With a family legacy of farming, Reiter Affiliated Companies (RAC) is proud to be the largest fresh, multi-berry producer in the world and the leading supplier of fresh strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries in all of North America. The Reiter family began farming in the San Francisco Bay Peninsula and by the turn of the century had migrated south into Watsonville and the Santa Clara Valley where Joseph “Ed” Reiter and R.O “Dick” Driscoll began growing their own Sweetbriar strawberries variety. After World War II, they farmed under their respective companies of Reiter and Driscoll’s and began marketing strawberries under the Driscoll Strawberry Associates label with other family and associated suppliers.
We are currently searching for a Production Manager to join our team in Oxnard, CA.
The Production Manager develops and leads the Reiter Affiliated Companies (RAC) regional wholly-owned farming operations in a manner that is technically innovative, strategically oriented, and economically successful. The position is directly responsible for all aspects of the production of RAC’s crops that includes managing a budget and overseeing all day to day operations from ground (soil and/or substrate) preparation through harvest. The position uses horticultural, organizational, and leadership skills to deliver maximum fruit yield and quality results, at the optimum cost, in order to meet RAC’s business, supply objectives and long-term growth objectives for the region.
The person we’re looking for has:
- Bachelor’s degree or higher in agronomy, agriculture, horticulture, plant science or related field or combination of education and experience.
- Ability to travel 5 to 10 percent of the time – domestic and international
- 70% of the time will be spent on the farm, with the production and harvest teams, and with crops; 25% on administrative, business, and planning functions; and 5% on travel for interaction with other districts, conferences, etc.
- Agricultural Pest Control Adviser (PCA) license, preferred
- Certified Crop Adviser (CCA) license, preferred
- Minimum 5 years’ of experience in managing production agriculture with direct berry crop farming experience.
Knowledge:
- Strategic business and financial acumen
- Farming industry and issues, ideally within local region
- Agronomy
Skills:
- Analyze data and make qualified judgements on results
- Demonstrate a very high level of professionalism
- Treat others with respect
- Communicate fluently and proficiency (verbal, written, and presentation) in English and Spanish. Knowledge of additional languages maybe useful
- Persuade, guide, influence and negotiate through expertise and when necessary direct action to be taken Abilites / Habilidad para:
- Think strategically
- Lead others
- Manage projects
- Collaborate and communicate effectively at all levels of the organization and stakeholders
- Demonstrate very high level of organizational and time management skills
- Demonstrate a very high level of customer service orientation
- Competently use Microsoft Office Suite
- Competently juggle competing priorities and changing expectations
- Innovate and share knowledge and best practices
This is a great opportunity to join and contribute to one of the most established Berry Companies in the industry.
