Turfgrass Field Research Assistant

Bethel Farms•Arcadia, FL

16d•Onsite

About The Position

Bethel Farms is seeking a Turfgrass Field Research Assistant to join their Bethel Innovations team. This role involves significant outdoor work, including mowing, fertilization, irrigation, and general fieldwork, as well as data collection, trial ratings, and collaboration with farm teams. The company values innovation and is looking for someone who enjoys working outdoors and takes pride in maintaining beautiful lawns.

Requirements

2+ years of experience in agriculture, operations, engineering support, technical services, or applied R&D.
Bachelor’s or associate’s degree in a relevant program accepted as work experience equivalent.
Comfort with ambiguity, experimentation, and iterative problem-solving.
Ability to work independently in field-based, non-office environments.
Strong documentation and observational skills.
High level of situational and self-awareness.

Nice To Haves

Experience in agriculture, turf, greenhouse production/management, manufacturing, or logistics.
Exposure to automation, sensors, GIS, data tools, research trials, and/or equipment modification.
Experience with irrigation controllers, irrigation programming, and water management.
Basis understanding of process improvement or continuous improvement concepts.
Great mechanical, technical, or systems aptitude.
Bilingual in English and Spanish.

Responsibilities

Support pilot projects, trials, and prototypes related to agronomy, automation, equipment, data collection, and process improvement.
Operate, test, and refine new tools, technologies, and workflows in real operating environments.
Document results, failures, constraints, and recommendations with operational clarity.
Assist with basic data collection, validation, and reporting from trials and experiments.
Deploy and maintain sensors, field devices, test equipment, and supporting software used in innovative initiatives.
Coordinate across departments like Production, Harvesting, Technology, Analytics, and Operations to integrate new technologies.
Operate equipment and tools as required for trials and demonstrations.
Work directly in farms, yards, and operational facilities to test and validate solutions.
Ensure innovations department aligns with safety, regulatory, and operational constraints.
Observe production and distribution workflows to identify inefficiencies, risks, and improvement opportunities.
Assist in redesigning processes for scalability, repeatability, and cost efficiency.
Support standardization once innovations transition from pilot to production.
Translate technical findings into practical operational language.
Provide clear updates to the Innovations Director and cross-functional partners.
Support training and handoff when innovations are adopted by operations teams.