Junior Agronomist

Business Unit / Group Function: Not defined
Area: Crop Science & Agronomy
Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
Reference Id: REF52763Z
Experience / Work Type: Entry Level / Permanent Employee
Closing Date: 15 December, 2023

Company Description:

Anglo American is a leading global mining company, and our products are the essential ingredients in almost every aspect of modern life. Our portfolio of world-class competitive mining operations and undeveloped resources provides the metals and minerals that enable a cleaner, greener, more sustainable world and that meet the fast-growing consumer-driven demands of the world’s developed and maturing economies. 

Our mission is to help farmers around the world increase crop production by improving their efficiency, effectiveness, flexibility and sustainability. POLY4 is a multi-nutrient, low-chloride fertilizer derived from a naturally occuring polyhalite mineral. With no chemical processing and low carbon footprint during manufacturing, POLY4 is suitable for organic farming and offers season-long crop nutrition by supplying four essential nutrients – potassium, sulphur, magnesium and calcium – in one product.  

This balanced nutrition backed up by years of global agronomic data, will help increase yields, improve crop quality, and enhance structure and nutrient legacy of soils. 

Job Description:

Join us as a Junior Agronomist, where you will support the delivery of a high performing agronomy programme. The key component is to support the delivery of a robust regional agricultural expertise that significantly contributes to the business plan. The agronomy programme executes technical and commercial trials with the aim to find the best POLY4 practices (4R’s) in all relevant crop/country areas. 

Key Accountabilities:

• Support the development and delivery of a crop science programme that solves real customer problems and delivers business growth.
• Assist the agronomy team to fill gaps between our agronomic knowledge and commercial priorities for the Middle East and Africa.
• Undergo mentoring to learn how to develop both technical and commercial (including demo) trials protocols.
• Assist by travelling to visit and monitor trial sites across South Africa and other Middle East and Africa (MEA) countries as needed. Duties may include taking soil and plant tissue samples, crop growth monitoring, GPS coordinates, and other in-field measurements.
• Support with commercial skills to ensure development of products and practices the market will trust, value and buy.
• Support crop nutrition strategies that leverage the unique characteristics of polyhalite fertilisers.
• Be an exceptional communicator of technical knowledge to our global technical and commercial teams.
• Substantially assist the regional agronomy team with specific administrative tasks (SAP, Salesforce, Sharepoint, PowerBI, GPS software, trial economics and environmental footprint evaluation, PowerPoint presentations, etc.)
• Support with reporting on and developing of suitable agronomic output from the trials programme for marketing and other presentations.
• Support with transfer of project results and escorting the knowledge transfer to internal and external stakeholders.
• Support with tracking activities of other companies for potential sources of competition or collaboration.
• Follow forefront of technical developments through scientific articles and attending seminars, conferences, and training sessions.
• Demonstrate the skills to work effectively at multiple landscape scales from local to continental.

Qualifications:

1. A university degree in agricultural science, soil science, agronomy, horticulture or related discipline.
2. Some industry experience would be advantageous, but the biggest need is to learn fast and adapt to varied needs.
3. Demonstrated technical skills in agriculture, crop science, soil science, environmental economics, or environmental science.
4. Solid understanding of crop production systems and practices for large scale agricultural production systems.

 

Additional information:

• Must be proficient in English.
• A valid driving licence is required for this role.
• This role may require a company medical assessment in line with the role requirements.
• A background screening application is also required for this role.

We are an equal opportunities employer and positively encourage applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates regardless of sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief. 

We will process your information in accordance with our Applicant privacy notice | Anglo American. 

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All the best with your applications