The Seed Operations Lead – China is responsible for the strategic oversight & management of functional and operational activities at the 3 R&D sites in China including but not limited to the following: • Effectively leading the execution of trialing, nursery, and operational activities at the site in a timely, accurate, and cost-effective way to deliver a healthy product pipeline. • Developing the team, improving processes, and driving adoption of new technologies into daily operations to bring the highest quality products to market in an efficient, safe, and environmentally sound manner. • Budget planning & execution, capital improvement strategy, CBRE management, rolling stock maintenance and quality operations for the overall Seed Operations across China R&D for Vegetables. • Stakeholder engagement & management for transparency of operations (KPIs) & overall operational health of site & programs. Dimensions • People: # of direct reports 3-5 with overall responsibility for up to ~30 third party labor employees • Geographic Scope: 3 sites in China for R&D Vegetable operations Accountabilities Work in a team-based environment to effectively manage and deliver overall operational objectives that allow delivery against commercial portfolio targets: Resources • Site operational budgets: Plan, execute and deliver to defined R&D standards, within allocated budget • Ensure/propose investment in capabilities and infrastructure at site level in alignment with R&D strategy and R&D capital processes; management of CBRE relationship ensuring outcomes are met • Define site level resource availability, align resources and plans according to strategic priorities, and assure that demand and resources are well balanced within the stations • Contribute to develop and continuously update unit costs for all operational tasks conducted at the site level • Technology implementation implementation at local level – aligned with global R&D strategy Operations • Ensure proper implementation and timely execution of trialing and nursery operations • Own and optimize trialing and nursery delivery (Quality, quantity, and timeliness) • Lead QM and Continuous Improvement • Ensure delivery according to plan for all crop activities • Ensure operational activities are conducted in accordance with company HSE & phytosanitary standards • Facilitate alignment meetings and team meetings to increase transparency & engagment • Delivery of KPI’s to measure work performed, assess/analyze, and use this information to propose productivity improvements • Facilitate the launch of high throughput phenotyping and other automation & digital capabilities in line with the global strategy People • Line management of the site leads & HSE • Ensure motivation and engagement of the China R&D community in collaboration with other functions on site. • Ensure people management processes, people capabilities and succession plans are in place • HSE and Code of Conduct responsibility for the operations team. • Continuous improvement of team through visibility & project leadership opportunities Reporting / Communication • Collaboration and communication: create a collaborative way of working with stakeholders. • Ensure transparency and cross-site communications regarding operational efficiencies and best practices • Responsible for reporting operational status updates and KPIs for trialing and nursery operations