Agronomist (gn) @ Plant Breeding Venture, Wageningen

About Aardaia

We’re not here to tweak crops by a few percent. We’re here to build them from scratch.

Aardaia is domesticating new crops for a changing planet - combining plant breeding, genomics, and a new production-breeding model to bring breakthrough crops to market. Fast. Sustainable. Ground-shifting.

Our first crop is the aardaker - a protein-rich, nitrogen-fixing tuber that could redefine what sustainable protein means for Europe.

More about who we are and why we exist here.

The Role

This isn’t your standard agronomy gig.

You’ll be one of the first people in the world figuring out how to grow a new protein crop at scale. No playbook. No shortcuts. Just you, a crop no one has ever farmed before, and a chance to write the rules for generations to come.

If you like solving messy problems, running experiments in the real world, and turning early signals into working systems - this might be your place.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Run the trials → Design, set up, and manage multi-location field trials, starting in Wageningen.

• Invent the playbook → Develop protocols for sowing, weed & pest control, irrigation, nutrition, harvest.

• Optimize the details → Spacing, emergence, vigor, yield — everything that makes a field sing.

• Work with farmers, closely → Support growers across Europe, translate science into farmer-ready know-how, and build relationships that last beyond one season.

• Close the loop → Collect data, feed insights back into breeding, help pick winners.

• Scale what works → Work with production and commercial teams to take learnings from trial to full-blown crop.

• Build from zero → Solve problems in the field fast, write the first protocols, and leave behind systems others can trust.
  

What We’re Looking For

• Comprehensive experience  in agronomy, crop production, or field trial management.

• A hands-on obsession with making fields perform.

• Solid knowledge of weeds, pests, and disease control in crops.

• Communication that clicks — from farmers in the field to teammates in the lab.

• A self-starter who thrives on figuring things out, not waiting for instructions.

• Willingness to travel, spend time in fields, and get mud on your boots.

• Fluent English (extra languages are a plus)

Why This Role Matters

Because new crops don’t grow themselves.

You’ll be a cornerstone in turning the aardaker from an idea into a farmer’s field staple. The systems you build will shape breeding, guide farmers, and lay the foundations for early commercial wins.

This is frontier work. Few people in their careers get to say: I was there when a new crop was born.