VP of Agriculture
Genomines
People & HR
Johannesburg, South Africa
Posted on Jan 23, 2026
At Genomines, our mission is to pioneer a new era of sustainable metal production by farming plants that hyperaccumulate metal. Through synthetic biology and cutting-edge technology, we harness the power of nature to create plants that can farm for metals while decontaminating soils and creating cleaner lands for agriculture. Our ultimate goal is to become the world's first carbon-negative nickel producer, using sustainable, cost-competitive methods to extract the valuable resources our society needs for the
energy transition.
Yellow Flower Agriculture (Pty) Ltd. (YFA), Genomines’ South African subsidiary, is responsible for launching Genomines’ first production fields (currently in Mpumalanga), advancing agronomic knowledge of our plants and overseeing local operations. YFA is led by the group Head of Operations, a former CEO in the mining industry with 15+ years of experience.
ROLE OVERVIEW
The VP of Agriculture is a senior leadership role responsible for translating Genomines’ laboratory-developed hyperaccumulator plant technology into robust, scalable and compliant field operations. The role offers a rare opportunity to shape the agricultural foundation of a new critical metals industry.
The VP of Agriculture will:
- Lead field operations, nursery propagation systems and agricultural trials for both wild and genetically enhanced plant lines;
- Develop agricultural operating models, systems and procedures;
- Build the agronomic model that enables scaling across multiple sites, geographies and plant systems; and
- Bridge the gap between R&D, operations and field execution in a first-of-its-kind industrial application of biotechnology.
This is a hands-on role with both strategic oversight and field-based responsibilities, requiring strong technical judgment, operational discipline, and comfort working in early-stage, non-standard agricultural systems.
The ideal candidate brings strong experience deploying biotechnology from controlled environments into open-field conditions, with particular strength in managing wild or non-crop plant systems. Prior experience with cannabis or similar regulated, high-complexity plant operations is strongly preferred.
DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES
- AGRICULTURAL OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
- Own execution of agricultural operations across nurseries and field sites, from plant propagation to harvest.
- Lead pilot and field programs with accountability for plant health, biomass yield, and metal uptake performance.
- Manage external contractors (nurseries, farmers, CROs), labour teams and field service providers ensuring quality control and scale-up readiness
- Build and manage performance tracking systems and field reporting protocols, ensuring strong nursery- and field-level data collection and reporting.
- Design and oversee propagation systems for wild and genetically enhanced plant lines.
- Optimise vegetative propagation protocols (cuttings, mother block, tissue-culture based methods as applicable)
- CROSS-FUNCTIONAL INTEGRATION & TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER
- Serve as the primary interface between agricultural operations, R&D teams, and downstream processing functions.
- Ensure lab-developed plant traits, growth protocols, and handling requirements are effectively transferred into nursery and field operations.
- Provide structured field feedback to R&D to inform plant improvement, protocol refinement, and prioritization.
- Align agricultural outputs, including biomass characteristics and harvest specifications, with downstream processing and extraction requirements.
- Support joint planning and decision-making across functions to reduce lab-to-field and field-to-processing friction.
- AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMIZATION AND COMMERCIAL SCALE-UP
- Define and document the agronomic playbooks, SOPs, and operating standards required to reliably cultivate our target hyperaccumulator plant at industrial scale.
- Build scalable and transferable cultivation systems across climates and countries
- Develop and manage agricultural teams to execute standardised agricultural operations in pilot and commercial settings.
- Lead operational readiness assessments and site ramp-up planning for new fields and countries of operation.
- Contribute to agricultural cost modeling, resource planning, and scale-up assumptions in coordination with operations leadership.
- RISK AND BIOSAFETY MANAGEMENT
- Develop and enforce biosafety protocols for handling genetically enhanced hyperaccumulator plants in field environments.
- Identify, assess, and mitigate operational risks: biological, climatic, and regulatory.
- Lead incident response and remediation related to crop failure, contamination, or regulatory non-compliance.
- Prepare for and support audits, inspections, and compliance reviews.
SKILLS & EXPERIENCE
- QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE
- Advanced degree in agronomy, plant science, agricultural engineering, biology, or a related field, or equivalent hands-on operational experience.
- 10+ years of hands-on experience in agricultural operations including propagation and field trials.
- Demonstrated experience deploying novel plant systems or biotechnology from laboratory or greenhouse environments into open-field operations, managing pilot programs and transitioning agricultural systems from pilot to commercial scale.
- Experience working with non-crop, wild, or regulated plant systems strongly preferred, including cannabis or analogous high-complexity crops.
- Prior exposure to multi-site or multi-country agricultural operations in variable regulatory environments.
- Proven experience introducing non-crop plant species to new geographies.
- TECHNICAL AND OPERATIONAL COMPETENCIES
- Strong command of nursery operations, field cultivation, and harvest operations under variable environmental conditions.
- Ability to design, execute, and interpret field trials with operational rigor.
- Working knowledge of biosafety protocols, regulatory constraints, and risk management in agricultural and deployed biotech field settings.
- Experience building SOPs, playbooks, and standardized operating systems for agricultural scale-up.
- Comfort interfacing with downstream processing or industrial systems that impose specifications on agricultural outputs.
- Data-literate capable of using field data to drive decisions, trade-offs, and corrective action.
- SOFT SKILLS
- Resilient, proactive and adaptive in evolving environments
- Proven ability to lead field-based teams, contractors, and service providers in demanding operating environments.
- High tolerance for ambiguity and early-stage systems, with a bias toward pragmatic problem-solving.
- Strong cross-functional communicator capable of translating between scientific, operational, and industrial stakeholders.
- Willingness to operate hands-on in the field while maintaining strategic oversight.
- Demonstrated judgment under operational stress, including weather events, biological variability, and pilot failure.
POSITION INFORMATION
- Place of Work: Company operating sites (fields and nursery) in Mpumulanga, South Africa, and the company office in Johannesburg, South Africa
- Travel: A valid passport is required. Frequent travel to the company’s operating locations in South Africa will be required for the role. International travel to the company’s HQ in France may be necessary.
- Reporting Line: Reports directly to the Head of Operations.