Agronomy Manager - Fresh Produce and Horticulture

ENGINEERINGUK; Bracknell; Hybrid; GBP 40,000 - 70,000

Job description

You will need to login before you can apply for a job.

Agronomy Manager - Fresh Produce and Horticulture

Sector: Agriculture and Landscaping
Role: Manager
Contract Type: Permanent
Hours: Full Time

About the role
The John Lewis Partnership is seeking an Agronomy Manager to join our Ethics & Sustainability department's Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fisheries team. This role is integral to advancing our sustainability goals, particularly the execution of our Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fisheries Strategy within Waitrose. The successful candidate will collaborate with Fresh produce and Horticulture growers supplying Waitrose to drive positive impacts across our supply chain, grower relationships, and the farmed environment, while supporting our commercial success. This role will manage a Fresh Produce Specialist and leverage support from the broader Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fisheries team.

• Location: This is a hybrid working role, based out of our Bracknell Head Office, however your time will be split between working from our Bracknell office, our London office, supplier sites and working from home. There will also be an expectation to visit other locations as the need arises.

Key responsibilities

• Collaborate with Partners and suppliers to achieve Agriculture plan objectives, including promoting and enhancing environmental standards, sustainable agriculture practices, championing growers, and creating long-term commercial resilience within the supply base.
• Build and manage collaborative relationships with supply partners and producer groups to deliver commercial, sustainability, technical, and Farming for Nature program objectives.
• Work with the Ethics and Sustainability team to implement their objectives within the supply base.
• Manage and support the Fresh Produce Specialist to achieve their goals and objectives.
• Lead the Fresh Produce Forum, representing our leading Fresh Produce suppliers.
• Develop and deliver business strategies for sourcing standards, such as peat use.
• Build and maintain direct relationships with growers through industry events, visits, and grower events.
• Unlock commercial value through tender and value chain analysis.
• Stay informed about industry developments and communicate them across the business.
• Develop communicable messages with the communications team to demonstrate our values across supply chains to customers.
• Represent the partnership in external forums to drive desired change in the food and farming system.
• Collaborate with the technical team to ensure appropriate supply chain due diligence, ensuring safety, legality, and support for public commitments.

Essential skills/experience you'll need

• Relevant qualification or experience in specialism (e.g. agriculture or sustainable supply chains).
• Proven understanding of fresh produce and horticulture supply chains.
• Professional experience in fresh produce and horticulture supply chains.
• Ability to interpret and communicate agriculture data.
• Strong interest in and passion for sustainability and regenerative agriculture.
• Experience in leading the delivery of successful strategic projects.
• IT and data management skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication.
• Excellent organisational skills.

About The Partnership

We're the largest employee owned business in the UK and home of our cherished brands, John Lewis and Waitrose. We're not just employees, we're Partners, driven by our purpose to build a happier world. As we look to our future, there's never been a more exciting time to join us.

We're ruthlessly focused on being brilliant at retail. We continue to innovate, adapt and diversify. Never Knowingly Undersold on price, quality and service in John Lewis and passionately serving food-lovers in Waitrose.

As Partners we all share the responsibility of ownership and in its rewards. We use our voices to contribute to our success, working together through the good and challenging times, holding true to our behaviours and treating everyone with kindness and respect.

We all own making the Partnership somewhere we belong. Embracing our differences and creating an environment where we're free to be ourselves and can THRIVE. Growing ourselves individually, and as a collective.

As Partners, we make all the difference. And, we all own it.

Important points to note:

It's important to note that some of our roles are subject to pre-employment vetting (which may include DBS checks for successful candidates). If required, you'll be informed and provided with information about vetting during the recruitment process and we encourage you to complete any vetting documents quickly to avoid delays. Any DBS checks required will be carried out by a third-party registered body and financial probity checks may also be required for some of our roles.

We also recommend that you apply as soon as possible as vacancies can close early if we see a high number of applicants.

We want all of our Partners to have a good work-life balance and we support flexible working. This might mean flexible or compressed hours, job sharing or shorter hour contracts, where possible. Please discuss this further with the hiring manager during your interview.