Perfection Fresh Australia Pty Ltd is a leading Australian fresh produce company specialising in the growing, sourcing, marketing, and distribution of premium-quality fruit and vegetables. The company is committed to sustainable horticultural practices, ethical sourcing, and innovation, working closely with growers and industry partners to deliver high-quality produce while promoting a culture of excellence, collaboration, and safety. We are seeking a Research, Development & Analysis Manager to join our berry division. This role leads and directly undertakes the technical delivery of berry research and field trials, including the design, coordination and analysis of trials, collection and analysis of crop and production data, evaluation of varieties and production practices, and provision of technical recommendations to Perfection Fresh Australia-owned farm teams and selected third-party growers. This role will be based in Caboolture, QLD.
Base salary: $79,423 per annum (plus super)
Main Responsibilities:
1. Lead and coordinate berry R&D and trial activities across PFA-owned farms and relevant third-party grower sites, including developing annual trial plans aligned with varietal strategy, production priorities, grower economics and commercial decision needs.
2. Establish and coordinate crop trials with clear objectives, methodologies, data capture requirements, timelines and review points, and maintain accurate trial maps, plant identification, treatment records, harvest records and trial documentation.
3. Coordinate trial execution with farm teams, production managers, growers, nursery, breeders and technical quality stakeholders, and evaluate new varieties and production practices to identify improvements in crop production, harvest efficiency and grower returns.
4. Collect, validate, analyse and interpret farm and grower performance data, including yield, quality, pack-out, waste, crop timing, labour efficiency and harvest performance, to inform growing, harvest and supply decisions.
5. Capture and analyse phenology, flowering, fruit development, harvest timing and yield curves across berry categories and growing regions to improve crop timing, forecasting and identification of production, quality and labour risks.
6. Analyse picking efficiency, harvest costs, labour requirements, crop readiness and harvest timing by variety, block, farm and harvest method, and develop practical benchmarks and recommendations to improve harvesting and production practices.
7. Assess berry varieties against commercial production and quality benchmarks, including yield, fruit size, flavour, shelf life, harvest efficiency, weather resilience and grower return, and prepare evidence-based recommendations for variety rollout and commercialisation.
8. Maintain R&D databases, model-driven applications, dashboards and reporting tools, and develop standard data-capture templates and reporting processes to ensure agricultural data is accurate, consistent and decision-ready.
9. Improve data collection methods across farms and grower sites and develop repeatable processes for crop observations, trial data, harvest efficiency, yield, quality and production analysis to support comparison across regions and seasons.
10. Analyse trends and performance gaps across farms, varieties and production systems, and provide practical recommendations for crop planning, planting, crop timing, harvest windows, production practices, labour efficiency and operational performance.
11. Provide technical advice and evidence-based insights to Farm Managers, Production Managers, growers and other stakeholders through seasonal reviews, grower reviews, variety assessments and technical discussions, and communicate recommendations in a practical, action-oriented format.
12. Support continuous improvement across the Berry network by identifying production and performance improvements, improving SOPs and data discipline, and facilitating collaboration and knowledge sharing between R&D, farm, production, nursery, agronomy, quality and grower teams.
Required Qualification and Experience:
· A bachelor's degree or higher qualification in a relevant field such as horticulture, agriculture, plant science or a related discipline.
· At least 2 years of relevant work experience in horticulture, agriculture, berry production, agronomy, agricultural research and development, crop trials, agricultural data analysis or a closely related technical role.
Ideal Skills and Attributes:
- Strong data collection, analysis and interpretation skills, with the ability to develop practical recommendations.
- Proficiency in Microsoft Excel and experience with databases, dashboards or digital reporting tools; Power BI / Power Apps desirable.
- Understanding of horticultural production, crop development, phenology, field trials and data capture.
- Ability to evaluate crop varieties and production practices using trial and performance data.
- Strong communication skills, with the ability to provide technical advice to farm teams, growers and stakeholders.
- Strong organisational skills, attention to detail and ability to manage multiple trials, sites and deadlines.
Job Type: Full-time
Pay: $79,423.00 per year
Work Location: In person
