Business Associate

RESERVOIR; California; On-site; USD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Reservoir is building a bridge between agricultural innovation and capital. The Business Associate is an early-career role at the intersection of technology and farming, working with startups and partners to recruit, remove blockers, and develop partnerships within Reservoir Farms ecosystem.

You will generate original insight, present recommendations to leadership, and help shape programs by identifying patterns across startup interactions and field activity.

Qualifications

• 2+ years of professional experience in AgTech or DeepTech business development, management consulting, venture capital, or corporate agriculture R&D.
• Able to communicate credibly with startup founders and growers and understand modern tech stacks and production-scale agriculture.
• Proactive communicator who informs stakeholders and advances conversations without prompting.
• Comfortable in fast-paced environments with shifting priorities and continuous learning.
• Strong analytical and synthesis skills to turn observations into structured recommendations.
• Consistently seeks workflow efficiency improvements via AI.

Responsibilities

• Recruit startups into Reservoir's ecosystem and coordinate participation at on-site events with Marketing and AgTech teams.
• Coordinate off-farm resources and introductions to help portcos reach milestones (investors, perks, partner matching).
• Work with startup members to understand milestones and address blockers; track status and needs within the ecosystem.
• Support corporate partner programs and ensure milestones and events are effectively planned and executed.
• Identify recurring themes across interactions and synthesize findings into program recommendations for leadership.

Skills

AgTech / DeepTech business development

Venture capital

Communication with startups

Cross-functional collaboration

Job description

Reservoir is a new rural institution that combines an agricultural innovation platform with a venture capital fund to advance the impact of rugged physical AI in critical industries. Reservoir Farms are the world’s first on-farm technical communities, starting in the Salinas Valley and Wine Country, and now expanding across California, Arizona, Washington, and beyond.

By combining R&D space, hands-on grower input and early-stage capital, Reservoir helps turn promising ideas into tools for the growers who feed the world.

Role Overview

The Business Associate is an early-career role for someone who moves fast, thinks structurally, and wants to sit at the intersection of cutting-edge technology and leading agricultural prodcuers. This role works directly with the startups and partners that comprise Reservoir's ecosystem – recruiting startups into our community, helping startups overcome real-world blockers, executing on new partnerships, and translating patterns into stronger programs.

The Business Associate is expected to generate original insight, communicate directly with startups and partners, and bring forward-looking recommendations to leadership on how Reservoir can continue evolving our functions and offerings.

Key Responsibilities

Startup Support & Ecosystem Enablement

• Support the Business Team’s efforts in recruiting the best startups from around the world to put their solutions to the test at Reservoir Farms
• Coordinate startup participation at on-site events (partner visits, field days, workshops, media tours, video shoots), working closely with our Marketing and AgTech teams
• Coordinate off-farm resources and introductions that help Reservoir’s portcos and startup members reach their milestones resourcefully (i.e. investors, tech perks, partner matching)
• Work directly with Reservoir’s startup members to understand their near-term milestones and help address specific blockers; maintaining active knowledge of each startup's status, needs, and progress within the Reservoir ecosystem

Corporate Partnerships

• Support the delivery of corporate partner programs with new partners across the technology and agribusiness landscape

Pattern Recognition & Program Development

• Work cross-functionally across the Reservoir team to ensure milestones and key events are effectively planned for and punctually executed on
• Identify recurring themes and gaps across startup interactions, partnership conversations, and field activity
• Synthesize observations into structured recommendations for new or updated Reservoir functions or programs
• Bring findings to leadership with clear framing, supporting evidence, and a point of view

Qualifications

• 2+ years of professional experience, ideally in AgTech or DeepTech business development, management consulting, venture capital, or corporate agriculture R&D
• Able to communicate credibly with both startup founders and growers – some level of fluency in modern tech stacks and/or production-scale agriculture
• Proactive communicator who keeps stakeholders informed and moves conversations forward without being prompted
• Comfortable in fast-paced environments where priorities may shift and learning is continuous
• Strong analytical and synthesis skills, with the ability to move from raw observation to structured recommendation
• Consistently seeks workflow efficiency improvements via AI

Why This Role Matters

Reservoir's value comes from being close to the work – close to the startups, the growers, the enabling technology, and the wider agriculture and technology industries. The Business Associate plays a connective role across all of it: removing friction, executing on promised deliverables, and turning ground-level insight into better programs. For someone who wants to understand how agricultural innovation actually gets deployed, this role is a front-row seat.