45162 Cropping Systems Crop Modeller - Plant & Food Research

Lincoln, Hawke's Bay, Palmerston North
Vacancy 45162

A bit about us

At Plant & Food Research, we believe science can create a better future. By finding smarter, greener options today, we're helping secure the world we want to live in tomorrow. With our partners, we use world-leading science to improve the way they grow, fish, harvest and share food. Every day, we have 1000 people working across Aotearoa New Zealand and the world to help deliver healthy foods from the world's most sustainable systems.

What you will be doing

We are looking for an experienced scientist and modeller to lead a range of projects which cover the management, production and environmental impact of agricultural and horticultural systems.  You will be contributing to the testing, improvement and application of a range of process-based models such as Overseer and APSIM.

Your excellent communication skills will contribute to the extensive interaction and collaboration with the modelling team members, plant, soil, data and environmental scientists as well as project and business Managers both within Plant & Food Research and from your existing networks.

What you will need

• A PhD degree in a relevant discipline, such as horticultural, plant or soil science, agricultural meteorology or horticultural/agricultural systems, with a strong quantitative and modelling emphasis.
• An interest in the biophysics and modelling of soil/plant or other biological systems.
• An understanding of plant and soil process and how to integrate and describe biophysical processes quantitatively that can be converted into code.
• Previous experience with development and application of models in horticulture or agriculture is desirable.
• Computer programming skills, particularly in Windows object-oriented languages, would be an advantage.
• Demonstrated ability to publish scientific research.
• A disciplined approach to planning and documenting software as it is developed.

What you will get

The opportunity to work within a friendly, team-based environment and to contribute to exciting projects with an organisation that has an excellent reputation for being a great place to work!

We offer a dynamic workplace and varied workload, with excellent benefits including generous leave provisions and employer contribution to superannuation and subsidised health insurance.