Are you a plant pathology expert?
Do you have a background in greenhouses?
Do you want to be part of growing the finest berries around?
We are looking for a Nursery Plant Health Manager to join our team in Red Bluff, CA!
As the Nursery Plant Health Manager you are responsible for leading plant health activities in Driscoll’s USA Nurseries and ensuring the effective implementation of the Clean Stock program of the Nursery. You will oversee Nursery disease monitoring, and provide guidance for collection of plant material for disease testing and indexing, and creates recommendations based on testing results. You are also responsible for investigation of plant health issues in the Nursery and facilitating disease analysis by the R&D department.
This position applies to tissue-culture lab, greenhouse, screen house and field grown production of plants for all berry crops. The position will primarily focus on nurseries in California and southern Oregon, and will also collaborate with nursery operations in North America and globally.
- Master’s degree in plant pathology, or related degree, or equivalent experience
- Management experience in production agriculture
- Leadership skills building teams in a highly collaborative environment
- Strong process management skills
- Skilled in working with pathologists and technical experts
- Skilled in utilizing and contributing to research related to plant health issues
- Training in field and greenhouse disease identification and physiology
- Training and experience in tissue collection, analysis, testing techniques and control of diseases
- Training/experience in soil science, plant fertility and general agronomy
- Pest Control Advisor license (PCA) desired
- Skilled in use of Excel and Database systems
- Self-starter, reliable, able to multitask, and a team player
- Detailed oriented, accurate, organized, and analytical
- Strong verbal and electronic communication skills
- Ability to work weekends as needed
- Some overnight travel is required; occasional extended travel
- Supports the R&D Clean Stock Program team in the design and development of the clean stock program and protocols
- Leads interpretation of clean stock requirements and creation of Nursery clean stock program protocols
- Provides internal Nursery auditing of clean stock practices and protocols
- Leads review of Nursery clean stock practices
- In coordination with R&D seeks to continually improve plant health processes
- Leads investigation of plant health issues, & facilitating of R&D department analysis of diseases
- Leads cross-functional teams as needed to solve plant health issues and implement solutions
- Creates Nursery plant disease action plans, in collaboration with R&D
- Helps determine best practices to prevent and control diseases
- Oversees plant health monitoring and reporting
- Establishes guidelines & training for plant health monitoring
- Trains and advises nursery staff in plant health processes
- Provides guidance to Nursery personnel for collection of plant tissue for testing and indexing
- With input from R&D, provides interpretation of testing results, and recommends actions
- Maintains transparent and accessible plant health records in database platforms used by the Nursery department
- Maintains records of plant health for use by Nursery staff, R&D and fruiting districts
- Tracks historical plant health issues in nursery
- Provides assistance as needed for other research activities in the Nursery
- Works collaboratively with global nursery partners, including occasional travel to Mexico and other global locations
- Acts as a liaison with R&D
- Supports and exemplifies Driscoll’s mission and values
