Agriculture Operations Lead - Plover, Wisconsin

McCain Foods USA • Plover, WI

39d

About The Position

In every role, McCainers are ambitious, curious, and passionate about creating exceptional work experiences - together. With a customer-first mindset, we make doing business with McCain easy. The Agriculture Operations Lead is a developmental leadership role designed to provide both breadth and depth of experience, positioning the incumbent for future career progression into roles of greater responsibility. This role is accountable for all aspects of potato agricultural operations and supply activities at the local plant site. You will lead through best-in-class safety principles and talent development, building and strengthening a high-performing agriculture team that is inclusive, diverse, and engaged.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or relevant post-secondary education preferred
• Minimum of 3 years’ experience within potato agriculture and/or food manufacturing
• Demonstrated leadership capability with the ability to build strong cross-functional relationships
• Strong commercial awareness and business acumen
• Negotiation and relationship management skills
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English
• Proven track record of performance and achievement
• Ability to travel within the growing region, with additional travel in Norh America, as required for development opportunities and business needs.

Responsibilities

• Team Leadership & Development Provide dotted-line leadership to department Field Representatives, including KPI creation and identifying development opportunities
• Foster a proactive, performance-driven team culture aligned with regional Agriculture strategy
• Drive regional engagement and support an inclusive, diverse, and high-performing workplace
• Represent Agriculture at plant safety meetings and champion world-class safety standards
• Operational Excellence & Process Optimization Optimize departmental processes and create proactive approaches to annual tasks
• Coordinate sampling efforts (emergence tracking, field samples, storage samples, etc.)
• Lead annual grower improvement plans
• Manage department audits and maintain standard operating procedures
• Deliver breakthrough initiatives that optimize raw material value, operational efficiency, and quality
• Strategy, Planning & Budgeting Develop and manage the fiscal year budget in partnership with the Field Manager
• Lead development, tracking, and realization of yearly SCA targets
• Support the Field Manager in developing annual potato contracting strategy, including: Cost of production analysis Contract creation Crop transition planning Long-term variety strategy
• Serve as primary contact for the North America Seed Team regarding regional logistics and planning
• Act as primary contact for on-site third-party grading company
• Cover raw scheduling as needed, including weekend rotation
• Digital & Continuous Improvement Lead team adoption of digital tools and ensure accurate data capture in Ag digital programs
• Champion regional internal and grower survey action plans
• Support cross-functional initiatives and participate in global or key projects to maximize development and training opportunities
• Collaborate closely with the Scheduler on daily production activities

Benefits

• Employees are eligible for the following benefits: health coverage (medical, dental, vision, prescription drug), retirement savings benefits, and leave support including medical, family and bereavement.
• Well-being programs include vacation and holidays, company-supported volunteering time, and mental health resources.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level