Technical Manager

About Ornata

Ornata is building the remote operations platform for agriculture.

We help farms operate machinery without a human in the cab, using the equipment they already own. Our service combines retrofit autonomy hardware, remote operators, AI, and operational systems to unlock the benefits of autonomy for every farm.

We are working with some of Australia's leading broadacre farming businesses and are now building the commercial and operational foundations required to scale safely, reliably, and repeatably.

We are looking for a Technical Manager to own the quality, safety, compliance and technical integrity of the food products produced across Ornata's grower network.

This role oversees quality systems, food safety standards and technical processes spanning production, harvest, storage and distribution, so that everything leaving our grower network is safe, high-quality, and meets customer, regulatory and business requirements.

It is a genuinely hands‑on role. You will split your time between maintaining a rigorous compliance framework and being out in the paddock, supporting growers to adopt best‑practice processes, improving crop and soil outcomes, and championing regenerative and sustainable agriculture across the sector.

This role suits someone who is equally comfortable auditing a documentation trail and walking a paddock with a grower, and who thrives in a high‑pace, rapidly changing environment.

In this role, you will:

Safety & compliance

• Manage all internal documentation and compliance records.
• Ensure full compliance with relevant legislation, standards, codes and internal policies.
• Lead incident and crisis management, including implementing corrective action plans (CAPs) and resolving non‑conformances.
• Oversee grower onboarding, keeping documentation and records up to date and delivering the associated training.
• Conduct internal audits of safety systems, procedures and processes.
• Drive continuous improvement by regularly reviewing processes and procedures, updating documentation and retraining people as needed.
• Carry out risk analysis and management across operations.

Grower liaison

• Build and develop collaborative relationships with growers to achieve shared work goals.
• Conduct regular grower visits to ensure on‑farm processes are followed consistently.
• Support growers with crop planning and seasonality.
• Integrate Ornata's processes and procedures for safety, efficiency and compliance into growers' existing operations.

Agronomy & sustainability consulting

• Advise on agricultural, sustainability and environmental practices.
• Review crop performance and soil health.
• Work alongside growers to build and implement improvement plans.
• Gather customer feedback and develop action plans to resolve complaints.

External engagement

• Initiate and deliver field days, workshops and demonstration events in collaboration with growers, educators and innovators.
• Promote the principles and practices of regeneration, agroecology and food security to strengthen sector resilience and sustainability.
• Engage with industry champions and governing and accreditation bodies, keeping a focus on innovation and emerging trends in sustainability, agriculture, automation in food production and food safety.

In the first 90 days, success will look like:

• Getting across Ornata's grower network, current compliance framework, and existing documentation and quality systems.
• Building strong working relationships with growers, the operations team and key internal stakeholders.
• Completing a first pass of internal audits across safety systems, procedures and processes to identify priority gaps.
• Reviewing grower onboarding documentation and training materials, and identifying where they need updating.
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