Research Associate

About Benson Hill
Benson Hill empowers innovators to develop more healthy, tasty and sustainable food by unlocking the natural genetic diversity of plants. Benson Hill’s CropOS™ platform combines machine learning and big data with breeding techniques and plant biology to drastically accelerate and simplify the product development process. This platform allows for cost-effective and more efficient ways for companies to analyze and make improvements in plant genetics. Benson Hill brings a unique and holistic approach to our product and platform development, as we span a broader workflow involving trait and seed development, genome editing, and breeding all the way to creating better ingredients and varieties that tap a strong consumer demand for more flavorful and nutritious fruits and vegetables. More information can be found online at www.bensonhill.com. Follow us on Twitter at @BensonHillInc.

Our Purpose and Core Values

Our Core Values are a set of common principles we share that are fundamental to our company’s identity.

• Be Bold!  We redefine boundaries by providing new solutions to difficult problems. Together we are driven to transform the future and will not allow the fear of failure to prevent us from innovating. We voice our opinions, embrace change, and challenge each other to think creatively.
• Be Inspired! We redefine boundaries by providing new solutions to difficult problems. Together we are driven to transform the future and will not allow the fear of failure to prevent us from innovating. We voice our opinions, embrace change, and challenge each other to think creatively.
• Be Real! We understand who we are, what we want to achieve, and what it takes to get there. We hold each other accountable through timely, candid, and well-intentioned feedback. Together we engage in honest communication and healthy debate that leads to success through true alignment.

Department Overview

The Crop Accelerator is a state-of-the-art, controlled environment research facility that allows Benson Hill to accelerate biology, by enabling the rapid development of feed and food ingredients, our innovative facility has dynamically adaptive growth chambers providing 365 days of optimal growing conditions.  Furthermore, Benson Hill’s CropOS technology coupled with the Crop Accelerator’s world-leading high-throughput phenotyping and automation capabilities enables predictive outcomes allowing Benson Hill to develop varieties significantly faster than traditional cropping methods; essentially moving us beyond the speed of biology.

Position Summary

We are actively seeking a Research Associate I (RAI) to join our Crop Accelerator Team. The RAI will be responsible for providing support through coordination and execution of research projects, with autonomy, exercising independent judgment and ensuring clear communication with team members. The RAI will work with other team members to identify inefficiencies in the current workflows/process and making suggestions for improvement.

You Will:

(Essential Duties and Responsibilities)

• Maintain, organize, and summarize results of experiments, detailing issues, while problem solving.
• Coordinate the logistics of plant grow-outs within the TI workflow, as well support any needs from other Indoor Operations workflows.
• Perform tasks related with general operations of nurseries grow-outs including planting, tissue sampling, transplanting, tying, pollinating, and harvesting.
• Input data into the corporate database and collect experimental notes. Ensure data integrity and transparency for plant and seed records within the Crop Accelerator.
• Scout for plant disease symptoms, insect pressure, and other IPM considerations and communicate issues to appropriate support staff.
• Partner with CEI, GE and Speed Breeding teams within the Crop Accelerator to align best practices in plant care.
• Participate in weekend plant cross-pollination rotation as needed

You Have (Competencies and Qualifications):

 Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Plant Biology or other relevant degree.

Experience

• +2 years relevant experience
• Experience in Plant cross-pollination is a plus

Software/Skillset

• Proficient at Microsoft suite of products
• Experience working in protected Ag, controlled environments, or a seed company preferred

Other

• Attention to detail, analytical skills, and collaborative nature
• Self-starter, works with a sense of urgency and views problem solving as an impact opportunity
• Strong customer focus
• Ability to prioritize and work independently to meet goals and milestones
• Understands change is constant and embraces continuous improvement
• Weekend work rotation (plant cross-pollination) is required as needed