Syngenta Crop Protection is a leader in agricultural innovation, bringing breakthrough technologies and solutions that enable farmers to grow productively and sustainably. We offer a leading portfolio of crop protection solutions for plant and soil health, as well as digital solutions that transform the decision-making capabilities of farmers. Our 17,900 employees serve to advance agriculture in more than 90 countries around the world. Syngenta Crop Protection is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, and is part of the Syngenta Group.
Our employees reflect the diversity of our customers, the markets where we operate and the communities which we serve. No matter what your position, you will have a vital role in safely feeding the world and taking care of our planet. Join us and help shape the future of agriculture.
Job Description**What You'll Do**
- Lead and apply deep expertise in AI infrastructure and MLOps to deliver durable, scalable outcomes.
- Lead and apply deep expertise in model serving and inference optimisation to deliver durable, scalable outcomes.
- Lead and apply deep expertise in vector databases and LLM-adjacent tooling to deliver durable, scalable outcomes.
- Lead and apply deep expertise in scientific HPC and GPU scheduling literacy to deliver durable, scalable outcomes.
- Lead and apply deep expertise in AI safety, evaluation and guardrails to deliver durable, scalable outcomes.
- Lead and apply deep expertise in engineering leadership of specialists to deliver durable, scalable outcomes.
- Collaborate across engineering, product and scientific teams to translate complex needs into practical solutions.
- Set a high bar for quality, documentation and thoughtful use of AI-assisted engineering.
- Develop and communicate a strategic roadmap for AI enablement technologies that aligns with organisational objectives and scientific innovation goals.
- Establish performance metrics, monitoring frameworks and evaluation criteria to measure the effectiveness and impact of AI infrastructure investments.
- Build and mentor a high-performing team of AI and ML specialists, fostering a culture of continuous learning and technical excellence.
- Evaluate emerging AI technologies and tools, conducting proof-of-concept initiatives to assess suitability for R&D workflows and agricultural applications.
- Manage stakeholder relationships with scientific teams, product leaders and IT leadership to ensure alignment on priorities, resource allocation and capability delivery.
- Champion best practices in responsible AI deployment, including bias detection, model transparency and compliance with organisational governance standards.
**What You Bring**
- Demonstrable experience in AI infrastructure and MLOps.
- Demonstrable experience in model serving and inference optimisation.
- Demonstrable experience in vector databases and LLM-adjacent tooling.
- Demonstrable experience in scientific HPC and GPU scheduling literacy.
- Demonstrable experience in AI safety, evaluation and guardrails.
- Demonstrable experience in engineering leadership of specialists.
- Demonstrable experience in architecture decision records and technology roadmaps.
- Proven ability to develop and communicate strategic technical roadmaps aligned with organisational objectives.
- Strong stakeholder management skills with the ability to influence across technical and non-technical audiences.
- Experience establishing performance metrics, monitoring frameworks and evaluation criteria for infrastructure investments.
- Demonstrated capability in building, mentoring and developing high-performing technical teams.
- Experience conducting proof-of-concept initiatives and evaluating emerging technologies for suitability and impact.
- Strong communication skills and the ability to influence across technical and non-technical stakeholders.
- Knowledge of responsible AI principles, including bias detection, model transparency and governance compliance.
- Fluent English, written and spoken.
**Bonus Points**
- Experience in agriculture, life sciences, scientific computing or a regulated enterprise environment.
- Experience building platforms, products or services used by multiple internal teams.
- Experience working in distributed, international engineering organisations.
Site Details
Jealott's Hill International Research Centre UK is situated in pleasant semi-rural surroundings between Bracknell and Maidenhead and is the place of work for approximately 800 Syngenta scientists and support staff. Jealott’s Hill is one of the main global research and development sites and key activities include research into discovery of new active ingredients, new formulation technologies, product safety and technical support of our product range.
What we offer
Extensive benefits package including a generous pension scheme, bonus scheme, private medical & life insurance.
Up to 31.5 days annual holiday.
Flexible working
We offer a position which contributes to valuable and impactful work in a stimulating and international environment.
The opportunity to develop and apply your science within the chemical industry.
The chance to work as part of a global team to address the current and future needs of the agricultural sector.
Learning culture and wide range of training options.
Syngenta has been ranked as a top 5 employer and number 1 in agriculture by Science Journal.
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. Learn more about our D&I initiatives here: https://www.syngenta.com/careers/working-syngenta/diversity-and-inclusion
