Seed Production Agronomist

Company Description

At Syngenta Vegetables and Flowers, we're cultivating tomorrow's diversity through innovative breeding that brings vibrant colors to gardens and nutritious vegetables to tables worldwide. We combine centuries of seed heritage with cutting-edge innovation to develop resilient, high-performing varieties that thrive in diverse climates. Join us in shaping the future of sustainable horticulture, where every seed holds the potential to enhance lives through better nutrition and natural beauty. 

Job Description

Execute established Large Seeded Vegetable (LSV) seed production plans to assure that Syngenta has a consistent and timely supply of high-quality seed. Assure successful production of critical genetics assigned to the region through active technical liaison with Supply Chain (SC), Research & Development, growers, and third-party vendors.

Accountabilities:

• Geographically contract required production volumes with growers and vendors to maximize yield, minimize costs and deliver seed meeting quality specifications.
• Develop and maintain grower and vendor evaluation system to drive increased yields and quality.
• Understand species and variety characteristics, seed quality standards and crop delivery requirements to optimize seed availabilities.
• Manage pre-season planning duties including recruiting new seed growers, field selection and qualification, hybrid placement strategy, creating preliminary field maps, SAP data entry, and creating field recipes.
• Develop and implement programs regarding agronomic issues in production fields including, weed, disease and insect programs, and timely field inspection programs.  Provide pesticide and agronomic recommendations to optimize yield, quality and COGP.
• General administrative management duties including signing vendor contracts, collecting – preparing – inputting data for reports and conducting Quality Management System (QMS) meetings.
• Foster an operational culture founded on adherence to all applicable Health Safety Environment (HSE) and other corporate policies, procedures, and guidelines.  Active leadership in the “Goal Zero” safety campaign.
• Work with Research & Development (R&D) and Global Seed Production Specialists (GSPS) to test/implement new production concepts.
• Remain current with latest production technology and develop specialized skills (i.e. systems, data analysis, equipment maintenance, fertility, irrigation mgmt., etc.) to support growers/vendors.
• Cross functional knowledge and experience of plant activities: conditioning, treating, packaging, and warehouse and distribution activities. 
• Coordination with site internal Quality Labs and personnel to ensure high quality seed is delivered to the customer.