The South African Sugarcane Research Institute has a vacancy for a Research Farm Manager, who will be responsible for the management of SASRI’s largest Research Station in Pongola. At SASRI, the Research Farm Manager is responsible for all daily operations. These include the provision of essential resources for research trials, management of the irrigation system, preparing and managing the annual budget . The Research Farm Manager is also expected to, with the assistance of the Assistant Farm Manager, manage the Field Services staff and co-ordinate the administrative functions of the Research Station.

• Planning and executing long term plans to ensure that the conditions and requirements are satisfactory for conducting effective research trials, which includes but is not limited to; land preparation, planting, cane husbandry and harvesting.
• Managing the irrigation system by scheduling irrigation for the respective research trials and by ensuring regular maintenance of the system.
• Allocating resources such as staff, equipment and inputs in a cost effective manner in keeping with the long term plans and research requirements.
• Ensuring that all farm assets are kept in a good state of repair and ensuring regular routine preventative maintenance and services to prevent unnecessary down-time due to breakdowns.
• Planning and arranging the necessary resources for research trial establishment as requested by the researchers.
• Maintaining strict soil conservation practices to enrich the environment through rigorous implementation of SUSFARMS principles and other relevant industry standards.
• Ensuring that the Research Station operates as a commercial unit in order to generate income through the efficient recovery and regular delivery of the crop to the mill once the research requirement has been met.
• Preparing and managing of the Research Station budget and provision of the monthly variance notes.
• Chairing bi-monthly Shop Steward meetings with a recognized trade union for the purposes of reporting back at the quarterly meeting.
• Maintaining a good relationship with staff, the farming community and all industry stakeholders.