Grower Contracts Manager

Driscoll’s•Watsonville, CA

About The Position

The Grower Contracts Manager is responsible for the end-to-end administrative management of grower agreements, ensuring accurate documentation, compliance with internal policies, and smooth execution of contract-related processes. This role focuses on operational contract administration, coordinating with internal stakeholders, maintaining contract systems, and ensuring all contracting activities are organized, tracked, and completed efficiently. The ideal candidate is detail-oriented, highly organized, skilled in process management, and comfortable partnering with cross-functional teams—including Legal, Finance, Procurement, and Business Operations—to facilitate contract lifecycle activities.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Operations, or related field—or equivalent work experience
8+ years of experience in contract administration, business operations, or similar administrative role
Strong analytical and project management skills
Demonstrate the ability to lead cross functional teams throughout the organization
Experience with Grower Contract management and general and transactional legal support
Microsoft Excel, Word, Outlook & PowerPoint – Advanced
Must have the ability to learn new software and technologies quickly
Contract Management software experience – Advanced

Nice To Haves

Spanish preferred but not required
French a plus
2+ years team management – a plus
Basic Contract Drafting highly desired
Experience in the agricultural industry a plus
Experience with IP licensing a plus
Progressively responsible experience in providing general and transactional legal support and supporting process improvement design and implementation
Excellent interpersonal and negotiation skills, the ability to develop close working relationships and to work and collaborate effectively across many diverse internal/external groups, teams and cultures
Excellent verbal and written communication skills required.
Strong collaboration skills, ability to organize and share information with a customer focused mindset
Ability to effectively prioritize and manage multiple projects or tasks at the same time
Reliability, attention to detail, and accuracy are a must
Should be self-motivated and able to work independently

Responsibilities

Serves as the primary point of contact for US/Canada grower agreement intake, routing, processing, and tracking.
Manage the full administrative lifecycle of US/Canada grower contracts, including drafting from templates, collecting required documents, coordinating signatures, and maintaining accurate records.
Work closely with internal teams to ensure US/Canada grower contract requests have proper approvals and align with company processes.
Monitor expiring agreements and coordinate renewals or amendments as needed.
Recommend enhancements to processes, templates, or systems to increase efficiency and accuracy.
Support the review of land descriptions for the purpose of test orders and the related land consents.
Ensure the security of Driscoll’s confidential and proprietary information and materials with discretion in all dealings internally and externally.
Lead processes to confirm the inputs for each nursery cycle’s plant orders to support Plant Supply deadlines for plant ordering and/or plant delivery deadlines (contracts, business model changes, planting incentives, term expirations, etc.).
Ensure all US/Canadian Grower contract activities adhere to internal policies, procedures, delegation-of-authority guidelines, and document retention requirements.
Partner with the Legal team to escalate contract questions or issues requiring legal interpretation.
Coordinate with Product Leadership and Finance to confirm that contract data aligns with Business Model inputs & District specific parameters.
Support audits and internal reviews by providing contract documentation and reports.
At the request of District Management, responsible for providing Non-Disclosure Agreements to potential (new) grower companies.
Gather appropriate New Supplier tax documentation and New Grower Information Forms and maintain Tradeflow screening and registration as required.
Generate new Master Agreements (Services, Sales Agreements & On Farm Testing Agreements) and related Plant Order documents as needed.
Upon execution of agreement, initiate US/Canada Grower Records for setup in ERP system.
Provide guidance to internal stakeholders on contract processes, routing requirements, and workflow expectations.
Train team members on best practices for contract intake, documentation, and system usage.
Serve as a liaison between business owners and Legal/Procurement during the contracting process.
Support On Farm Testing Agreements within the policy guidelines of Genetic Deployment and R&D.