Potato Storage R&D Lead — Variety & Quality Trials

PepsiCo; Rhinelander (WI); On-site; USD 110,700 - 185,250; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical care

Dental

Vision

Disability insurance

Retirement plan

Paid time off

Parental leave

Job summary

PepsiCo seeks an experienced agronomic professional to lead the Variety Qualification and Storage Research program within the R&D Ag Science organization. You will design and manage storage trials, oversee pressure bruise and post-harvest studies, and drive data-driven decisions to advance new potato varieties into commercial production.

Collaborating with breeders, growers, and manufacturing teams, you will ensure trials align with commercial objectives and supply chain resilience, contributing

Qualifications

• PhD or MSc/BSc with extensive industry experience in potato storage research and varietal performance evaluation.
• Must have potato or onion storage research experience.
• Proven experience designing and managing field and storage trials with phenotypic and environmental data collection and post-harvest quality analysis.
• Familiarity with coordinating field-to-factory trial logistics in a commercial context.
• Strong communication and presentation skills for engaging growers and leadership.
• Proven project leadership, team management, and organizational skills.
• Willingness to travel ~20% domestically.

Responsibilities

• Design and lead storage research trials measuring storage performance across harvest timings and temperature regimes.
• Oversee storage trial operations, intake, storage management, and weekly evaluations with partner farms and internal teams.
• Lead North America Variety Qualification from trial design to processing evaluations and sample shipments for testing.
• Serve as the contact for the Variety Qualification Committee and drive data-based varietal decisions.
• Collaborate with breeding, quality, supply chain, processing, and commercial teams to shape product profiles.
• Consolidate findings into annual reports and participate in variety review meetings.
• Analyze North America storage and processing performance data and share insights.

Skills

Potato storage research

Field trials design

Data collection

Post-harvest analysis

Communication skills

Leadership

Travel readiness

Education

PhD in Agronomy / Crop Science

MSc in Plant Breeding / related fields

BSc in Agronomy / related fields

Tools

Data tools

Reporting systems

Job description

PepsiCo seeks an experienced agronomic professional to lead the Variety Qualification and Storage Research program within the R&D Ag Science organization. You will design and manage storage trials, oversee pressure bruise and post-harvest studies, and drive data-driven decisions to advance new potato varieties into commercial production.

Collaborating with breeders, growers, and manufacturing teams, you will ensure trials align with commercial objectives and supply chain resilience, contributing