Skip to main content

This job has expired

Director Of Product Development

Employer
Locus Agricultural Solutions
Location
Solon, Ohio, US
Salary
Competitive
Closing date
Jan 19, 2022

View more

Sector
Academic / Research
Field
Development
Discipline
Climate Change
Salary Type
Salary
Employment Type
Full time
Locus Agricultural Solutions® (Locus AG) is an agtech B Corp™ with a solution to solve the interrelated challenges of climate change and food insecurity. Our innovative and award-winning microbial soil "probiotics" enhance soil health and improve crop resilience resulting in more food grown on less land. In addition, our product has proven to increase a plant's ability to capture carbon from the atmosphere resulting in a second income stream for our customers through our CarbonNOW™ program. Locus AG gets its core scientific capabilities from its parent company, Locus Fermentation Solutions (Locus FS), an Ohio-based green technology company.

We are seeking an Director, Product Development, to join our growing agriculture team. In this role, you'll lead the Research and Development team responsible for creating innovation and driving company growth. The ideal candidate will have experience across all areas of Ag biological product development including business development, early feasibility testing, applications research, early manufacturability testing, and commercialization. The primary focus will be Row Crop, Specialty Crop, and Turf and Ornamental, but candidate should be open to expanding into other areas as the Ag team grows.

Key responsibilities are as follows:
  • Ensure organization is properly resourced to meet the priorities of the new product development pipeline and placement of external research studies
  • Develop a portfolio of projects with well defined, multi-year plans, key milestones, anticipated resource requirements, and a business case that supports the desired return on investment
  • Conduct portfolio analysis and make recommendations to executive leadership to balance enterprise resources and project priorities.
  • Conduct analysis on past performance and the evolution of product portfolio; contribute to predictive models forecasting the future value of the R&D portfolio and investments that facilitate strategic and operational portfolio prioritization.
  • Collaborate with cross functional stakeholders including strategic marketing, regulatory affairs, supply chain, procurement, legal and finance on project portfolio related matters.
  • Conduct external benchmarking and implement portfolio management best practices and tools.
  • Hire, develop, and lead a team of approximately 6-7 high performing team members with the agility to respond to changing priorities and the ability to present and interact with executive leadership.
  • Contribute to the generation of intellectual property within the framework of Locus Ag and its holding company.


Qualifications & Requirements:
  • Advanced degree in a relevant agricultural sciences field (Biology, Plant Science, Soil Ecology, Weed Science, Microbiology, Chemical Engineering or related field) with PMP certification or equivalent preferred.
  • 5+ years of relevant leadership and project management experience directed towards new product development required.
  • Basic awareness of Agile Methodologies including the ability to efficiently evaluate, prioritize and handle multiple and changing projects and priorities.
  • Relocation to Solon, OH preferred.
  • Ability to travel up to 35%.


General Skills
  • Able to learn on the fly, bring creative solutions to complex problems, and not get lost in the details.
  • Able to quickly assess situations, recognize problems, discern root causes, separate fact from ‘noise' and develop approaches based on true organizational requirements.
  • Strong organizational and time management skills with the ability to plan and prioritize tasks to meet required deadlines.
  • Adept at working within a distributed work environment and utilization of required collaboration tools to function as a high-performance work team.
  • Ability to adapt to change of schedule and fast-paced, changing business environment.
  • Experience designing and overseeing the buildout of a research laboratory a plus.
  • Strong communication skills; both verbal and written, team development & mentorship.
  • Proficient Microsoft Email, Word, Excel, Power Point and Teams, and other ERP platforms.


Agriculture and Business Skills:
  • Able to demonstrate a familiarity with financial metrics used to determine project opportunity and risk especially around biological products.
  • Knowledge of the Ag markets, products and distribution channels.
  • Skilled in influencing and managing various stakeholders with the ability to work effectively with all levels of organization and communicate effectively across various disciplines.
  • Ability to operate budgets, P&L management, and ERP Systems.
  • Ability to understand and communicate product formulations and labels.
  • Ability to work with complex research data sets and modern technological tools for data collection and reporting.
  • Ability to articulate complex concepts, philosophies and ideas and communicate to a diverse group of customers, partners, industry associates and employees.
  • Ability to understand unique fermentation processes and systems.


Compensation: A competitive compensation package will be offered to the right candidate and will depend on the candidate's qualifications. Compensation will include base + bonus incentive, participation in MIP.

Benefits:
  • Company pays majority of Medical, Dental, Vision coverages
  • Short Term Disability and Life coverage
  • Free Mental Health Counseling for you and your family
  • 401(k) Savings Plan with Match
  • 16 Paid Days Off
  • 9 Paid Holidays
  • Continuing Education Assistance
  • Wellness Incentives


We are an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law.

Get job alerts

Create a job alert and receive personalized job recommendations straight to your inbox.

Create alert