Farm Manager - Proving Grounds │Pocomoke Farms (Pocomoke City, MD)

Tyson Foods•Pocomoke City, MD

About The Position

The Farm Manager provides operational leadership and accountability for flock performance and farm operations across multiple Proving Grounds sites within the complex. Proving Grounds is Cobb's integrated product validation and commercialization platform and a multi-site network of breeding, production, and support facilities. It is designed to accelerate genetic progress, validate product performance under commercial conditions, generate management insights, and support the introduction of future products to the marketplace. The Farm Manager helps ensure the platform delivers accurate results, high-quality flock performance, and a reliable environment for evaluating future products. The role leads farm teams responsible for validation-program execution, operational excellence, biosecurity, animal welfare, and cost control. It monitors flock and team performance across sites and ensures farms provide actionable data that supports research, development, and commercial objectives. The position supports the Associate Director, Production and assumes that role's duties as needed. It directly supervises salaried team members, including farm supervisors and technicians, and oversees management support positions and hourly team members. The position requires adherence to biosecurity protocols when visiting sites, including showering before facility entry, following animal welfare and safety policies, and wearing required PPE. Company-provided clothing and footwear are provided for site visits. No jewelry is permitted on job sites except approved medical identification jewelry, and the employee must be willing to sign an agreement to avoid contact with avian species. The role includes regular standing, walking, sitting, handling objects or controls, reaching, balancing, stooping, talking, and hearing, and occasionally lifting or moving up to 25 pounds. Minimal domestic travel is required. Relocation assistance is not eligible.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience, with at least 4 years of progressive experience in poultry production, breeding, or a related field; alternatively, an advanced degree, if required, with at least 2 years of progressive experience.
Standard computer skills.
Experience working with Excel spreadsheets and data across multiple computer applications.
Ability to supervise salaried team members, including farm supervisors and technicians, and oversee management support positions and hourly team members.
Willingness to follow site biosecurity protocols, including showering before facility entry and avoiding contact with avian species under a signed agreement.
Ability to comply with company animal welfare policies and required safety procedures and wear designated PPE.
Ability to perform the physical requirements with or without reasonable accommodation, including occasionally lifting or moving up to 25 pounds.
Ability to demonstrate responsible use of approved AI tools, safeguard sensitive information, follow company policies, and critically validate AI-generated outputs.

Responsibilities

Manage flock performance across assigned sites to achieve established production, performance, and validation targets.
Regularly review flock data, including mortality, body weight and uniformity, feed intake, egg production, fertility, and hatchability; identify deviations and take corrective action.
Ensure validation trials and programs follow protocol and that data collection and reporting are accurate, timely, and complete.
Collaborate with Genetics, Technical Service, and Production teams on flock management practices and trial requirements.
Maintain the integrity, security, and traceability of genetic materials, production data, and validation results.
Monitor the work quality and performance of farm supervisors and team members across sites; set expectations, provide feedback, and address performance gaps.
Develop, coach, and retain farm team members through training, onboarding, and succession planning for key roles.
Promote safety, teamwork, and continuous improvement and drive consistent execution of procedures and best practices across sites.
Support daily operations of GP, GGP, and PS facilities and supporting infrastructure across multiple sites.
Support biosecurity, animal welfare, environmental compliance, and genetic integrity objectives.
Monitor key performance indicators and implement corrective actions to meet operational, technical, financial, and project objectives.
Escalate issues to the Associate Director, Production as needed and communicate operational and biological risks that may affect flock performance or validation outcomes.
Support facility maintenance and capital projects and assist in developing and managing operational and capital budgets.
Support continuous improvement and adoption of technologies that enhance flock monitoring and operational effectiveness.
Assume Associate Director, Production duties as needed.
Follow required site biosecurity, animal welfare, safety, and PPE procedures.