Agronomist JB-19

Netafim Mission, Vision and Values:

Together with our partners we will revolutionise irrigation globally for a sustainable future. We will drive mass adoption of innovative, simple and reliable drip irrigation solutions. Our teams around the world will provide customers with the best agronomic and technical support to ensure outstanding results and peace of mind.

As the world’s leading irrigation company we will drive mass adoption of smart irrigation solutions to fight scarcity of food, water and land.

We do this by practicing our values:

• Create an impact
• Dare
• Make it happen
• Partner for success

 Position Summary:

The Agronomist reports to the Director of Agronomy, Product and Market Development and is accountable for supporting existing markets and assisting in the development of new markets by promoting drip irrigation concepts and agronomic practices, providing input to research activities, and identifying and capitalising on new opportunities.

The Agronomist will play a key role in developing and maintaining relationships with relevant private and government bodies and will serve as a strong communication link between technical support, sales, and dealers. In addition, the role involves working closely with growers to promote viable drip irrigation practices. The position will primarily focus on Southern Australia and will be critical in advancing Netafim’s penetration into the extensive crops market.

Position Responsibilities:

• Promote the agronomic concept, principles, and practices of drip irrigation to all parties involved in the irrigation business (Extension Officers, Co-ops, fertiliser and Private Agronomists).
• Foster strong working relationships with relevant government bodies, research institutions, fertilizer companies, and relevant private corporations.
• Manage and monitor trials, including the processes involved with developing a trial and also managing approved trials for their duration.
• Provide sound agronomic advice for the use of drip irrigation, assisting clients in the planning, operation, and maintenance of drip systems.
• Establish and facilitate links with those groups with an interest in agronomic information such as researchers, extension officers etc.
• Visit potential projects to provide advice on the principles of drip ie: spacing, delivery, scheduling, fertigation.
• Accompany sales staff on client visits to provide advice on drip irritation and its advantages.
• Regularly visit fertiliser companies and producers to discuss trends in the marketplace and determine ways in which Netafim and these companies can work together.
• Provide operation guidelines and after sales operation support to clients ie: scheduling.
• Represent Netafim Australia as required to present at seminars, symposiums, forums, and conferences.
• Provide written summaries of all activities undertaken for the purposes of developing a database of knowledge and communication between all relevant parties.
• Identify priority extensive crop segments and regions, assessing technical, economic, and water-use benefits to support market penetration and growth.
• Lead the development and execution of agronomic strategies to expand drip irrigation adoption in extensive crops across relevant states.
• Support pilot projects, demonstrations, and field trials in extensive crops to validate performance, build grower confidence, and enable commercial scale-up.

Research:

• Consult with relevant researchers and research institutes with regard to planning materials, field trends and research results.
• Initiate and support trials and research, in line with the company objectives in those crops with a strategic focus.
• Maintain contact with the agronomic fraternity to ensure information relevant to the irrigation business is obtained
• Communicate with Netafim Corporate Agronomy team to maintain an up-to-date database of relevant research material.

Key Relationships:

• Internal:
  • Corporate Agronomists, Sales, Marketing, Design and Technical Departments
• External:
  • Research Institutes, Government bodies, fertilizer suppliers, large private corporations, growers.

KPI’s (year 1)

 Market Development & Growth

• Development of 3 years extensive crops working plan
• Planning and successful execution of 2 field trials/demonstrations 

Stakeholder & Relationship Management

• Execution of at least 1 Joint initiatives with research or government partners (trials, grants, programs).
• Execution of at least 1 Joint initiatives with commercial partners (chemicals, seed, machinery companies)
• 3 Sales enablement activities delivered (training sessions, technical workshops, field days) focused on extensive crops and Southern states focus crops. 

Knowledge & Capability Building

• Development of agronomic content (guidelines, case studies, decision tools) for extensive crop and Southern states focus crops.
• 3 Internal knowledge-sharing sessions delivered to sales, service, or dealer teams.

Commercial

• 100 ha of extensive-crop commercial plots.
• Achieve a 10% increase in sales over 2025 for focus crops in Southern states

Health, Safety, Environment, Quality & People Responsibilities:

The role holder is responsible for contributing to a safe, respectful, high‑performing and sustainable workplace by actively supporting the organisation’s Integrated Management System (IMS) and People & Culture framework, in line with ISO 9001 (Quality), ISO 14001 (Environmental) and ISO 45001 (Occupational Health & Safety) standards.  

This includes:  

• Complying with all relevant policies, procedures, work instructions, codes of conduct and legal requirements relating to health & safety, environmental management, quality, and people practices.  

• Performing work in a manner that protects personal health and safety, the safety of others, product and service quality, and the environment.  

• Identifying, reporting and escalating hazards, incidents, near misses, environmental risks, quality non‑conformances, and behavioural or cultural concerns in a timely manner.  

• Actively supporting physical and psychological safety by communicating respectfully, speaking up about concerns, and contributing to a workplace free from discrimination, harassment, bullying and victimisation.  

• Demonstrating behaviours aligned to organisational values, ethical standards and expected conduct in all interactions.  

• Using tools, equipment, machinery and personal protective equipment (PPE) correctly and in accordance with approved procedures.  

• Participating in required training, inductions, toolbox talks, safety meetings, and People & Culture initiatives.  

• Maintaining accurate records and documentation required to support quality, safety, environmental and people‑related controls.  

• Contributing to continuous improvement by providing feedback, raising improvement opportunities, and supporting corrective and preventive actions.  

• Taking accountability for personal behaviour, professionalism, and the impact of actions on team culture, safety, quality and environmental outcomes.  

 All employees are accountable for working in accordance with the Integrated Management System and for contributing to a safe, inclusive and respectful workplace culture.  

Reporting Responsibilities:   

Director of Agronomy, product and market development  

                ↳ Agronomist

Capabilities & Experience :

Capabilities

• Strong capability to provide technical agronomic support and advice to growers, dealers, sales teams and other stakeholders on drip irrigation systems and practices.
• Demonstrated ability to promote the agronomic principles and benefits of drip irrigation, supporting adoption and best‑practice use across diverse crops and regions.
• Proven capability to work collaboratively with Sales, Engineering, Technical Support and Dealer networks to deliver integrated customer solutions.
• Ability to support both existing markets and the development of new markets, identifying opportunities to expand drip irrigation adoption.
• Strong capability to plan, manage and evaluate field trials and demonstrations, including trial design, implementation, monitoring and reporting.
• Ability to build and maintain strong professional relationships with growers, research institutions, government bodies, industry partners and private agronomists.
• Strong communication skills to present agronomic concepts clearly through field days, workshops, presentations and on‑farm engagement.
• Capability to translate agronomic insights into practical recommendations that improve crop performance, water efficiency and system outcomes.
• Strong data and observation skills to monitor crop response, system performance and trial outcomes.
• Demonstrated commitment to sustainability, continuous improvement and knowledge sharing across the business.
• Alignment with Netafim values and a professional, service‑oriented approach to customer and stakeholder engagement.

Experience

• Demonstrated experience in an agronomy, crop advisory or technical agriculture role (essential).
• Hands‑on experience applying irrigation agronomy, crop water management and soil–plant–water principles (essential).
• Experience working directly with growers and farming systems, supporting agronomic decision‑making (essential).
• Experience managing or supporting agronomic trials, demonstrations or research projects (desirable).
• Experience working in collaboration with sales, technical or engineering teams (desirable).
• Experience engaging with government, research or industry bodies (desirable).
• Tertiary qualification in Agronomy, Agricultural Science, Horticulture or a related discipline (essential).