Senior Director - Innovation

Innovation Portfolio Manager

You spend more than half of your waking hours working. Make these precious, fleeting moments matter by working for an organization and a cause you can believe in. Western Growers exists for one reason only: to ensure the future viability of its members the hard-working, salt-of-the-earth farmers who grow the fruits, vegetables and tree nuts that feed our nation and nourish our bodies. Our members depend on us to help them remain competitive and profitable as they face challenges that make it increasingly difficult and expensive to do business. Our goal is to fight for them heart and soul every single day. We passionately advocate, facilitate technological advancements and provide insurance for our members. We do all of this, and more, from a position of leadership in the agriculture industry. This mission requires a team of intelligent, inquisitive and innovative individuals connected for our common purpose. The core company philosophy that strengthens our mission is that everything starts with people. Every employee of the organization has access to research-based training to encourage and support Outward Inclusion philosophy and our DEI initiatives. As an element of this training, employees are encouraged to recognize that there isn't a work life and a home life, there is one life. This recognition throughout the organization emphasizes the value of finding a healthy and happy balance in every employee's life. One way that is realized for employees of Western Growers is flexible work arrangements with work-from-home, in-office or hybrid options. At Western Growers, we recognize and welcome the many qualities you can bring to the team. Grow with us. Compensation: $123,544.85-$169,874.55 with a rich benefits package that includes profit-sharing.

This position is responsible for advancing a portfolio of high-potential innovation opportunities that can improve the competitiveness, profitability, and resilience of Western Growers members. This position works directly with the organization's members, colleagues, agricultural industry, startups, researchers, industry partners, and investors to identify, validate, and scale innovation solutions in priority segments beyond automation. The position works to leverage the WG Innovation team's automation platform elements to focus on identifying new innovations, evaluating the provider and technology, and providing feedback to WG members on those that are showing promise and/or commercializing successfully.

The key focus areas for this position includes chemical crop input alternatives such as biologicals (with a focus on bio-controls), genetics (with a focus on pathogen and pest resistance), and regenerative agriculture practices. The key requirement for this position is to own the innovation funnel from identification of technical innovation in any of these key areas and then push the identified innovations through an evaluation process with results shared with WG members. An additional area this role will work with in a similar platform fashion is the circular economy. With this portion of the role, the focus will be to identify innovators in the circular economy that is based largely on woody biomass (often from orchards and vineyards) and food waste streams from food production facilities (Including packaged salad and other processing facilities). The final element to focus on in this segment is the innovation around films, fibers, and other materials with, cost-parity, utility and scalability as alternatives to current approaches in fresh produce packaging in response to increasing regulatory pressure.

This role applies the commercialization model developed for automation - including grower discovery, startup evaluation, field validation, economic analysis, case studies, strategic partnerships, accelerator relationships, and industry events where thought leadership can be demonstrated. The role will help solutions move from promising concept to commercial adoption faster and with improved economics. This position reports to the Senior Vice President of Innovation and is expected to operate as a senior-level individual contributor with substantial autonomy, external visibility, and responsibility for building platforms and partnerships across the innovation ecosystem.

Qualifications:

• Master's degree (MBA, Masters of Science, or equivalent) degree and ten (10) years of direct experience in fresh produce industry agriculture operations, AgTech, biologicals, crop inputs, sustainability, circular economy, biomanufacturing, produce packaging, food systems innovation, or related commercialization roles preferred.
• Proven record of working with growers, shippers, startup companies, researchers, industry partners, or technology providers to evaluate whether innovation solutions are ready for commercialization and scale.
• Strong understanding of specialty crop production economics, grower decision-making, operational risk, labor constraints, crop protection needs, food safety requirements, and the practical requirements for adopting new technologies in production agriculture.
• Ability to evaluate innovation opportunities across multiple technical categories, including biologicals and bio-controls, genetics and crop resistance, regenerative agriculture practices, circular economy, biomanufacturing, biomass and food waste streams, plastic packaging alternatives, and other emerging segments.
• Proven record of developing economic frameworks for solution evaluation, including grower ROI, cost reduction, yield protection, risk reduction, sustainability outcomes, labor impact, input reduction, and implementation complexity.
• Ability to develop strategies for deeper integration with startups, growers, commodity groups, input suppliers, processors, packaging companies, research institutions, accelerator partners, corporate partners, and investors.
• Proven ability to develop and manage partner efforts with minimal supervision, including field trials, case studies, events, grower education, startup toolkits, strategic partnerships, pilot programs, and industry [1] facing communications.
• High degree of flexibility and autonomy, with the ability to prioritize competing opportunities and produce the best outcomes for WG growers, startups, and innovation partners.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to translate technical innovation topics into practical grower economics and industry adoption pathways.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Innovation Portfolio Strategy & Market Mapping
• Chemical Input Alternatives, Biologicals, Genetics & Regenerative Agriculture
• AgTech Economic Analysis
• Circular Economy, Biomanufacturing & Waste Stream Innovation
• Grower Integration, Field Validation & Commercialization
• Partnership Platforms, Case Studies & Industry Events
• Other

Physical Demands/Work Environment:

The physical demands and work environment described here represent those that an employee must meet to successfully perform this job's essential functions. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to communicate with others. The employee frequently is required to travel to both indoor and outdoor areas that can vary in exposure and temperature. The employee is frequently required to operate a motor vehicle, use objects, tools, or controls, and/or required to lift up to 50lbs. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.