Job Summary The Global Research Lead, Entomology and Weed Science provides scientific and people leadership for UPL's Late-Stage Discovery and Early Development Program across insecticides and herbicides, spanning conventional and biological technologies. The role sets global research strategy, builds fit-for-purpose laboratory, insectary, greenhouse, and field screening programs, and converts biological evidence into clear advancement, optimization, partnership, or stop decisions. A central responsibility within the OpenAg model is to scientifically evaluate and validate external technologies, define their technical differentiation, development potential, risks, and evidence gaps, and help the business articulate a credible agronomic and commercial value proposition. This leader manages and develops multidisciplinary teams, connects global category priorities with regional agronomic needs, and ensures high-quality, reproducible data packages that support product concepts from late-stage discovery through field proof of concept.
Key Responsibilities Lead global late-stage discovery, early-development, and portfolio decisions
- Translate business, grower, resistance-management, and portfolio needs into a balanced entomology and weed science roadmap spanning late-stage discovery and early development.
- Define stage-appropriate evidence requirements and recommend advance, refine, partner, or stop decisions based on scientific quality, technical differentiation, development feasibility, risk, and potential value.
- Provide technical leadership across conventional chemistry, biologicals, combinations, formulations, seed treatments, and enabling technologies, including externally sourced concepts evaluated through OpenAg.
Build and govern screening platforms from lab to field
- Direct development, validation, standardization, and continuous improvement of insect, mite, weed, crop-safety, dose-response, spectrum, residual, rainfastness, resistance, and environmental-condition screens.
- Ensure laboratory, insectary, controlled-environment, greenhouse, and field methods are biologically relevant, reproducible, statistically sound, and transferable across sites and partners.
- Establish quality, stewardship, biosafety, permit, recordkeeping, and data-integrity expectations for internal and external studies.
Lead people, capability, and external research networks
- Coach and develop scientists and technical staff; set clear priorities, strengthen experimental judgment, and build succession and cross-training across both disciplines.
- Allocate people, facilities, budget, test organisms, germplasm, and field resources against portfolio priorities while balancing speed, quality, and cost.
- Build productive networks with regional development teams, universities, CROs, technology partners, and professional societies; lead rigorous evaluation and validation of external technologies and partnerships.
Integrate science, business insight, and execution
- Synthesize complex datasets into concise technical positions, risk assessments, and decision-ready recommendations for R&D, Category, Portfolio, Regulatory, IP, Formulation, Manufacturing, and Commercial stakeholders.
- Help the business define each technology's agronomic value proposition, technical differentiation, development fit, evidence needs, and key uncertainties.
- Anticipate technical gaps, emerging pests and weeds, resistance trends, assay limitations, and field-translation risks; initiate experiments that reduce uncertainty early.
