General Manager
The Future of Farming.
Driven by data. Grounded in science. Focused on wellbeing.
Sensei Ag’s mission is to transform health by using data to redesign how food is grown and is on a journey to make delicious, nutritionally-relevant meals accessible and affordable to all. Sensei Ag creates ingenious, agile, sustainable growing systems that dramatically improve farm production to support human health, wellness, food security and food sustainability.
Integrating and deploying the world’s best data in seed and plant genetics for optimum taste, texture, and nutrition along with the most cutting-edge software, hardware, automation, computer vision, robotics, and artificial intelligence technologies, Sensei Ag creates the ubiquitous, affordable and nutritionally-relevant indoor farms of the future.
The best ingredients to nourish the body in a way that is sustainable for the environment.
We identify the ideal cultivars to create food that’s nutritious, flavorful, clean and safe. We leverage precision agriculture tools and indoor farming best practices to construct the optimal cultivation environment, agnostic of form factor, for each of our plants, ensuring the quality, taste and nutrient content of all of our fruits and vegetables. Our Digitally Distributed Agricultural solutions rely on individual modular components that we can quickly and efficiently swap out to ensure that we are deploying the highest performing, most up-to-date technologies at any given time.
The Role: General Manager - Farm Operations
Reporting to the Chief Farms Officer, the General Manager of Farm Operations will be providing strategic leadership to farms, supporting Sensei Ag’s mission to grow healthy, nutritious produce and invent, design, develop and build the best ways to grow and sell a variety of sustainable, nourishing and accessible produce for all, pushing the limits to what food is currently available through CEA and establishing the Sensei Farms produce brand with North American customers and consumers. Sensei Ag’s unprecedented business and capital model, product suite and financing provide a unique environment and opportunity to shape the future of agriculture.
The General Manager will be responsible for operations, production, food safety & quality, EHS, human resources, planning, maintenance, post-harvest packaging, logistics and distribution at one of our key farms. Well versed in technology and cost management, this senior leader understands sales and order fulfillment, possesses robust computer skills and the ability to gain knowledge of energy efficiency, environmental control, monitoring, management and automation technologies associated with Controlled Environment Ag’s optimal growing systems that will in turn ensure commercial goals are met for the identified desired crops at that location.
This position will be based at of our facility in Leamington, Ontario.
Position Description
Production & Operations
- Accountable for overall greenhouse operations & ensure farm stays on schedule, seeding to harvest, packing through sanitation & delivery
- Responsibility for greenhouse performance, including safety, quality, profitability, costs & productivity
- Report operating expenses, labor management, yield & balancing inputs and demand
- Work closely with Supply Chain & Sales to ensure materials are on hand, sales orders are filled & deliveries are made
- Provide safe working environment by directing facility repair, maintaining equipment & ensuring adherence to developed work best practices
- Ensure compliance to food safety, worker safety, and Occupational Health & Safety policies
- Responsible for maintaining a neat, orderly & safe greenhouse / operation including directing facility repair / preventative maintenance
Human Resources
- Manage labor & staffing for all of the farm functions including production, maintenance, QC, inventory, shipping & receiving and planning
- Onboard, coach, mentor and develop talent
- Train employees on protocols & standard operating procedures
- Ensure employees have the right tools, knowledge & equipment required to do their jobs effectively and safely
- Promote and nurture a culture of world class performance & continuous improvement that values learning & commitment to quality as well as promotes open communication & teamwork
- Evaluates job performance of direct labor staff on a continual basis, recognize achievements & correct/address deficiencies or problems
Execution
- Implement all SOPs & drive compliance with crop plans in partnership with Sales
- Plan work schedules for all production staff on shift to ensure efficiency & quality output
- Maintain production areas to ensure compliance with company quality, sanitation and Food Safety standards
- Identify / implement methods & practices to achieve operational efficiencies & operating profits
- Collect & analyze data to proactively identify production issues & develop plans to resolve them
- Ensure KPIs are met regarding facilities goals on safety, production, quality & costs
- Collaborate with Sensei Ag team to identify & drive continuous operational improvement
- Partnering with new technologies team to integrate innovations into current operations
- Build strong partnership with Sales department and optimize revenue
What you bring
- Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, Agribusiness, Agriculture, Agronomy, Plant Sciences, Horticulture, Agricultural Engineering, or related field, MBA preferred.
- Familiarity with Biology and/or Chemistry and practical application.
- 12+ years of experience and combination of knowledge showing prior expertise in management, supply chain and logistics, CPG, agriculture, marketing, sales and finance.
- Excellent leadership skills, ability to work with multiple teams on numerous projects & the ability to influence others for best results.
- Knowledge of hydroponics and greenhouse growing operations strongly preferred.
- Skill in examining and re-engineering operations and procedures, continual process improvement and formulating policy and developing and implementing new strategies and systems.
- Excellent communication, organizational, sales, marketing, presentation and negotiation skills.
- Experience in developing and meeting agreed-upon budgets.
- Intermediate to advanced computer skills with MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook), ERP, Famous, Environmental Control systems
REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE:
- Federal & Provincial rules, regulations, best practices surrounding food safety
- Federal, Provincial & local rules, regulations on Human Resources, Employment & Occupational Health & Safety
- Recall tracking and consumer protection
- Scientific practices and their application to food production
- Bacterial life cycle and prevention of pathogen contamination
- Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) techniques
- ERP
- Familiarity with Sales and Order Fulfillment processes
- Logistics, warehousing, and food distribution
- Facility operation, maintenance and capitalization
Traits We Value
- Appreciation for transforming health and the future of food
- Smart, not arrogant
- Humble and hardworking
- Entrepreneurial, not risk averse
- Kind and genuine
- Grit and lots of it
U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Information (Completion is voluntary)
Individuals seeking employment at Sensei Ag are considered without regards to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, marital status, ancestry, physical or mental disability, veteran status, gender identity, or sexual orientation.