Chief Technology Officer (R&D - Crop Protection)

In Crop Protection R&D, we create, operate and evolve technology solutions that are at the heart of how we do science. We cover the full lifecycle from Lab Research (chemistry and biology workbench and analytics) to open field IoT (environmental sensors, drones), NLP and image analysis. We believe in FAIR data, (native) cloud first and dedication to collaboration and open-source. 

As CTO, you lead and grow our community of technically outstanding architects. You are a champion for every team member’s individual development. You set the technical guardrails for our people and partners to design and implement a leading-edge digital science ecosystem. You ensure an intentional and elegant strategic architecture that unlocks value exponentially higher than just the sum of its parts. 

Accountabilities 

• Lead the overall enterprise architecture of our digital science ecosystem 
• Attract and develop a team with excellent technical skills 
• Guide a DevOps squad that runs a set of products that cut across several R&D functions 
• Champion our principles of collaboration, cloud and open source 
• Define guidance of “how we do tech here” and measure the quality of our implementation 
• Emphasize ‘Security’ in DevSecOps 
• Bring an external perspective to constructively disrupt the status quo of “how things are being done here” 
• Occasionally be hands on again – create an inspirational mockup, perform a code review or participate in scrum meetings to make technical decisions  

• A passion for our planet, ideally combined with appreciation of agriculture and science-based solutions to restore Earth 
• A track record of building and leading high-performing teams and developing next generation leaders within and outside your own group. 
• Proven track record of impact through technology architecture leadership in a complex organization, articulating technology vision that inspires and motivates teams to action 
• Ability to step back and see the big picture, zooming in on specific technologies where useful 
• Confidence in making business decisions in ambiguous situations. 
• Ideally a post-graduate degree in a digital science field, other degrees are possible 
• A winning personality with excellent communication skills to build trusted relationships with stakeholders and colleagues 
• A pragmatic, hands-on mentality 

Experiences to be gained in the job:  

• Leading through technology disruption and cross-functional transformation 
• IT architecture in life sciences and/or agriculture  
• Agile and decisive, value-driven and business-focused leadership 

Syngenta is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate in recruitment, hiring, training, promotion or any other employment practices for reasons of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, sexual orientation, marital or veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected status.

We are proud to stand at the forefront of the tech revolution in agriculture. Using the latest digital innovations, data, and cutting-edge technologies we want to reshape the industry through data-fueled intelligent science. This is only possible through digital science by smartly connecting, integrating and exploiting data from Research and Development and Commercial, to better tailor our products and grower advice.