R&D Manager - Potato Variety Commercialization

Variety Qualification And Storage Research Lead

PepsiCo is a major food enterprise sourcing a variety of plant raw materials, including potato, small grains, corn, and various fruit and vegetable crops. We are seeking an experienced and strategic agronomic professional to lead our variety qualification and storage research programs two core components of the potato variety advancement pipeline. This role ensures high-performing, quality varieties are not only selected for their agronomic potential but also validated for their storage behavior, post-harvest performance, and fit for commercial supply chains.

This position sits within the R&D Ag Science Variety Trialing organization. The Variety Qualification and Storage Research Lead will design and manage rigorous storage research trials, oversee pressure bruise and post-harvest quality studies, and lead the qualification process that enables new varieties to move from research to commercial production. This individual will collaborate closely with breeders, growers, R&D partners, procurement, and manufacturing teams to deliver data-driven insights that support product development, grower adoption, and supply chain resilience.

Responsibilities

1. Design and lead storage research trials to evaluate variety-specific performance across harvest timings, temperature regimes, and physiological conditions including pressure bruise risk, sugar accumulation, and chip quality during long-term storage.
2. Oversee operational execution of storage trials by coordinating intake, storage management, and weekly bin evaluations with partner farms and internal teams.
3. Lead the North America Variety Qualification process, from trial design and seed volume planning through field and processing execution including fresh and processed product evaluations, sample shipments for sensory and consumer testing, and coordination across cross-functional stakeholders to ensure alignment with commercial and R&D objectives.
4. Serve as the point of contact for the Variety Qualification Committee, consolidating trial outcomes and driving data-based decisions for varietal advancement into the PepsiCo portfolio.
5. Partner with internal teams breeding, trait discovery, crop technology, quality, supply chain, processing, and commercial leads to shape product profiles, guide trial design, and support varietal go-to-market messaging.
6. Consolidate findings into annual reporting deliverables internal presentations, and variety review meetings, contributing to global knowledge sharing and decision-making.
7. Analyze and share North America performance data across storage, agronomy, and processing.

Qualifications

• PhD (with >5 years industry experience) or MSc or BSc (with >7 years industry experience) or in Agronomy, Crop Science, Plant Breeding, or a related field, with deep expertise in potato storage research and varietal performance evaluation.
• Must have potato or onion storage research experience
• Proven experience designing and managing field and storage trials, capturing phenotypic and environmental data, and analyzing post-harvest quality attributes.
• Familiarity with commercial manufacturing environments and the ability to coordinate field-to-factory trial logistics.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills with the ability to engage growers, internal stakeholders, and senior leadership.
• Strong project leadership, team management, and organizational skills.
• Proficiency in data tools and reporting systems).
• Ability to travel ~20% domestically.