Agronomist/Horticulturalist

For 75 years, Charles River employees have worked together to assist in the discovery, development and safe manufacture of new drug therapies. When you join our family, you will have a significant impact on the health and well-being of people across the globe. Whether your background is in life sciences, finance, IT, sales or another area, your skills will play an important role in the work we perform. In return, we’ll help you build a career that you can feel passionate about.

The Bioscience Division provides support to the agrochemical, food and feed industries, veterinary and pharmaceutical industries and industrial chemical industry by evaluating the metabolism of new chemical and biological entities in a variety of test systems. We are looking to recruit an Agronomist/Horticulturist to join this exciting team of scientists in the BioSciences Lab Services Department. Working in close contact with our clients, the study directors, the management team and the internal Charles River network, you will be expected to contribute to the conduct of crop metabolism projects to support the smooth and swift progression of novel agrochemical candidates through evaluation and beyond. These projects are done on local and non-local food crops (from wheat, turnip and lettuce to maize, sugarcane and rice) and involve maintaining small crops (typically 0.5-2 m2 per plot), both indoors and outdoors, in containers.

Your responsibilities will include the following:

• Management and maintenance of the on-site research grade glasshouse facility used to evaluate the residue profile of novel agrochemical products in agricultural commodities.
• Scheduling projects into the available glasshouses to meet client timelines.
• Co-ordination of individual project tasks required by the crop metabolism department.
• Pest and disease management, including the use of Biocontrols.
• Providing input into optimal growing conditions for different crop species.

Applicants should be educated to degree level ideally in a botany, agronomy, plant biology or a related discipline. Relevant laboratory experience in the conduct of regulatory studies would be advantageous, however, full training will be provided. BASIS or FACTS qualified agronomist or holder of a spray licence would be highly desired for this role.

Specific criteria that you are required to meet include:

• Relevant qualifications, specifically a minimum of a scientific degree in a relevant discipline.
• A strong eye for detail and excellent documentation skills.
• Excellent communication, organisation and time management skills as well as an ability to work flexibly and to tight deadlines.
• A working knowledge of Microsoft Office or scheduling software would be beneficial.

Salary for this position is dependent on skills and experience. Closing date is 06 August 2026.

Performs technical laboratory activities in support of client studies or procedures. Performs analysis of data for quality and completeness and determines if results are as expected. Records data in compliance with company and regulatory policies and standards to meet quality and accuracy requirements. Executes scientific testing strategies and studies. May participate in development as part of team. May lead assay research, assay validation or study conduct, or is involved in preparation of material (e.g. protein, nucleic acid, cells, etc.). Reviews and interprets study data, communicates results to clients and writes final reports. Ensures compliance with protocols and all applicable SOPs. Troubleshoots and resolves assay or technical issues in the laboratory when scientific expertise is needed. Contributes to specific dataset interpretation, or when appropriate answering questions from regulatory authorities.

About Safety Assessment: Charles River is committed to helping our partners expedite their preclinical drug development with exceptional safety assessment services, state-of-the-art facilities and expert regulatory guidance. From individual specialty toxicology and IND enabling studies to tailored packages and total laboratory support, our deeply experienced team can design and execute programs that anticipate challenges and avoid roadblocks for a smooth, efficient journey to market.

About Charles River: Charles River is an early-stage contract research organization (CRO). We have built upon our foundation of laboratory animal medicine and science to develop a diverse portfolio of discovery and safety assessment services, both Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) and non-GLP, to support clients from target identification through preclinical development. Charles River also provides a suite of products and services to support our clients’ clinical laboratory testing needs and manufacturing activities. Utilizing this broad portfolio of products and services enables our clients to create a more flexible drug development model, which reduces their costs, enhances their productivity and effectiveness to increase speed to market.

With over 20,000 employees within 110 facilities in over 20 countries around the globe, we are strategically positioned to coordinate worldwide resources and apply multidisciplinary perspectives in resolving our client’s unique challenges. Our client base includes global pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies, government agencies and hospitals and academic institutions around the world. At Charles River, we are passionate about our role in improving the quality of people’s lives. Our mission, our excellent science and our strong sense of purpose guide us in all that we do, and we approach each day with the knowledge that our work helps to improve the health and well-being of many across the globe. We have proudly worked on 80% of the drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the past five years. At Charles River Laboratories, we recognize and recruit all talent. We are a company committed to fostering a sense of belonging and work daily in this direction.