Technical Manager

About Ornata

Ornata is building the remote operations platform for agriculture.

We help farms operate machinery without a human in the cab, using the equipment they already own. Our service combines retrofit autonomy hardware, remote operators, AI, and operational systems to unlock the benefits of autonomy for every farm.

We are working with some of Australia's leading broadacre farming businesses and are now building the commercial and operational foundations required to scale safely, reliably, and repeatably.

About the role

We are looking for a Technical Manager to own the quality, safety, compliance and technical integrity of the food products produced across Ornata's grower network.

This role oversees quality systems, food safety standards and technical processes spanning production, harvest, storage and distribution, so that everything leaving our grower network is safe, high-quality, and meets customer, regulatory and business requirements.

It is a genuinely hands-on role. You will split your time between maintaining a rigorous compliance framework and being out in the paddock, supporting growers to adopt best-practice processes, improving crop and soil outcomes, and championing regenerative and sustainable agriculture across the sector.

This role suits someone who is equally comfortable auditing a documentation trail and walking a paddock with a grower, and who thrives in a high-pace, rapidly changing environment.

What you'll do

In this role, you will:

Safety & compliance

• Manage all internal documentation and compliance records.
• Ensure full compliance with relevant legislation, standards, codes and internal policies.
• Lead incident and crisis management, including implementing corrective action plans (CAPs) and resolving non-conformances.
• Oversee grower onboarding, keeping documentation and records up to date and delivering the associated training.
• Conduct internal audits of safety systems, procedures and processes.
• Drive continuous improvement by regularly reviewing processes and procedures, updating documentation and retraining people as needed.
• Carry out risk analysis and management across operations.

Grower liaison

• Build and develop collaborative relationships with growers to achieve shared work goals.
• Conduct regular grower visits to ensure on-farm processes are followed consistently.
• Support growers with crop planning and seasonality.
• Integrate Ornata's processes and procedures for safety, efficiency and compliance into growers' existing operations.

Agronomy & sustainability consulting

• Advise on agricultural, sustainability and environmental practices.
• Review crop performance and soil health.
• Work alongside growers to build and implement improvement plans.
• Gather customer feedback and develop action plans to resolve complaints.

External engagement

• Initiate and deliver field days, workshops and demonstration events in collaboration with growers, educators and innovators.
• Promote the principles and practices of regeneration, agroecology and food security to strengthen sector resilience and sustainability.
• Engage with industry champions and governing and accreditation bodies, keeping a focus on innovation and emerging trends in sustainability, agriculture, automation in food production and food safety.

What success looks like

In the first 90 days, success will look like:

• Getting across Ornata's grower network, current compliance framework, and existing documentation and quality systems.
• Building strong working relationships with growers, the operations team and key internal stakeholders.
• Completing a first pass of internal audits across safety systems, procedures and processes to identify priority gaps.
• Reviewing grower onboarding documentation and training materials, and identifying where they need updating.
• Visiting priority grower sites to understand on-farm practices, crop performance and soil health first-hand.

Over the first 12 months, success means:

• A well-maintained, audit-ready compliance framework with no outstanding non-conformances.
• Strong, trusted relationships across the grower network, reflected in consistent adoption of Ornata's processes.
• Demonstrable improvements in crop and soil outcomes at priority grower sites through agronomy and sustainability advice.
• A track record of resolving incidents and customer complaints quickly and thoroughly, with corrective actions embedded.
• At least one successful field day, workshop or demonstration event delivered in collaboration with growers and industry partners.

Requirements

What we're looking for

We are looking for someone who combines documentation and audit discipline with genuine on-farm credibility.

You will need a tertiary qualification in Agriculture, Horticulture or Food Science, along with demonstrated compliance, crisis and risk management experience in a similar role. You should bring an excellent understanding of on-farm operations, ground preparation, soil health, crop management (pre- and post-harvest) and seasonality, and be comfortable managing incidents and non-conformances end to end.

Extensive experience managing relationships with growers is essential - this role only works if growers trust you enough to change how they do things. You will also need proven expertise delivering significant projects and initiatives within agri-food and innovation systems.

You will thrive in this role if you set high standards for yourself and others, adapt easily to a fast-changing environment, and enjoy the mix of structured compliance work and unstructured, in-the-field problem solving.

What you'll bring

Essential:

• Tertiary qualification(s) in Agriculture, Horticulture or Food Science.
• Demonstrated compliance, crisis and risk management experience in a similar role.
• Extensive experience managing relationships with growers.
• Excellent understanding of on-farm operations, ground preparation, soil health, crop management (pre- and post-harvest) and seasonality.
• Proven expertise in delivering significant projects and initiatives within agri-food and innovation systems.

Highly desirable:

• Formal auditing qualifications (ISO 22000 and ISO 19011).
• Chemical Users qualification.

Benefits

Why join Ornata

• Be part of an early-stage team where your work will directly shape the quality, safety and sustainability foundations of a fast-growing, purpose-driven business, at a stage where your work will visibly shape how the grower network operates.
• You'll get genuine variety - from compliance and audit discipline through to on-farm agronomy advice and sector-wide sustainability initiatives - and the autonomy to build and improve systems as you go.
• Be part of an inner city Melbourne-based team building technology for one of Australia’s most important industries.

Compensation

A salary of $130,000-$160,000 inclusive of superannuation, plus eligibility for employee share option plan (ESOP).