abiotic stress.
• Assist with crossing, pollination, seed extraction, tissue collection, pathogen testing, harvest activities, and inventory management.
• Maintain accurate records of plant materials, growth stages, breeding activities, and greenhouse operations using Pepsi Co's digital systems.
• Work with breeders and assistant breeders to phenotype breeding trials in the field and at the phenotyping facility. This includes in‑season phenotyping in the field, performing oats milling and phenotyping operations, raw potato grading at harvest, and chip frying and processing traits.
• Work with breeders and assistant breeders to support field activities including pulling seed, planting, transplanting, seed cutting, sample pulling, roguing, and harvesting, etc. Ensure accurate records are taken and entered in a timely fashion.
• Utilize barcoding and inventory software to track and store seed, tuber, plant, and seed samples.
• Continuously identify opportunities for improving efficiency and quality of breeding operations, including efficiencies in processes, techniques, and flow.
• Comply with local EHS requirements, including but not limited to prevention, incident reporting, and remedial actions. Support local EHS efforts onsite through the ownership or co‑ownership of a safety program, completion of required training, and attendance of all EHS meetings.
• Adapt to unexpected delays and changes in workflows to maintain overall productivity.

Compensation and Benefits:

• The expected compensation range for this position is between $54,700 - $82,050.
• Location, confirmed job‑related skills, experience, and education will be considered in setting actual starting salary. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range during the hiring process.
• Paid time off subject to eligibility, including paid parental leave, vacation, sick, and bereavement.
• In addition to salary, Pepsi Co offers a comprehensive benefits package to support our employees and their families,…