AgRecruit Newsletter – August 2024
We are recruitment specialists in the emerging AgriFood sector. With global networks, we support clients in areas such as agri-biotech, deep biotech, agritech, CEA, foodtech, alternative proteins & crops, AgriFood sustainability, agribusiness and more. Here are some updates from the month gone by…
What have we been working on?
- Software Developer posts, for two clients in the Agri-Software-Data domain. In both cases, the challenge has been in identifying high calibre candidates who are in demand across all domains, and selling them the AgriTech dream! This is where recruiting for companies in the ‘tech for good’ realm really helps.
- Plant Scientists with various specialisms – including plant transformation and tissue culture, breeding, and systems biology. Clients have been operating in domains such as alternative proteins and cellular agriculture.
- An Engineer for an agri-robotics business. A role type we’ve filled numerous times before with a regular client, we expected to fill in a smooth fashion again… but things didn’t quite go to plan. This can sometimes happen in recruitment and perseverance is required – we have now successfully filled the role, blog post shortly to come on this one!
- Roles in Marketing and Customer Success for a regular client in the agri-sciences domain. With interviews now ongoing, fingers crossed for a successful conclusion in September!
- We were also engaged on a search for a senior level post – Head of Plant Breeding & Research – for a prestigious business, again this one is still ongoing as we go into September.
Views on the Market
Our perspective is that the market is still a little on the slow side – certainly there have been some successes with money coming into the space and agtech businesses securing funding, but money isn’t flowing in at the rate it was a couple of years ago.
This leads to companies – understandably – being a little risk averse, which filters down into recruitment. It’s created a tough market for job seekers in particular, with even very strong candidates not having the range of choices that they had before.
That being said, our activity levels have been high which is encouraging, especially in August – often a challenging month in recruitment even during the best of times, what with holiday season kicking in. Judging by social channels such as LinkedIn, actiivity has picked up towards the end of the month with an upturn in the number of vacancies being posted across the sector. A real sign of the market picking up, or simply a minor bounceback as the summer season comes to an end? Only time will tell…
Other News
A couple of positive reviews from candidates came in this month, both placed into relatively senior positions with agtech clients. We always love to shout about these!
“I have known Sam Clayton for a while and he has impressed with his professionalism and knowledge of the sector. When I was looking for a new role he linked me to a Cambridge start up who were looking for an International Business Manager to grow sales in LatAm and abroad. This role is a perfect fit skills wise and the team are exceptional. I highly recommend his services to anyone looking to make a serious career shift.”
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“David Tamsett really understood how my skills, broader sectoral experience and most importantly entrepreneurial mindset fitted what is a challenging, fast changing tech role. Culturally he got it right as I find myself alongside some great colleagues and I am both contributing and learning on a daily basis. All in all a straightforward and supportive selection process.”
