Research and Development Grow Manager

Focus Community Development Corporation; Stayner; On-site; CAD 95,000 - 105,000; Full time

Job summary

Cronos Group seeks an R&D Grow Manager to oversee agronomics-focused research operations at our Stayner, Ontario site. You will manage irrigation, fertigation, climate control, pest management, and harvest workflows while ensuring data quality and scientific rigor.

In this senior role, you will lead a technical agronomics team, coordinate cross-functional projects, and translate crop performance into actionable recommendations for internal stakeholders.

Qualifications

• 4+ years plant growing experience in a research/controlled environment.
• MSc in Horticulture, Plant Biology, Agronomy, or related discipline.
• Strong data quality and reproducibility practices.
• Excellent communication and collaboration with stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Oversee plant growth and care including irrigation and fertigation.
• Lead agronomic trials and canopy management studies.
• Manage Agronomics team and coordinate cross-functional workstreams.
• Collect, analyse, and report experimental data.
• Troubleshoot grower challenges and implement corrective actions.
• Apply project management to milestones and timelines.
• Prepare technical reports and documentation for stakeholders.
• Ensure data integrity, safety, and compliance.
• Collaborate with breeding and TC teams.

Skills

Plant growth leadership

Communication

Data analysis

Team management

Education

MSc in Horticulture/related

Tools

Excel

Word

PowerPoint

BI tools

Job description

Description

Cronos is an innovative global cannabinoid company committed to building disruptive intellectual property by advancing cannabis research, technology, and product development. With a passion to responsibly elevate the consumer experience, Cronos is building an iconic brand portfolio. Cronos’ diverse international brand portfolio includes Spinach®, PEACE NATURALS® and Lord Jones®. For more information about Cronos and its brands, please visit https://thecronosgroup.com/. At Cronos Group, we hire talented people who thrive on solving difficult problems and give them the opportunity to hone new skills and approaches. If you want to play a part in shaping an innovative industry and help build a historically significant company, we want to meet you. If you are passionate about plant growth, meticulous in experimental execution, and motivated by hands‑on problem solving in a research setting, this role offers an opportunity to contribute directly to the research and development pipeline at a leadership level. As the R&D Grow Manager, you will oversee agronomics‑focused research operations at our flagship R&D site. In this senior capacity, you will manage key agronomic activities, coordinate cross‑functional workflows, and ensure clear communication of crop performance, experimental progress, and technical recommendations to internal stakeholders. You will guide essential agronomic workstreams, including irrigation strategy, fertigation and nutrient management, climate steering, integrated pest management, crop maintenance, phenotyping, harvest execution, drying, and experimental data capture. The role requires rigorous data quality standards and the ability to translate observations from the crop into scientifically informed actions. This role plays a central part in ensuring that experiments related to agronomics, and plant performance are executed with scientific precision, and that genotype‑by‑environment responses are evaluated consistently and accurately. Collaboration with the breeding and TC team is fundamental to the position. Success requires a detail‑oriented mindset, strong leadership capabilities, a high sense of ownership, and genuine enthusiasm for advancing high‑quality plant science across the organization.

What you will be doing:

• Oversee all aspects of plant growth and plant care in a research setting, including irrigation, fertigation, climate steering, integrated pest management, pruning, de‑leafing, trellising, harvesting, and drying, ensuring high‑quality execution by the team.
• Executing agronomic trials in alignment with experimental designs and program objectives, including irrigation trials, nutrient strategies, crop steering approaches, substrate evaluations, and canopy management studies.
• Manage, mentor, and coordinate technical staff of the Agronomics team involved in growing operations, agronomic trials, crop measurements, phenotyping, and experimental workstreams.
• Direct, review, and perform collection and analyses of experimental, agronomic, environmental, and performance data using relevant software and data tools.
• Lead troubleshooting of grower challenges, experimental deviations, plant health issues, pest pressure, nutrient disorders, and product quality risks, providing scientific guidance and implementing corrective actions.
• Apply structured project management methodology to define milestones, maintain timelines, and ensure alignment with research and development priorities.
• Write, review, and deliver clear technical reports, summaries, protocols, and documentation for internal and external scientific audiences.
• Track and evaluate the effectiveness of treatments, protocols, and genotype performance, and determine scientifically informed next steps.
• Ensure high standards of data integrity, documentation, safety, and compliance across all research and development activities.

You will need to have:

• 4+ years plant growing experience, preferably in a research and development or controlled‑environment setting.
• Graduation from an M.Sc. program in Horticulture, Plant Agriculture, Plant Biology, Ecology, Botany, Plant Pathology, Agronomy, or a related discipline will be considered.
• Strong understanding of plant production systems in controlled environments, including greenhouses, growth chambers, irrigation systems, fertigation systems, climate control, substrates, and crop steering principles.
• Demonstrated ability to manage agronomic trials, crop performance assessments, greenhouse data collection, and experimental execution with strong attention to detail.
• License to apply integrated pest management products is an asset.
• Experience in plant or horticultural science and involvement in research and development projects is an asset.
• Excellent attention to detail and a strong understanding of scientific methodologies, experimental design, data quality, and reproducibility.
• Some laboratory, analytical, or plant testing experience is an asset.
• Experience with cannabis is desired but not required.
• Strong communication, interpersonal, and influencing skills to drive decision‑making and work effectively with internal and external stakeholders.
• Scientific curiosity, personal drive, and networking ability to identify breakthrough technologies, crop improvements, and leading agronomic methods.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, Word, and PowerPoint; experience with data visualization or business intelligence tools is an asset.

Salary range:

Salary range: $95,000 $105,000 (Stayner, Ontario*) per year

This role may be eligible for bonus, incentive compensation, or other variable pay in accordance with applicablecompany plans.

We are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive work environment, and we welcome and encourage applications from people with disabilities and people with diverse backgrounds, identities, and cultures. For candidates with disabilities, accommodations are available upon request in all phases of the selection process.