Regional Crop Manager - North in York

About McCain. At McCain, we're feeding the world: from French fries to smiles, we contribute to the important role food plays in people's lives. That's why we're dedicated to ensuring our core values - Family, Authentic, Trusted, and Quality - shine through every day. As a privately owned family company with over 60 years of experience, a presence in more than 160 countries, and a global team of 22,000 people, our values and culture are at the heart of everything we do. We believe that we can work together, along with our business and community partners, to bring sustainable growth and positive change today, tomorrow, and for generations to come. Join us and see how you can MAKE IT at McCain!

Why join the McCain family:

• Your Life - we're here to help you fulfil your potential, flourish, and thrive in work and life.
• Your Success - work alongside passionate individuals who are committed to supporting your career ambitions, drive, and success.
• Your Impact - we want you to make a meaningful, lasting impact for you, for your colleagues, and for the business.

About the role. Based in the North, this role puts you right at the heart of McCain's agricultural operation. You'll be working closely with growers across the region, helping them meet their contractual commitments and making sure the right quality potatoes are delivered at the right time. A big part of the role is keeping people in the loop. You'll be pulling together clear, meaningful crop intelligence and making sure it reaches everyone who needs it, so that deliveries run smoothly and quality stays where it needs to be. You'll also be working alongside the Regional Agriculture Manager, lending real support to the bigger strategic picture and helping to strengthen McCain's grower relationships right across the North.

Leadership Principles. Our principles, each with related practices, guide our actions across the organisation. Together, they address how McCain interacts with our customers and employees, and how we work as individuals and collectively to find success. While each role adheres to the Leadership Principles, individual roles may focus more on a specific principle or principles.

• We are customer obsessed. Customers are our starting point. By understanding their needs and leveraging data and consumer insights, we drive mutual success.
• We think big and plan ahead. Through ambition, curiosity, and smart risks, we can accomplish goals, refine processes, and innovate to scale success.
• We bring out the best in our people. We create safe spaces for our people so that trust and empowerment come naturally. Inclusion is about listening first, showing humility, and working together.
• We act like owners. Together, we clear obstacles and do the work that makes us all successful and proud to be part of McCain.

Accountabilities:

• Work hand in hand with the Regional Agriculture Manager to help bring the strategic objectives to life, playing an active role in making things happen on the ground.
• Partner with the Crop Management Technician to make sure crop intelligence is accurate, timely and genuinely useful, keeping all the right people informed at every stage of the growing and storage cycle.
• Keep growers focused on what matters most, delivering the right quality potatoes at the right time and making sure contractual commitments are being met throughout the season.
• Build real, trusted relationships with growers and grower groups through regular contact, honest conversations and solid technical and commercial support.
• Be a proactive and visible presence, representing McCain in the right way across the grower base.
• Champion quality improvement across the board, encouraging and supporting growers to consistently raise the standard of the potatoes they produce.
• Make sure potato seed is ordered correctly and on time, using the right processes and systems to keep things running smoothly between McCain Potatoes and contract growers.
• Step in to carry out seed quality inspections where needed and handle any complaints in a professional and timely way.
• Give growers the agronomic support they need to get the best out of their crops, from putting together solid crop production plans to keeping a close eye on progress through the growing season and into store.

Experience:

• A background working with growers in a quality or agronomic capacity, getting hands on with crop performance and bringing genuine expertise to the role.
• Direct experience working with a processing potato crop, with a solid understanding of what good looks like from field to factory.
• Some experience managing customer or grower relationships, with the confidence to build rapport and handle conversations at all levels.
• Comfortable using bespoke agricultural computer systems, or the willingness and ability to pick them up quickly.

Knowledge:

• A strong working knowledge of agriculture and potato crop production, with the practical understanding to support growers through every stage of the season.
• A tertiary qualification in agriculture or a related discipline, or equivalent experience gained on the ground.
• BASIS and FACTS qualifications already in place, or a genuine commitment to achieving them within 12 months of starting the role.

Location. Being in the office every single day is a thing of the past. Here at McCain, we champion hybrid working. This means we don't have a set expectation of exactly when you need to be in the office - however we do encourage our full-time, office-based people to connect in person with others for around half of their working time as that's the best way for us to build and maintain our connections. Our head office (Customer Experience Centre) is on the outskirts of Scarborough - 1.5 hours away from Leeds City Centre, and about an hour from York. We have lots of colleagues who travel to and from our Experience Centre (even if it is just for a good coffee!) and because hybrid really does mean hybrid at McCain, they get the opportunity to collaborate with their colleagues when they're in the office, and balance that with working from home to ensure they get a good life-work balance.

The benefits of working for McCain. Although we do encourage you to taste the goods you'll be pleased to know we don't pay you in 'chips'. For working hard, you'll also get a great salary and some pretty good benefits including:

• Company Car
• Annual performance related bonus
• An excellent pension where we will pay double what you do, up to a maximum of 12% of your pay
• Flexible holidays - where you can buy