Wilbur-Ellis · 8 hours ago
Manager Application Operations (Salinas, CA)
Salinas, CA
Full-time
Onsite
Mid, Senior Level
$105K/yr - $147K/yrWilbur-Ellis is a 100-year-old, family-owned leader in the agricultural industry, focused on investing in their employees and fostering a supportive work environment. The Application Operations Manager will lead the application of fertilizers and crop protection products, ensuring safety and operational efficiency while managing a team of approximately 70 employees.
AgricultureAnimal FeedChemicalRetailWholesale
Responsibilities
Lead day and night field application operations in a 24/7, on-call environment
Foster a safety-first culture, ensuring compliance with all regulatory and company standards for agricultural chemical application
Manage and develop 4–6 direct reports, overseeing a total team of approximately 70 employees
Act as a player-coach, providing hands-on leadership during peak season, incidents, and operational disruptions
Ensure effective use of systems that support field execution, including scheduling and dispatch, spray controller software, fleet/GPS tracking, mobile field tools, and ERP systems
Partner cross-functionally with Sales, Safety, Compliance, Finance, Retail Store Managers, and external vendors
Lead incident response, investigations, and continuous improvement efforts to reduce accidents, errors, and inefficiencies
Align operational capacity with customer timing, seasonal demand, and environmental conditions
Manage the operational P&L, expenses, capital expenditures, budget, and gain approval for any large purchases needed for operations
Qualification
Required
Extensive experience in agricultural chemical application operations
Deep understanding of safety, risk, and regulatory requirements related to fertilizer and pesticide application
Proven experience managing managers and leading large, distributed teams
Working knowledge of spray controller systems, dispatch and scheduling tools, fleet tracking, mobile field applications, and ERP systems
Ability to lead calmly and decisively in high-risk, time-sensitive environments
Preferred
You're able to improve customer satisfaction through ensuring reliable, on-time application
You have a strong focus on reducing safety incidents and operational disruptions
You know how to increase efficiency, consistency, and accountability across field operations
You can lead the team to adopt processes and tools that support safe execution
Benefits
Annual discretionary bonus
Vacation
Holidays
Health
Dental
Vision
Mental health
Retirement plan participation, including an employer contribution of up to 7% into your 401(k)
Company
Wilbur-Ellis
Wilbur-Ellis specializes in the marketing and distribution of agricultural products, animal nutrition, and specialty chemicals.
Founded in 1921
1001-5000 employees
Funding
Current Stage
Late StageTotal Funding
$550MKey Investors
White Oak Commercial Finance
2025-07-07Debt Financing· $550M
Leadership Team
Michael Wilbur
Cavallo Ventures
Recent News
2025-09-29
Company data provided by crunchbase