Graduate programme Chichester, England
Job description
Bartholomews offers an exceptional Graduate Training programme giving a highly motivated candidate opportunity to join our Company on a progressive two year, full-time development programme designed to build the post-holder’s working knowledge, technical skills, commercial ability and awareness, operational understanding and confidence. Our graduates are placed in each of our key departments where they will be mentored by our Senior Management team, all Specialists within their own field, before going on to take up a permanent role with the Company as a professional in their own right and with a complete knowledge base. The scheme develops future Arable Specialists who can specialise in any one sector of their choosing on completion of the programme which allows full access into the inner workings of our Company. We are looking for a graduate who is keen to embrace the opportunity for a very rewarding long-term career within our Company.
Programme Description
Seed Department
Whilst based in Seed you will have opportunity to spend time in our Laboratory increasing your technical knowledge and learning about ministry regulations to produce certified cereal & pulse seeds. You will sample seeds from our own contract growers during the summer harvest, help manage our Harvest team and gain working insight into field Crop Inspection ensuring that our varieties comply with regulation standards.
You will help plan annual marketing campaigns, producing marketing materials to promote our environmental mixtures, maize, grass and gamecover crops as well as taking an active role in briefing our Sales Team for the oncoming season.
Within the office, you will be responsible for looking after maize orders or another small seeds campaign such as gamecover grasses.
Within the field, you will be working closely with our suppliers and visiting various trial events and taking part in the negotiations to assist in producing species campaigns. During June you will be involved in assisting with our Trial days, producing varietal information and representing the Company during the event itself, meeting and networking with our customers.
You will gain a sound understanding of the production process in our seed plant and how our processes ensure that standards are met at all times. You will have opportunity to take responsibility for stock control in our warehouses, sampling in-house stock and ensuring that germinations are to standard.
Grain Department incorporating Shoreham Silo Services Ltd
You will be working as Assistant to the Trading Function and you will be based on the Grain Desk actively involved with grain marketing.
You will have direct involvement in the day-to-day logistics & execution of contracts for domestic and export grains, pulses and oilseeds markets including exposure to the fundamental and technical analysis provided by Bartholomews traders, which is assisted by a commodity trading news platform Reuters Eikon. You will receive informal training covering the contractual obligations regarding international GAFTA export contracts and AIC domestic grain contracts. You will communicate directly with grain suppliers on procurement, pricing structures including quality premiums and discounts.
Your tasks will include coordinating the collection of crop sample data for analysis within our laboratory and you will be able to provide customers and consumers with ‘Muddy Boots’ data from our selected growers. During your placement in Grain, there will be opportunity for you to get out into the field, to farms to meet with our customers and you will be involved in ship loading at our Shoreham Port facility.
Crop Nutrition incorporating Ultimate Fertilizers Ltd
Based on our busy Crop Nutrition desk and involved with our fertilizer supply business, here you will learn the commercial aspects of Crop Nutrition and understand the roles and activities of all the nutrients that we work with. This will involve field work including soil sampling right through to production at our Fertilizer Nutrition plant in Southampton where we have a deep water berth adjacent to our blending and bagging facility which is serviced by our own transport service Churchill Freight Services, enabling us to deliver directly to our customers to meet their business needs.
Being exposed to the operational workings of our Fertilizer Import Terminal, you will learn the many processes involved of its smooth running and you will gain operational understanding. You will shadow a Fertilizer Trader who is interacting with International markets and procuring Raw Materials from around the Globe and you will learn the basic commercial requirements of buying and selling of Fertilizers.
During your time in fertilizer, your will start from the basic levels through to the final nutrition qualification of FACTS which then leads in association with BASIS to membership of the BASIS/FACTS Professional Register.
Crop Protection
You will take an active role within the department as typically this will be the final placement before taking up your full-time permanent role with the Company. You will receive technical training from our Crop Protection Commercial Manager and full support so that you are able to undertake your BASIS exam at the end of your placement.
Whilst in this department, you will help plan and take part in presenting at our internal Technical Conferences, your presentation skills will be further developed as you assist in delivering Voluntary Initiative Workshops directly to our customer’s. There will be further opportunities to assist in Company Open Days to meet and talk directly to our customer groups’.
Active tasks will include involvement in the Company Trials’ Programme helping with the set up of the trials, data collection and disease and weed assessments. Time will be spent out in the field with our Agronomists to learn more advanced agronomy skills and to assist with obtaining your BASIS qualification. There will be further opportunities to attend research and technical meetings around the country in order to broaden your knowledge base.
You will shadow the Crop Protection Manager both commercially and technically and have the opportunity to make supervised crop recommendations and commercial decisions. There will be opportunities to develop new ideas which may benefit the department for example in IT and Marketing (we love to learn new tricks). Full training will be given on crop recording systems such as Muddy Boots.
Location: Chichester Head Office with travel out to other Company sites within the Group portfolio, Company events or to our customers as required.
Responsible to:Departmental Manager during each placement and Managing Director.
Position Type: Full time permanent, leading to full time permanent placement in chosen area.
Hours of Work: Full-time, Monday to Friday 8.30am to 5.30pm daily.
Salary: Highly competitive starting salary, reviewed annually, Company car or equivalent car allowance, fully funded training and Company benefits package including Pension scheme and company bonus scheme subject to performance.
Skills & Experience: Agricultural based degree or equivalent agricultural qualification. Full, clean UK Drivers Licence. Willingness and motivated to learn, with a ‘can-do’ attitude, enthusiasm and passion for the arable industry.
Company Benefits:
Company pension scheme with four times life cover
Twice Life Cover on starting employment
20 days holiday per year rising to 25 days plus public and bank holiday allowance
Free on-site car parking
Company car or equivalent company car allowance
Company bonus scheme, subject to performance
Company funded BASIS training and other professional training as required
Competitive starting salary to be reviewed annually
How to Apply
Send us your CV and a Covering Letter, telling us about yourself and why you would like to work for Bartholomews. This can be emailed to [email protected] or to our postal address marked for Personnel. If you would like further details or information, you can telephone us directly on 01243 755767
Want to know more? One of our fully fledged agronomists, Richard Harris, came through the Bartholomews Graduate Programme and told us his story.
