Biological Formulation Technical Leader

Who are we, and what do we do?

At Corteva Agriscience, you will help us grow what’s next. No matter your role, you will be part of a team that is building the future of agriculture – leading breakthroughs in the innovation and application of science and technology that will better the lives of people all over the world and fuel the progress of humankind. 

Corteva is responsible for developing new active ingredients and formulated products that are competitive with current and future market conditions. The individual in the Biological Formulation Technical Leader position may be in charge of leading programs, projects, and teams that create and develop innovative formulations, production processes, and delivery systems for new and existing Corteva active ingredients in our Biological Business. The types of actives we work with include microbes, nucleotides, viruses, proteins, enzymes, extracts, and naturally sourced molecules. The individual will collaborate with other functions in Corteva R&D to drive the strategy and execution practices, explore, test in proof of concept, and reduce to practice novel delivery concepts, and advance successful technologies and product concepts through stage-gate pipeline to business case and commercialization. The individual will also provide subject matter expertise (SME) and support necessary for technology transfer, product registration, and process scale-up for these concepts. This individual should be skilled in the conception and development of formulations in the agricultural, pharmaceutical, food science, animal health, personal care, or related industries.

Primary Responsibilities

• Lead teams of scientists in the exploration, proof of concept, and development of novel formulations, supporting production processes, delivery system technologies and concepts for new and registered active ingredients.
• Ability to teach and train scientists in the field of formulation science with hands on experience and examples.
• Collaboration with other functions across the company to deliver maximum success, such as analytical R&D, process development, application technology, biology, agronomy, regulatory, operations and commercial teams.
• Collaboration with external companies or universities to evaluate novel and promising technologies for Ag applications.
• Work within a global leadership team to drive strategy supporting biological product development and people development.
• Staying abreast of new discoveries and technologies in the area of formulation and delivery system technologies.
• Intellectual property (IP) capture and research report writing and presentation.
• Compliance with laboratory safety procedures.

Other responsibilities include

• Develop the technical and leadership capabilities of various teams' scientists in order to launch products successfully and to provide timely and knowledgeable product support consistent with future business needs.
• Support the development, implementation, and continuous improvement of the organizational design for their area alongside other members of the leadership team.
• Communicate prioritization needs, project progress and challenges to key stakeholders.
• Identify and execute opportunities for innovation and continuous improvement with equipment and work processes.
• Consistently applies sound scientific methods to solve technical problems.
• Develop understanding of customer needs through discussion with sales and marketing groups and works towards meeting the needs.
• Develop an understanding of competitors and key competitive technologies. Uses knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of competitive products to identify opportunities for competitive product positioning.
• Support project execution and project leadership as required.

 
What expertise have you grown - What do you bring to the table?

Education

• PhD in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Material Science, Biology, Food Science, Microbiology, Plant Pathology, related fields or relevant experience.

Requirements

• People leadership experience and demonstrated passion for people development.
• Demonstrated competence in the area of formulation technology or formulation engineering with a proven track record of product development as a subject matter expert.
• 7+ years working with biological actives and leading the development of biological products on a global scale within a relevant industry, preferably agriculture.
• Strong interpersonal and leadership skills.
• Ability to successfully partner with team members and stakeholders (sales, marketing, R&D, regulatory, product stewards, etc.) from multiple backgrounds.
• Excellent verbal and written com