Grower Operations Sr. Manager

Driscoll Strawberry Associates, Inc; Lima Metropolitana; On-site; PEN 412,000 - 550,000; Full time

Job summary

Driscoll Strawberry Associates, Inc. is seeking a Grower Operations Sr. Manager to oversee production management and execution across the region. You will forecast supply, manage budgets, and lead efforts to deliver a reliable supply of premium berries while aligning with long-term strategic goals.

You will develop relationships with growers, manage cross-functional teams, and guide crisis resolution, ensuring operational excellence in blueberry production and market delivery.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in agriculture, business or related field.
• Bilingual and bi-literate (Spanish/English) required.
• 10+ years of progressively responsible management experience.
• Experience with production processes and blueberry growers.
• Strong business knowledge of perishable commodities.
• Ability to lead, influence and develop employees and partner with multiple functions.

Responsibilities

• Meet or exceed enterprise business objectives for the region.
• Forecast and communicate supply outlook for blueberries across the cycle.
• Develop annual Grower Operations budget (OPEX, CAPEX, headcount).
• Lead crisis management and ensure support from all functions.
• Oversee five-year strategic planning and production targets.

Skills

Production management

Forecasting

Stakeholder engagement

Bilingual Spanish/English

Leadership

Budgeting

Education

Bachelor's degree in agriculture/business/related field

Master's degree desirable

Job description

About the Opportunity

The Grower Operations Sr. Manager oversees all aspects of production management and execution within the region, including plant distribution, production timing execution, forecasting across Driscoll’s grower base, delivery of delightful fruit, and driving resolution for opportunities and concerns that emerge within the district from growers or employees. Leads the efforts to develop and deliver upon the longer‑term strategic outlook for the region, to provide a reliable supply of delightful blueberries for the marketplace, and an attractive investment outlook for Driscoll’s independent blueberry growers. These efforts should be holistic, considering emerging genetics, production systems, and plant types, environment and labor resource constraints and cost inflation.

Responsibilities

Meet or exceed Enterprise business objectives:

• Oversee execution of all aspects of supply management with growers to deliver on plan, including plant distribution, application timing, sharing of best blueberry farming practices, and supporting grower engagement on all aspects of blueberry production, including agronomic troubleshooting, quality challenges, supply chain processes, food safety and social compliance.
• Effectively forecast and communicate supply outlook for blueberries, from week one through the life of the crop.
• Develop the annual budget for Grower Operations Management OPEX, CAPEX, and headcount, and ensure adherence to budget throughout the year.
• Ensure that Grower Operations is well represented with crisis management, leading crisis incidents as necessary. Ensure team members are supported in their core efforts by all functions throughout Driscoll’s.

Strengthen the strategic outlook of the Enterprise:

• Oversee region engagement in the development of the annual five‑year strategic planning process, including overall growth, new genetic deployment and new production technology, labor requirements, environmental impact. Facilitate highly engaged grower participation in this process.
• Ensure that Region plans are highly connected with company strategy at the global level, business unit level, and within blueberry business plans.
• Directly support development and execution of critical supply strategies.
• Manage the development of production targets by application for inclusion in the annual operating plan.
• Maintain connections to global knowledge sources, both within Driscoll’s and external to the Enterprise.

Increase grower alignment and strengthen grower relationships:

• Ensure grower relationships are productive for both parties, including accountability for the execution of our contractual business relationship, and development of meaningful relationships at all levels of growers’ organizations. Measurable through Grower Survey results.
• Support the Blueberry Production Manager to connect closely with growers to develop well‑informed multi-year business plans by grower that make sense for the grower and for the business.
• Manage the portfolio of growers to ensure healthy and sustainable individual grower businesses and support the needs of the marketplace. Develop new grower relationships as appropriate. Maintain strong personal relationships with growers, based on mutual trust.

Cultivate high levels of employee engagement and effectiveness across the grower operations management organization and region teams:

• Develop an environment and culture within Grower Operations Management team that reflects Driscoll’s Values and insurgent attitude.
• Support talent development across all members.
• Support and navigate South America engagement with functional leadership across departments.

Candidate Profile

• Bachelor’s degree in agriculture, business, or a related field and 10 plus years of production experience, or equivalent experience in production management required
• Master's degree desirable
• Bilingual and bi‑literate (Spanish/English) required
• 10 plus years of progressively responsible management experience necessary
• Experience with production processes.
• Experience in forcating
• Experience in developing strong connections with blueberry growers
• Strong business knowledge of perishable commodities
• Team player with the ability to work in an environment in which processes and systems are being developed.
• Proven leadership ability to influence, develop, and empower employees to achieve their personal potential in addition to corporate objectives.
• Excellent skills in communication, motivation, innovation, adaptability, and interpersonal relationships.
• Proven ability to set effective strategy and lead execution.
• Proven ability to deal with conflict and complexity.
• Proven ability to learn on the fly and deal with ambiguity.
• Able to represent Driscoll’s to external stakeholders, including local agricultural leaders and community-based organizations.
• Travel availability

Driscoll’s is the global market leader for fresh strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. With more than 100 years of farming heritage and hundreds of independent growers around the world, Driscoll’s is passionate about growing fresh, beautiful and delicious berries. Our values of humility, passion and trustworthiness have guided our mission to delight consumers around the world. Driscoll’s exclusive patented berry varieties are developed through years of research using only natural breeding methods – meaning, no GMOs. From farm-to-table, we focus on delivering a high quality, premium berry experience with our many supply chain partners. Driscoll’s is the trusted brand for Only the Finest Berries™.