🌱 We're Hiring: Agricultural Development Manager
📍 Location: United Arab Emirates (Remote)
🕒 Employment Type: Full-Time
💼 Experience Level: Mid-Level to Senior
🌐 Work Arrangement: Fully Remote
About Us
We are an agriculture-focused organization committed to developing productive, sustainable, resilient, and technology-enabled agricultural systems. Our distributed teams collaborate across Agronomy, Agricultural Research, Farm Operations, Irrigation, Soil Science, Sustainability, Supply Chain, Food Production, Finance, Technology, Government Relations, and Executive Leadership to advance agricultural productivity and long-term rural and food-system value.
The Role
We are seeking an experienced Agricultural Development Manager to lead agricultural development strategies, farming programmes, productivity initiatives, land-development projects, technology adoption, stakeholder partnerships, and sustainable agriculture programmes. The ideal candidate will combine agricultural expertise, strategic planning, commercial awareness, project leadership, and data-driven decision-making to develop productive and resilient agricultural operations.
Key Responsibilities
- Develop and implement agricultural development strategies aligned with organizational objectives, food-security priorities, market opportunities, sustainability goals, and regional agricultural requirements.
- Lead agricultural development programmes covering crop production, farm expansion, land development, irrigation, soil management, agricultural technology, mechanization, post-harvest systems, and value-chain development.
- Collaborate with Agronomists, Agricultural Scientists, Farm Managers, Irrigation Specialists, Soil Scientists, Environmental Specialists, Supply Chain Teams, Procurement, Finance, Government Authorities, Technology Providers, Researchers, and Executive Leadership.
- Establish and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) including crop yield, productivity, land utilization, water efficiency, input efficiency, production costs, crop quality, farm profitability, sustainability performance, technology adoption, and programme delivery.
- Conduct agricultural feasibility studies, land assessments, crop suitability assessments, market analyses, production planning, resource assessments, and agricultural investment evaluations.
- Develop crop-development strategies based on climate, soil characteristics, water availability, market demand, crop economics, production cycles, technology availability, and environmental considerations.
- Lead agricultural development projects from feasibility and planning through implementation, commissioning, production, performance monitoring, and continuous improvement.
- Coordinate land preparation, irrigation infrastructure, crop establishment, farm mechanization, protected agriculture, greenhouse development, precision agriculture, harvesting, storage, and post-harvest programmes.
- Evaluate and implement modern agricultural technologies including precision agriculture, remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS), drones, automated irrigation, controlled-environment agriculture, smart farming, agricultural robotics, and farm-management platforms.
- Develop sustainable agriculture programmes focused on soil health, water conservation, biodiversity, integrated pest management, nutrient efficiency, regenerative practices, climate resilience, and responsible resource use.
- Optimize irrigation systems, water-use efficiency, fertigation, drainage, soil moisture management, and agricultural water-resource planning.
- Support agricultural research and development by coordinating field trials, variety evaluations, technology pilots, agronomic experiments, yield-improvement initiatives, and innovation programmes.
- Conduct crop performance analysis using field data, weather information, soil data, satellite imagery, sensor data, production records, and market intelligence.
- Develop agricultural business cases and financial models covering capital expenditure, operating costs, crop yields, input costs, revenue, profitability, investment requirements, and expected returns.
- Identify opportunities for agricultural diversification, new crops, new production systems, value-added products, export markets, strategic partnerships, and integrated agricultural enterprises.
- Coordinate with suppliers, agribusinesses, research institutions, universities, technology companies, equipment manufacturers, agricultural-input providers, and strategic partners.
- Ensure agricultural development programmes comply with applicable UAE agricultural, environmental, water-resource, food-safety, land-use, labor, and sustainability requirements.
- Support government and stakeholder engagement relating to agricultural development, food security, land use, water management, sustainability, research, investment incentives, and agricultural policy.
- Develop agricultural risk-management strategies covering drought, heat stress, pests, diseases, water scarcity, soil degradation, extreme weather, market volatility, supply disruptions, and operational risks.
- Drive digital transformation through artificial intelligence (AI)-powered crop monitoring, predictive yield modelling, precision agriculture, automated irrigation, pest and disease detection, satellite analytics, climate modelling, and intelligent farm-management systems.
- Utilize farm-management software, GIS platforms, remote-sensing systems, drone technology, IoT sensors, agricultural databases, Microsoft 365, Excel, Power BI, Tableau, SQL, Python, satellite-data platforms, ERP systems, and precision-agriculture technologies.
- Manage agricultural development budgets, consultants, agronomic specialists, research institutions, technology providers, contractors, agricultural suppliers, and strategic development partners.
- Prepare executive agricultural development reports, feasibility studies, investment proposals, crop-performance analyses, sustainability reports, programme dashboards, risk assessments, and strategic recommendations for senior leadership.
- Lead, mentor, and develop agricultural development specialists, agronomists, farm planners, agricultural analysts, project managers, and multidisciplinary agricultural teams while fostering a culture of innovation, sustainability, safety, productivity, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in Agriculture, Agronomy, Agricultural Engineering, Horticulture, Plant Science, Soil Science, Agricultural Economics, Environmental Science, or a related field.
- Master's degree in Agricultural Science, Agribusiness, Agricultural Engineering, Sustainable Agriculture, Environmental Management, or a related discipline is highly advantageous.
- Professional certifications or memberships in recognized agricultural, agronomic, engineering, sustainability, or environmental organizations are preferred.
- Minimum 5 years of experience in agricultural development, agronomy, farm management, agricultural projects, agribusiness, agricultural technology, or related roles.
- At least 2 years of experience managing agricultural development programmes, farming projects, agricultural investments, technology implementations, or multidisciplinary agricultural teams preferred.
- Strong understanding of crop production, agronomy, soil management, irrigation, agricultural economics, farm operations, sustainability, agricultural technology, and agricultural project management.
- Experience with farm-management systems, GIS, remote sensing, drones, IoT sensors, precision-agriculture platforms, Excel, Power BI, Tableau, SQL, Python, ERP systems, and agricultural analytics technologies.
- Familiarity with AI-powered crop monitoring, predictive yield analytics, precision agriculture, automated irrigation, agricultural robotics, satellite imagery, digital twins, climate analytics, and smart-farming technologies is highly advantageous.
- Strong agricultural, analytical, strategic, project-management, financial, communication, stakeholder-management, organizational, and problem-solving skills.
- Ability to translate agricultural research, field data, market information, environmental conditions, and operational requirements into practical development strategies.
- Strong understanding of sustainable agriculture, water management, climate resilience, soil conservation, environmental stewardship, agricultural safety, and food-production systems.
- Ability to manage multiple agricultural development initiatives while balancing productivity, profitability, water availability, environmental sustainability, technology investment, operational requirements, market conditions, and stakeholder expectations.
- Ability to work effectively in a remote environment with distributed agricultural, agronomy, research, sustainability, supply-chain, finance, technology, government, and executive teams, with occasional travel for farm visits, field assessments, project implementation, research trials, supplier meetings, stakeholder engagements, and agricultural conferences as required.
What We Offer
- Fully remote work arrangement with flexible collaboration across global agriculture, agronomy, research, sustainability, supply chain, finance, technology, government, and executive teams.
- Competitive compensation package with performance-based incentives.
- Comprehensive health and wellness benefits.
- Professional development and agricultural development leadership growth opportunities.
- Exposure to AI-powered precision agriculture, smart farming, predictive crop analytics, automated irrigation, remote sensing, agricultural robotics, and climate-resilient farming technologies.
- Collaborative culture focused on agricultural productivity, food security, sustainability, innovation, responsible resource management, and continuous improvement.
- Opportunity to shape agricultural development programmes that improve productivity, strengthen food-system resilience, optimize natural resources, and create long-term agricultural value.