Agricultural Science Technician

PepsiCo • Town of Stella, WI

1d • $54,700 - $82,050 • Onsite

About The Position

PepsiCo is seeking a creative, results-oriented breeding technician to execute breeding activities primarily across potatoes and oats, with potential for expansion to other crops at a PepsiCo breeding facility in Rhinelander, WI. This technician will assist breeding programs, lead projects, and work within the programs to drive the improvement of raw agricultural materials important to PepsiCo. The position involves working closely with existing assistant breeders to execute breeding operations as set by the manager, but also requires independent decision-making to meet project objectives. Breeding operations take place in greenhouses, large walk-in growth chambers, fields, and a phenotyping building. This role is part of the Agricultural Science function within PepsiCo Foods R&D and reports to the breeders on site.

Requirements

• This position will be based in Rhinelander, WI and must be willing to travel occasionally to off-site experiment locations.
• Must be willing to travel 10-15% of the time primarily in North America, by land or air.
• Must be willing to flex work schedule to accommodate video and phone conferences across multiple time-zones as an alternative to travel.
• Must be able to operate in hot and wet/dry environments such as greenhouses and walk-in growth chambers, to work with plants, soil, and agricultural/science equipment, and to lift safely up to 50 LBS of weight.
• Demonstrated experience in collecting data from plants and curating them for consistency and quality prior to uploading in company databases required.
• Demonstrated ability to manage activities within assigned resources/budgets.
• Can quickly separate the mission-critical from the nice to dos and the trivial; quickly senses what's the next most useful thing to work on; focuses on the critical few tasks that really add value and puts aside or delays the rest.
• Excellent communication and networking ability with the local PepsiCo community and the remote team.
• Excellent ability to utilize basic software and communication technologies such as Word, Excel, Power Point, Teams, Outlook, etc., and to input or query data from relational databases.
• A proven ability to work closely with colleagues on activities with a high degree of flexibility and comfort with change. Ability to be an ambassador of change and to build consensus among others who can enable activities and projects at the local facility.
• Ability to balance the need to deliver on time, on target, within resources, and with expected quality and quantity.

Nice To Haves

• BS preferred in Plant Breeding, Horticulture, Agronomy, Biological Systems Engineering, Biology, or related discipline.
• Relevant experience in an active breeding/genetics program, agriculture, leading teams, data analysis, or inventory tracking is preferred, but all qualified applicants will be considered.
• Attention to details and accurate record keeping.
• Ability to organize projects, lead teams, keep people motivated, and drive for results in any situation.

Responsibilities

• Work with potato and oat breeders, assistant breeders, and other technicians in greenhouses, growth rooms, fields, and phenotyping facilities.
• Support phenotyping activities in breeding trials and research nurseries, including in-season field data collection, operating UAVs, raw potato grading at harvest, oat milling and grain quality assessments, and processing trait evaluations.
• Support field activities including seed packaging, planting, sampling, harvesting, organizing breeding materials, and preparing materials for shipment, ensuring accurate and timely record-keeping.
• Support greenhouse and growth room operations including preparation, seed pulling, planting, crop maintenance, pathogen testing, crossing, seed extraction, inventory management, and harvest activities.
• Utilize barcoding and inventory software to track and store seed, tuber, plant, and seed samples.
• Monitor, troubleshoot, and promptly report challenges with breeding operations, while proactively identifying potential solutions.
• Continuously identify opportunities for improving efficiency and quality of breeding operations, including processes, techniques, and flow.
• Comply with local EHS requirements, including prevention, incident reporting, and remedial actions.
• Adapt to unexpected delays and changes in workflows to maintain overall productivity.

Benefits

• Paid time off subject to eligibility, including paid parental leave, vacation, sick, and bereavement.
• Medical, Dental, Vision, Disability, Health, and Dependent Care Reimbursement Accounts, Employee Assistance Program (EAP), Insurance (Accident, Group Legal, Life), Defined Contribution Retirement Plan.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: Associate degree