VP, Software & Data Systems

Number of employees

420

Remote, United States

Posted on: 2023-04-02

Category: food

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Expired

Employment type:

Full time

Remote?

Yes

Experience required:

Director

Salary

Salary not provided

About the company:

Plenty is a new kind of farm for a new kind of world. We’re on a mission to bring healthy food to the world while protecting the environment. Our pesticide-free, non-GMO leafy greens taste fresh-picked from the garden because they were. We grow and deliver locally, cutting transportation miles and reducing emissions. Plenty’s indoor farms mean fresh produce is always in season.

We are a team of growers, plant scientists, engineers, artists, foodies and plant romantics working to improve the lives of plants, people, and the planet. We currently operate in South San Francisco, CA, and Laramie, WY. Our new Compton, CA site set to open in 2021 will be the world’s first, high-capacity indoor vertical farm.

Plenty believes food justice is social justice. Equal access to healthy, nutritious food is fundamental to a quality life. We build farms in communities that need better access to food and jobs. Plenty provides living-wage, year-round jobs along with flavorful, nutrient-rich food to the communities we serve. We use automation and robotics so machines do the backbreaking labor while people perform new kinds of skilled agricultural, science and high-tech jobs.

Now is the time to help Plenty achieve its mission to feed the world healthy food in a sustainable way. We are a start-up with expanding career growth opportunities.

We are actively seeking those who embody our core values: find a way, down to earth, & grow together. These values guide how we work together as teammates, approach innovation and engage with customers. Does this sound like you? Join the mission as we improve human and planetary health by increasing access to craveable fruits and vegetables.

About Plenty

Plenty is on a mission to Grow Plenty of Fresh Food For Everyone, Everywhere.  Plenty's farms are designed to secure our food future, using a unique indoor vertical growing system to deliver high quality, fresh produce to everyone, everywhere. The next great revolution in farming is here!

The people and teams who make up Plenty are at the core of how we do this.  We are a collaborative and innovative bunch.  We are passionate about our contributions to Plenty, the communities around us and our planet, but never take ourselves too seriously.  We’re down to Earth, we grow together, and we always find a way.  Most importantly, we’re here to improve the lives of plants, people and our planet.  

About the role

Plenty is looking for a Vice President of Software and Data Systems to lead our Software and Data Systems team. The Software and Data Systems team designs and builds powerful systems for cooperative human-robot precision farming, plant growth at large farm scale and science-based research to create new crops for the farm while optimizing yield.

Plenty grows nutritious and delicious plants sustainably without pesticides, year round. To do this, we have built an operating system that both orchestrates farming operations from seed to post-harvest  (including traceability), while also providing a research platform for our plant science team. As the VP of Software and Data Systems, you will lead a highly skilled and innovative software engineering team to support our cloud-based Farm Operating System (PlentyOS) which is the software and data backbone that runs all farm operations as well as research spaces. PlentyOS also integrates with the hardware equipment in our farms and data collection, analysis and output used to manage the farm and R&D outcomes.  The “Farm as a Product” strategy guides our overall thinking and roadmap for building indoor farms and our work in Software and Data will be strongly integrated into this product architecture. 

Plenty is unique in the industry in that we focus on selling the farms themselves as the product. While our farms grow delicious produce, the core technology is the system we have developed to grow that produce, which is replicable across geographies and crops. Software and Data is integral to designing and delivering on that promise to partners.

What you'll do

  • Lead a cross-functional and highly collaborative Engineering organization working at the cutting edge of Artificial Intelligence (AI), software engineering, and controlled environment systems.
  • Develop the long-term vision and requirements for Plenty OS in conjunction with our Customers (internal and external) and Product Team.
  • Set a strategic future direction for our software roadmap, clearly delineating which software capabilities are necessary for our farm IP and which can be procured or outsourced.
  • Responsible for software product management, technical strategy and continuous innovation.
  • Lead and mentor a team of Software Engineers and Data Scientists to deliver robust applications while using agile engineering practices.
  • Support the implementation and deployment of farms with responsive, professional and outcome aligned support of Plenty OS in Farm and Research settings, including with external customers.
  • Support the implementation of Business Intelligence strategies that create ROI from the data science execution with the Operations, R&D and Commercial teams.
  • Build a world class Dev Ops culture that integrates engineering and operations for 24/7 supported production systems and research spaces.
  • Determine hiring plans and recruit, motivate, and lead top performing Engineering and Data Systems talent.
  • Maintain a culture of innovation and experimentation to drive continuous improvement.
  • Responsible for ensuring the team executes on the product roadmap and adheres to project timelines.
  • Ability to manage remote teams as well as contingent labor.
  • Participate as a key speaker in board and investor meetings.
  • Others duties as assigned

What you'll bring to the table

  • 15+ years of progressive experience in Software Engineering for hardware and equipment/process applications, specifically, 10+ years of experience leading or managing software engineering teams. Experience in Manufacturing industries is a big plus.
  • Education or experience equivalent to a B.S. and/or M.S. in Computer Science or related Engineering discipline.
  • An inspirational technical and people leader with a high emotional intelligence who sets high standards and encourages the best work of their teams and inspires innovative thinking across the company.
  • Practical and simple approach and proven track record delivering outstanding UI and UX through constant and timely input and feedback end-users.
  • Data driven - you have a track record of seeking out data from various sources and leveraging it to make smart decisions.
  • Mission Driven: Deep passion for the mission of Plenty; To Grow Plenty of Fresh Food for Everyone, Everywhere.
  • Proven track record leading professional software engineering practices and best practices for the full software development life-cycle, including coding standards, code reviews, source control management, build processes, testing, and operations, experience running scrum teams with Agile processes
  • Establishes and maintains a high technical bar for the organization.
  • Ability to articulate the benefits and limitations of software applications in a production environment.
  • An entrepreneurial and creative approach to developing new, innovative ideas that will stretch the organization and push the boundaries within the industry.
  • Ability to travel based on business needs.

Type of role

Full-Time

What we can offer 

  • Compensation; we’ll pay you a competitive salary, give you a stake in the company via equity and 401K company matching with no vesting period
  • Health & well-being; we’ll invest in your physical and mental well-being with comprehensive medical, dental, & vision benefits, and an Employee Assistance Program to help with mental health, financial & legal matters 
  • Food; in-office lunches, snacks and access to our leafy greens & new produce in development -- are you up for a side gig as a taste tester?
  • Grow together; learning & development opportunities including unlimited access to our Upstart University platform, LinkedIn Learning, lunch & learns, training certifications, and more
  • Equipment; we’ll provide you with the equipment you need to be successful, including $75/month toward your phone bill and $250 every 2 years to upgrade your phone
  • Paid time off; we know you’ll do your best if you’re taking time to recharge, so we don’t cap the amount of days you can take off per year in addition to the paid holidays we observe
  • Parental leave; 12 weeks off for all new parents - fully paid so you can focus your energy on your newest addition

If you reside in California, Colorado, New York, or Washington please send an email to [email protected] to receive compensation information for this role.

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