Vice President of Environmental Research - Modeling

People. Planet. Community.

Dairy’s journey starts on the farm, and the road we travel demonstrates our unwavering commitment to sustainable nutrition, as our farmers provide lasting and meaningful nourishment to people, the planet and our communities, both urban and rural.

Rosemont, IL - Hybrid/Flexible Arrangement | Or, Remote (preference given to local candidates)

The Vice President of Environmental Research - Modeling will serve as a key team member on the Environmental Research Team (ERT) by providing leadership, support and subject matter expertise towards environmental mathematical modeling projects that are focused on paving the way for dairy farmers to achieve their 2050 environmental stewardship goals/commitments.  Incumbent will contribute to the ERT mission by using insight, experience, and on-the-job training to identify opportunities to advance research models and tools to evaluate tradeoffs, practices and technologies to reduce Dairy’s environmental footprint. The individual in this influential role has the unique opportunity to drive modeling research and influence industry measurement and reporting efforts.

Development of the Ruminant Farm Systems (RuFaS) whole-farm process-based model is critical to the success of the industry-wide reporting tool Farmers Assuring Responsible Management – Environmental Stewardship (FARM ES), which is managed by National Milk Producers Federation. In addition, DMI through the Innovation Center for US Dairy, is developing a Strategic Roadmap that outlines potential pathways to progress towards the collective industry 2050 greenhouse gas (GHG) neutrality goal. Expertise in modeling experimental/pilot data, a familiarity with dairy farming and on-farm data collection systems, as well as the ability to interpret the accuracy of model outputs, is a major need. This role requires significant subject matter expertise and the ability to understand the implications on reporting individual farm and national-level environmental outcomes, including GHG emissions and water quality. The individual in this position will support modeling efforts as part of the Strategic Roadmap; thus, the ability to work with internal and external scientists, interpret results from and compare/contrast a variety of farm models is critical. The individual must have a strong scientific background and project management capabilities, along with the ability to represent US Dairy with a variety of diverse stakeholders.

The US Dairy Environmental Stewardship Goals and the net zero initiative (NZI) are central to the future of the dairy industry, and identification of options that enable farmers and their advisors to make improvements to their environmental prints is crucial for the industry to make progress towards its 2050 Goals.

This position reports to the SVP of Environmental Research Strategy and will support DMI’s Environmental Research agenda, engaging in external collaborations with a number of academic and USDA scientists and with checkoff affiliated organizations as needed. DMI’s Environmental Research agenda is largely based on the U.S. Dairy Environmental Stewardship Goals and the net zero initiative (NZI), which are central to the future of the dairy industry. Identification of options that enable farmers and their advisors to make improvements to their environmental prints is crucial for the industry to make progress towards its 2050 Goals, which is why this position will work in close collaboration with Environmental Research members as well as with key external stakeholders and influential industry leaders.

Key Accountabilities:

• Lead DMI’s engagement and provide subject matter expertise and technical support for the Ruminant Farm Systems (RuFaS) research initiative. Assist in the development/testing of RuFaS and the updated FARM ES reporting tool; serve as liaison and expert advisor to National Milk Producer’s Federation (NMPF) in responding to stakeholders and addressing development needs, directions and implications for national-level reporting via the FARM ES program.
• Provide support to the DMI sustainability department by evaluating scientific work products, external reports, and other materials that impact modeling efforts, LCAs and reporting. 
• Collaborate with colleagues on research prioritization efforts, identification of research gaps/needs.
• Participate in external workshops and meetings, organize meetings with collaborators as needed and serve as a public representative for US Dairy’s scientific investment in RuFaS and FARM ES.
• Author/co-author/edit/revise publications, presentations, white papers. Ensure contracts and statements of work are appropriate (scope, schedule, cost) and support submission of contracts, agreements, invoices, etc. materials.

Requirements

Minimum Qualifications:

Education & Experience:

• PhD or DVM in Animal Science, Agronomy, Environmental or Biological Sciences, Agricultural Engineering or closely related field from an accredited program

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Research background and experience with process-based modeling;

• Ability to develop subject-matter expertise in measuring and reporting environmental outcomes;
• Familiarity with dairy herd management and nutrition software, e.g. DairyCop305, PC Dart, CNCPS, others;
• Expertise with the on-farm dairy enterprise coupled with an understanding of its interface with the complete value chain;
• Familiarity with Python, Github and other software development platforms;
• Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously;
• Ability to interact and relate to dairy farmers, scientists and other key stakeholders;
• Strong oral and written communication, interpersonal and leadership skills;
• Demonstrated capacity to be self-directed within a team and have passion for collaborative efforts;
• Ability to manage through ambiguity, comfortable with changes.

  Other:

• Passion to serve the US dairy industry;
• Willingness to travel domestically totaling up to 30% of time.

The business will not sponsor applicants for work visas for this position.

Benefits

We know that in order to meet our goal of growing dairy demand, we need the best people. Our culture is highly collaborative and we appreciate unique perspectives and diversity of style and thought. DMI's Rosemont office is conveniently located across from O’Hare Airport and is accessible to the CTA Blue Line and Metra transit. We offer free regular and chocolate milk on tap.

Our comprehensive health and welfare plans offer medical, dental, vision, life, short-term and long-term disability and flexible spending accounts (health care, dependent care, transit and parking). We also offer generous maternity and paid paternal leave plans. Our 401k provides up to a 10% match and includes a Roth account. DMI reserves the right to change or end its benefits plans or programs at any time.

ABOUT DMI

Dairy Management Inc.™ is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer committed to the principles of diversity. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, ethnicity, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

Dairy Management Inc.™ (DMI) is funded by America’s nearly 26,000 dairy farmers, as well as dairy importers. Created to help increase sales and demand for dairy products, DMI and its related organizations work to increase demand for dairy through research, education and innovation, and to maintain confidence in dairy foods, farms and businesses. DMI manages National Dairy Council and the American Dairy Association and founded the U.S. Dairy Export Council and the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy. DMI works with state and regional promotion organizations to implement these programs across the country.

We regret it is not possible to communicate with candidates except those who most closely match our requirements. Thank you.