UK Interim Precision Agriculture Specialist

Interim UK Precision Agriculture Specialist

Department of International Trade - Whitehall London

As science, big data and technology change the face of agriculture, and global challenges to the food industry become more acute, the UK is now at the vanguard of agricultural technologies, pioneering new approaches to food and farming systems. Agricultural science and technology is rapidly becoming one of the world’s fastest growing and exciting markets.

The use of precision agriculture technologies allows farmers and growers to make more efficient and informed decisions on crops, animal husbandry and land management. This is underpinned by breakthroughs in nutrition, genetics, informatics and big data, remote sensing, engineering, robotics, meteorology and other technologies. As one of the key four sub-sectors for the Agri-Tech sector there is a need to drive existing prospects into active projects and FDI wins to help the Agri-Tech team deliver its increasingly challenging performance targets. Performance of the Plant Science specialist in the three years the Agri-Tech Organisation has operated has been critical to supporting the team in this key sub-sector, using networks to bring in new business. Continuing to contract specified days of consultancy work from a Sector Specialist based in the UK will enable the UKTI Agri-Tech Organisation to identify and secure high value wins from a wider range of existing prospects on the pipeline, boosting the top end of the pipeline, and at the same up-skill ATO team and DTI investment teams in priority markets.

Job holder will work closely with existing DIT colleagues and networks within a target driven environment so will need to be a self-starter to bring in additional business, through developing new and old networks, to source new prospects and drive existing prospects along the pipeline through active projects to FDI wins. The job holder will identify target sub-sectors in precision agriculture, markets and companies on which to focus DIT's inward investment resource. Some research and analysis of prospective clients will be important, but a lot of the key value add will be in pitching the UK offer in meetings, gleaning investor needs, and developing proposition material with support from colleagues in the DIT Agri-Tech Team and Investment Services Teams. The allocation of days across the contract will be flexible to accommodate business need, with the likely expectation that there will be intense targeting of input over the first few months to scope out opportunities, take advantage of key events, and drive early opportunities for wins through the pipeline. The specialist will be line managed by the Agri-Tech Lead, DIT Bio economy team.

DIT needs someone with several years’ experience of working in the Precision Agriculture sector with a well-developed network of contacts, customer facing/commercial experience, and understanding of the FDI drivers for overseas companies. The specialist will be screening, evaluating and following up opportunities for the pipeline, to develop active projects and land investments, working with other members of the DIT Agri-Tech team and the Investment Services Team as appropriate. The ability to quickly understand and articulate the UK "offer" to Precision Agriculture Investors will be essential, as will be the ability to work alongside the DIT Agri-Tech team and DIT networks, adding specialist value to their case work, and up skilling their capability to win more High Value business themselves.

110 days - 2.5 days a week-flexible

12 months

IN Scope of IR 35

£450 day rate