Horticulture & Greenhouse Technician

IMMEDIATE OPPORTUNITY: Horticulture & Greenhouse Technician – Part Time 

USD Pay Range: $20-25/hour commensurate with education and experience.

This is a paid, part-time, hourly position (15-20 hours/week) for Immediate Hire sited in State College, PA. This is NOT a remote work opportunity. The Horticulture & Greenhouse Technician is expected to fully engage on-location at the greenhouse and in collaboration with the team located at Innovation Park in State College. Easy access including free parking and Red Line Cata bus stop on site.

The Opportunity:

The Horticulture & Greenhouse Technician will provide day-to-day greenhouse care and maintenance ensuring correct water levels, nutrient treatments, appropriate lighting, and soil care for plants in a local greenhouse contracted by Croptix. This position is responsible for the cultivation and growth of various plants and plant types for research purposes - diligence and consistency in effort along with great organizational skills are paramount to this role. Additional responsibilities include project set-up, data collection, detailed note taking, insect/disease identification and management, and other greenhouse operation and equipment maintenance. The Horticulture & Greenhouse Technician is expected to be able to work independently utilizing experience and working knowledge to troubleshoot, diagnose, and control common greenhouse plant issues. This position reports directly to the Operations Manager, with frequent collaboration with Croptix leadership, plant pathologist, data team, and company partners.

• This is a part-time position 15-20 hours per week. Biologic-specific and project-specific needs may fall outside of traditional office working hours (ie. 9am-5pm mon-fri), detailed scheduling will be determined in advance of project roll-out.
• This position requires regular, weekly, in-person collaboration with Croptix personnel in our State College, PA office.
• Prior horticulture and greenhouse operation experience is a must.
• This role offers unique opportunities to integrate, expand, refine, and synthesize knowledge from diverse disciplines. It provides circumstances to apply higher-order thinking skills (critical thinking, interpretation, evaluation, complex problem solving, etc.) in “real world” work situations.

About Croptix:

Croptix (www.croptix.ag, d/b/a of Atoptix, Inc.) is a venture-backed, Ag-tech company headquartered in State College, PA. Croptix is revolutionizing farming with its intelligent Ag platform, leveraging sensor data and cutting-edge analytics to empower farmers with real-time insights for disease management and crop health optimization.  Croptix provides services for early detection of disease and nutritional issues in crops, which leads to reduced spread of the disease and maintaining healthy, high-quality fruit production and profitability. With the platform's field-deployable sensors and advanced analytics, the service provides timely interventions, ensuring the health and success of the farmer's crops. By detecting both disease and nutritional issues early, Croptix helps farmers keep their crops thriving.

The qualifications listed below give an overview of the job duties and requirements. Past greenhouse experience is a must, however, Croptix recognizes that even the strongest candidates for the job might not have all the skills on Day 1. You may be a good fit if you are passionate about greenhouse management, plant pathology, horticulture, technology, agriculture, or protecting our food crops. The ideal candidate is someone looking to implement their horticulture knowledge and refine their agronomic skills.

Job duties and responsibilities (include but are not limited to):

• Provide daily care to greenhouse and nursery plants including planting, transplanting, pruning, watering, fertilizing, plant nutrition management
• controlling and identifying plant insects and disease, weed management
• Familiarity with greenhouse ventilation systems
• Maintain greenhouse room at the appropriate temperature, humidity and light levels
• Record and maintain records; notify project lead of irregularities, changes, outages, and other needs
• Spray, dust, shade, and fumigate crops
• Prepare proper soil mixes as designated by supervisor or project lead
• Move materials such as soil, stone, soil mixes, fertilizers, other greenhouse materials (up to 50lbs)
• Perform routine maintenance on and modifications to a variety of greenhouse and nursery equipment; maintain irrigation systems
• Set up, adjust, and maintain electrical devices such as irrigation control units, greenhouse control units, mist control units, and horticultural cooler (swamp cooler) and lights
• Use of specialized and sensitive technologies for data collection
• Maintain work area in a clean and orderly condition

Skills, Qualifications & Requirements:

• B.S. Degree in Horticulture, Agronomy, Greenhouse Management equivalent, or 3+ years greenhouse operation experience
• Experience operating greenhouse controls including irrigation, light and temperature controls 
• Must have working knowledge of common parts and materials for greenhouse operations
• Experience ordering raw materials and other shop supplies
• Experience using shop tools and machinery
• Basic knowledge of irrigation and greenhouse swamp coolers and other automation controls
• Must have fine motor skills for assembly of small parts, experience assembling small parts and mechanical assemblies with fasteners and other apparatuses
• Must have working knowledge of common greenhouse plants, diseases, and pests
• Previous experience using, operating, and troubleshooting of-the-shelf plant sensors
• Must be safety conscious and wear required personal protective equipment
• Ability and willingness to work 15-20 hours per week.

Additional Requirements:

• May require Pennsylvania Certified Pesticide Applicators License and maintain active RE credits. 
• Prior experience designing and carrying out plant experiments in a greenhouse setting is a plus.

If hired, must adhere to all company policies and procedures, safety requirements of both Croptix and those specific to the contracted greenhouse/facility – including successful completion of Greenhouse Training, and other prescribed best practices/industry standards.

Disclaimer:

• The company actively assists CPT/OPT-eligible students in achieving their career objectives.  CPT/OPT-eligible students from Penn State University are encouraged to apply for this part-time position.
• For this position, the company does not sponsor applicants for work visas.
• The Company reserves the right to alter, change, modify and/or terminate this job posting at any time without notice, or obligation. No recruiters, please; principal applicants only.
• Croptix is proud to be an equal-opportunity employer. Employment with our company is based solely on a person's merit and qualifications directly related to professional competence. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, family status, marital status, pregnancy, or related condition (including breastfeeding), sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status, or any other or any other basis protected by law.
• Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential job functions. If you need a reasonable accommodation because of a disability for any part of the employment process, please e-mail alex@croptix.ag and let us know the nature of your request and your contact information.

To Apply:

If you are excited about the position and feel you could bring valuable experience to our team, please e-mail a copy of your resume, samples of your work or portfolio along with a cover letter and references to alex@croptix.ag

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