Research Officer, Digital Controlled Environment Systems

Employment Equity  Priority may be given to the following designated employment equity groups: women, Indigenous Peoples (First Nations, Inuit and Métis), persons with disabilities and racialized persons.
Position Details    City:  Saskatoon
Organizational Unit:  Aquatic and Crop Resource Development
Classification:  RO
Tenure:  Continuing
Language Requirements:  English
Work Arrangements  Due to the nature of the work and operational requirements, this position will require full-time physical presence at the NRC work location identified.

Role Overview  As a Research Officer, you will design and manage experimental systems that simulate diverse agricultural and environmental conditions, leading research and technology development efforts that integrate biological, environmental, and digital systems to improve plant productivity, resource efficiency, and sustainability.

Key Responsibilities   Develop, operate, and optimize controlled environment systems (growth chambers, greenhouses, vertical farms) to support crop and environmental simulation and production research through programming, sensor integration, and systems optimization.
Design and manage experimental systems that mimic various climatic, soil, and environmental factors affecting crop growth.
Implement advanced digital twins and automated technology platforms emphasizing indoor agriculture and controlled environment technology (IoT, robotics, drones, AI, autonomous instrumentation, sensors, non‑destructive data acquisition, and phenotyping platforms).
Design and conduct experiments examining the effects of environmental variables (light, temperature, humidity, CO₂, nutrient delivery) on plant growth, physiology, and yield through digital and automated crop measurement and environmental modeling.
Conduct innovative R&D on plant‑environment interactions to improve production efficiency, sustainability, and crop quality through simulated environmental platforms and digital twins.
Design and analyze multifactorial experiments integrating environmental, biological, and digital data to support data‑driven decision‑making and modeling.
Lead the generation of high‑quality scientific and technical outputs—including reports, peer‑reviewed publications, patents, and prototypes.
Collaborate with NRC teams and external partners in industry, academia, and government to develop and transfer technologies.
Qualifications

Education:

Ph.D. in Controlled Environment Biosystems Engineering or related fields (Biological, Agricultural Engineering, Environmental Science, Plant Science, Horticultural Science) with post‑doctoral experience in controlled environment technologies, system design, and optimization.

Experience:

Significant and recent experience designing, operating, optimizing, and troubleshooting integrated controlled environment systems such as growth chambers, greenhouses, or vertical farms; recent experience developing or applying advanced digital agricultural technologies and automation for plant production environments; recent experience integrating IoT, data acquisition, and automation systems for precision environment control; experience conducting multifactorial experiments and data‑driven analyses; recent experience managing research projects and collaborating across multidisciplinary teams;

experience with scientific reporting, publications, and patents. Significant experience is defined as 4 to 6 years; recent experience as acquired within the last 5 years.
Technical

Competencies:

Solid knowledge of crop physiology and plant‑environment interactions; application of integrated digital and automated agricultural technologies (GIS, IoT, robotics, drones, AI, crop modeling); modeling to interpret and predict plant‑environment interactions for indoor agriculture; knowledge of sensor, data integration, and automation systems for precision environment control; analytical, data interpretation, problem‑solving, and scientific communication skills.
Behavioral

Competencies:

Research initiative, teamwork, continuous professional learning, communication, and creative thinking.
Reliability Status  Verification of background information over a period of 5 years is…