specialist on hand who has a background in industrial electricity management, mechanical components and their upkeep, and robotics is important. Job opportunities within the mechatronic space range from a Mechatronics Technician to a Senior Mechatronics Engineer, with an education requirement of an associate’s degree to a bachelor’s degree, respectively. R&D Manager One source lists the attributes of an R&D Manager as someone who can “use creative abilities and research methods to develop programs that allow the improvement of existing products or their expansion into new markets, and the development of new products to meet the growth targets of the company.” The role of the R&D Manager is to apply an intellectual and creative assessment of an organization’s needs. The right person for this kind of role will be able to report to senior management the technical needs of the company as well as developments within the market. As noted, the agtech opportunities are ever-changing, and an R&D Manager will be able to keep a
watchful eye on offerings with a thought to how new products can integrate with the existing structure and know when and how to update existing products. A background in data analysis is also important for a person in this role, as they will be required to input, organize, analyze and present R&D data to upper management. The right candidate for a role like this will likely need a bachelor’s degree or above in plant science or agronomy and have five years of work experience managing R&D projects in specialty crops and have a comprehensive understanding of the scientific method. *** One key shift in agricultural org charts has been at the executive level. Some titles that have shown up in the boardroom and even up to the C-suite in the past few years are VP of Technology, VP of Innovation and Chief Technology Officers. Western Growers’ Dennis Donohue, Executive Director of the Western Growers Center for Innovation and Technology, says the adaptation of the corporate structure to make room for roles that specialize in technology and innovation in agriculture
is important: “Food safety shifted from a department to a boardroom consideration after the spinach crisis. I think Technology and Innovation is in the same category. It needs to be part of every organization’s strategic thinking and planning on a go-forward basis,” he said. The shift in organizational mindset is necessary for the push of adjustment brought on by ever-changing access to resources. Mechanization, data aggregation and biological solutions have limited utility without the right people to implement and understand them. The brightest minds may not yet look to farming as the best path to travel for a mentally challenging and invigorating career, but they should be. Better still, agricultural organizations should be looking to the valuable minds already participating in the growing process to provide the tools and resources to navigate a field that is becoming more STEM-reliant by the day. For more information about job postings like these specific to agriculture, visit BlueSkySearch.com and Producecareers.com.
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