In-house Agronomist

MorePeople; Boston; Hybrid; GBP 38,000 - 52,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Discretionary bonus

Pension scheme

Life assurance

Learning & development

Employee discounts

Health & wellbeing support

Job summary

MorePeople is partnering with a leading horticultural business to recruit a Soft Fruit Agronomist. You will own agronomic strategy for protected strawberry crops, overseeing crop protection, pest monitoring and biological control decisions to maximise yield and protect sustainability.

Work closely with growing and operational teams to align agronomy with irrigation, nutrition and production planning, ensuring technical rigour and commercial viability. Strong communication skills are essential.

Qualifications

• Strong agronomy knowledge in soft fruit, horticulture or protected cropping.
• Extensive knowledge of crop protection programmes and Integrated Pest Management.
• Experience identifying and resolving pest, disease and crop health challenges.
• Strong commercial awareness and budget management capability.
• Experience working closely with growers and operational teams.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Proactive approach to problem-solving and continuous improvement.
• Ability to evaluate new technologies, products and growing techniques.

Responsibilities

• Provide high-quality agronomic support across protected strawberry crops (glasshouse and tunnel).
• Lead crop protection programmes, pest/disease monitoring and biological control strategies.
• Offer agronomic recommendations integrating irrigation, nutrition, climate management and production planning.
• Collaborate with growing teams to ensure technically robust and commercially viable decisions.
• Present clear guidance to support sustainability and compliance.

Skills

Agronomy experience

Pest management

Budget management

Communication

Problem-solving

Tech evaluation

Education

Degree in Agronomy or related

BASIS qualification

FACTS qualification

Job description

Ready to help shape the future of UK soft fruit production?

We're recruiting on behalf of a highly innovative horticultural business investing heavily in sustainable food production, advanced growing technology and the future of British agriculture.

This is a fantastic opportunity for an experienced Agronomist to take ownership of agronomic strategy across a large-scale protected strawberry operation. You'll play a key role in crop protection, integrated pest management, input procurement and technical decision-making, working closely with senior operational and growing teams to deliver high-quality, high-yielding crops.

If you're looking for a role where you can combine technical expertise with commercial influence whilst helping drive the future of a modern soft fruit business, this could be the perfect next step.

Why Apply?

• Take ownership of agronomic strategy across a significant protected strawberry operation.
• Play a key role in developing and enhancing Integrated Pest Management programmes.
• Join a progressive business investing heavily in technology, innovation and sustainability.
• Work closely with experienced growing and operational leadership teams.
• Influence crop protection, input procurement and budget management decisions.
• Opportunity to build internal agronomic capability and leave a lasting impact.
• Competitive salary, bonus and excellent benefits package.

The Opportunity

As Soft Fruit Agronomist, you'll provide high-quality agronomic support across protected strawberry crops grown in glasshouse and tunnel environments.

You'll take responsibility for crop protection programmes, pest and disease monitoring, biological control strategies and agronomic recommendations, helping ensure crops achieve their full potential whilst maintaining compliance and sustainability standards.

Working closely with the growing team, you'll integrate agronomic advice with irrigation, nutrition, climate management and production planning, ensuring decisions are both technically robust and commercially viable.

This is a highly visible role requiring strong technical expertise, commercial awareness and excellent communication skills.

About You

We're looking for someone who combines strong agronomic knowledge with a practical understanding of commercial crop production.

You'll ideally bring:

• Strong agronomy experience within soft fruit, horticulture or protected cropping.
• Extensive knowledge of crop protection programmes and Integrated Pest Management.
• Experience identifying and resolving pest, disease and crop health challenges.
• Strong commercial awareness and budget management capability.
• Experience working closely with growers and operational teams.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
• A proactive approach to problem-solving and continuous improvement.
• The ability to evaluate new technologies, products and growing techniques.

Desirable Qualifications

• BASIS qualification.
• FACTS qualification.
• Degree in Agronomy, Crop Science, Horticulture, Plant Science or a related discipline.
• Experience within commercial strawberry production.
• Knowledge of modern protected cropping systems and biological control programmes.
• Understanding of UK crop protection legislation, MRLs and assurance requirements.

What's On Offer?

Competitive salary and benefits package.

In addition, you'll benefit from:

• Discretionary performance-related bonus.
• Pension scheme with enhanced employer contribution.
• Life assurance.
• Ongoing learning and development opportunities.
• Retail, product and employee discounts.
• Enhanced family leave provisions.
• Employee assistance programme.
• Health and wellbeing support.
• Free on-site parking.
• Cycle to Work scheme.
• Opportunity to work within one of the UK's most progressive farming businesses.