Smart Agriculture, Production & R&D Manager
Location: Addis Ababa
Organization: Organic Liquid Fertilizer Producing PLC
Deadline: September 20, 2026
Job Description
- Position : Smart Farm Production & R&D Manager
- Location: Factory Compound, Tulefa, Ethiopia
- Employment Type: Full-Time
- Department: Smart Agriculture, Production & R&D
- Reports To: CEO / Senior Management
About the Role
EcoGreen is developing a high-value Smart Farm within its factory compound—not as a conventional farming operation, but as a commercial production, R&D, agricultural demonstration and model learning platform.
The objective is to maximize profit per square meter, produce premium agricultural products, test advanced production systems, and generate credible field evidence for EcoGreen’s fertilizer and soil-health technologies.
The farm will also be developed as a best-practice demonstration and learning model for modern, profitable and sustainable agriculture, where farmers, commercial producers, agricultural professionals, customers, investors and other stakeholders can observe, learn and adopt proven production methods and technologies.
We are looking for a highly capable agricultural production professional who can turn a small land area into a high-productivity, data-driven, commercially viable and internationally credible smart farming demonstration and learning model.
Key Responsibilities
1. High-Value Crop Production
- Identify and develop premium, high-margin crops suitable for intensive production.
- Establish production protocols for herbs, specialty vegetables, berries, microgreens, seedlings and other high-value crops.
- Optimize yield, quality, production cycles and revenue per m².
- Develop protected cultivation, fertigation, irrigation and soilless production systems where economically justified.
2. Smart Farm Management
- Manage irrigation, fertigation, nutrition, crop protection, climate and environmental conditions.
- Introduce practical sensors and data-driven production monitoring.
- Establish SOPs for planting, nutrition, irrigation, harvesting, grading, hygiene and post-harvest handling.
- Maintain accurate production records and traceability.
3. Commercial & Economic Performance
- Evaluate crops based on net profit/m²/year, not simply yield.
- Track production cost, labor, water, energy, inputs, losses, selling price and gross/net margin.
- Continuously identify opportunities to increase productivity and reduce production costs.
- Develop crop-level profitability reports and production forecasts.
4. R&D and EcoGreen Product Validation
- Establish scientifically structured field trials for EcoGreen fertilizers and soil-health technologies.
- Compare control and treatment plots using measurable parameters.
- Monitor yield, quality, nutrient-use efficiency, soil/substrate parameters and economic return.
- Generate reliable production data that can support commercial claims, demonstrations and future product development.
5. Demonstration, Learning & Knowledge Transfer
- Develop the farm as a best-practice demonstration and model learning center for modern agriculture.
- Create practical learning opportunities for farmers, commercial producers, customers, agricultural professionals, students and other stakeholders.
- Demonstrate profitable production systems, crop nutrition, soil health, fertigation, irrigation, protected cultivation and smart-farming technologies.
- Document successful practices, results and lessons learned so they can be replicated and scaled.
- Maintain professional visual standards and accurate technical records.
6. Market-Oriented Production
- Work with the Commercial Department to identify premium markets and customer requirements.
- Align production with actual market demand.
- Investigate opportunities with hotels, restaurants, supermarkets, processors, nurseries and specialty buyers.
- Avoid producing crops simply because they grow well; production must have a validated commercial opportunity.
- Candidate Profile
We are looking for someone who combines agricultural science with commercial thinking.
Required:
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Agronomy, Horticulture, Plant Science, Agricultural Engineering or a related field.
- Minimum 3 years of practical experience in high-value crop production, including herbs and medicinal herbs.
- Strong practical experience in intensive/high-value crop production.
- Proven knowledge of fertigation, irrigation, crop nutrition and integrated crop management.
- Experience with greenhouse/protected agriculture, hydroponics or soilless production is highly desirable.
- Strong understanding of crop economics and production costing.
- Ability to design and manage field trials and interpret production data.
- Strong operational discipline and documentation skills.
- Ability to work hands-on rather than being purely theoretical.
Highly desirable:
- Experience with premium vegetable, herb and berry production.
- Strong experience in medicinal and aromatic plant production.
- Nursery and seedling production experience.
- Experience with sensors, automation or precision agriculture.
- Experience working with commercial farms, hotels, supermarkets or specialty markets.
- Experience in agricultural R&D, product testing or fertilizer trials.
- Evidence of having successfully increased yield, quality or farm profitability.
What We Expect From the Person
The successful candidate should be able to answer:
“With this amount of land, water, capital and market access, how do we generate the highest sustainable profit per square meter while creating a best-practice model that others can learn from and replicate?
We are looking for a builder, problem-solver, production entrepreneur and practical agricultural innovator, not simply someone who supervises farm labor
How to Apply
Interested applicants are invited to submit their motivation letter, CV, copies of credentials, and supporting documents using this link: >> https://erp.ecogreen.et/jobs before September 20, 2026
To avoid unnecessary CVs, applicants must submit:
CV _ maximum 3 pages
Application Channels:
- Online: https://erp.ecogreen.et/jobs /
- Physical Submission Address / Tulefa Ecogreen factory or Head Office, at Addis Ababa]
Phone- +251 908008837
Application Deadline: 20th of September, 2026
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
