Job Description

The Company & Position

Vida Plena started in Lisbon in 2018, in restaurants, where we learned that every detail of a great experience matters. A few years in, we wanted to go further back down that chain: to grow and craft something ourselves, from the soil up.

We're doing something that's never been done in Portugal: farming a drought-resistant species new to this country, using organic and regenerative practices, in a region where summer lingers for nine months. The goal is our own signature spirit, cultivated and distilled entirely on our land in Alentejo not a take on something that already exists, but something genuinely new, shaped by the place it grows in.

We're three sites in: Mosqueirão, Redondo, Comporta, and a new large land to be prepared for 2027, working towards ~100 hectares under cultivation by 2030, with our first harvest at the end of 2029. Outcomes are proven and it's real progress. But we're at the point where the operation needs more than momentum and a stretched team needs someone who can bring it structure, foresight, and a steady hand.

That's what we're looking for in a Head of Farm Operations: someone who thinks more than 12 months ahead, isn't afraid to make trade-offs, and wants to build the systems, structures, and standards that let this project scale properly. You'd be joining a small, genuinely committed team, working closely with our co-founder, Benoit Simeray, and colleagues across both office and field, at the ground floor of a new Portuguese agricultural category, with the chance to shape how it's done for years to come.

The Role & Responsibilities

You will own the strategic planning behind our multi-site farming operations: infrastructure and plantation implementation, production and harvest planning, team management, and budgets, ensuring the successful foundation for each planting and harvesting cycle

Farm Systems & Infrastructure

• Overseeing the technical management and implementation of all farm infrastructure (irrigation systems, pump systems, greenhouses, warehouses, roads, and storage), including third-party delivery.
• Plan and manage plant-adapted irrigation and fertigation systems at scale; ensure monitoring, maintenance, and repairs across all sites
• Coordinate the full scope of site-specific land design and plantation implementation, aligned with both the species and regenerative requirements.
• Establish nursery infrastructure and oversee supplier collaborations, build-out, and expansion

Planting, Production & Harvest

• Coordinate plant arrivals, logistics, and nursery/field SOPs; plan planting and supply timelines with the team, greenhouse and suppliers
• Support the team in building a 6-year crop cycle calendar and develop harvest forecasts from planting cohorts and growth KPIs
• Lead harvest and replanting plans for young plants propagated from mother plants (from 2028)
• Manage harvest timing, execution, and post-harvest transport to the distillery
• Own quality control and contamination protocols across all stages, from incoming plant material through post-harvest

Team & Suppliers

• Build and structure the farm team (permanent and seasonal); recruit, onboard, and set operational workflows and accountability structures
• Source and quality-vet equipment, machinery, and materials; build the supplier network and secure proposals and contracts

Budget, Data & Expansion

• Develop and manage farm budgets across the crop cycle, tracking labour, material, equipment, and utility costs in real time and keeping spend within approved limits
• Conduct investment analyses for major expansions or purchases; support accounting with cost control, stock tracking, and invoicing
• Collect and analyse production data (yields, costs, timelines, KPIs); train the team on efficiency and plant-health metrics; prepare monthly reports for leadership
• Own farm expansion planning and facility needs, driving performance against volume, cost, quality, and timeline targets, and lead continuous improvement through documented best practices while ensuring regulatory compliance

Core Requirements

• Proactive problem-solver: you spot what's coming before it becomes a problem and find a way to solve it
• Strong project management: comfortable building and running multi-site plans, timelines, and priorities without losing the details
• Technical farm management: min 8 years of experience with farm management, ideally at scale (100+ hectares), with a solid grasp of infrastructure, irrigation, and crop planning
• Perennial crop experience: you think in multi-year cycles, not single-season turnarounds
• Farm and nursery set-up: experience building plantations, infrastructure, and nursery/greenhouse operations from scratch, and improving existing ones within timelines and cost controls
• Budget and financial fluency: confident owning a multi-year budget cycle, tracking costs, building forecasts, and making the case for major CAPEX
• Strong communicator: equally at ease leading an on-site team, coordinating with founders and consultants, negotiating, and representing the farm to suppliers and partners
• Agricultural network: ideally across the Alentejo, to support sourcing of suppliers, team, and outsourced services
• Languages: fluent Portuguese, proficient English

Great to Have

• Open-minded to a holistic systems approach, to support the implementation of a broader regenerative farming roadmap, working closely with Isa Maathuis, and experts.
• Experience acclimatising a new crop to a different climate or region, testing, adapting, and building the knowledge base as you go, rather than working from an established local playbook

How & Where We Work

• Hybrid and flexible: typically 2 days in our Lisbon HQ office, and 3 days across the farm sites, integrated with flexible working from home days
• Based around Grândola or Lisbon, with regular travel between sites
• A bright, office in Cais do Sodré, with a big terrace, river view, and a bar service with fresh coffee and pastries
• Full-time, permanent position with private health insurance after the probation period
• Commuting mileage reimbursement for farm and office travel
• A generous welcome at Vida Plena venues, with special discounts
• Mental wellbeing support through our partnership with Mindpartner, offering access to a trusted psychologist network and supportive conditions, plus Care Days

Our farming operations currently span three lands in Alentejo:

• Mosqueirão, Grândola — 28 ha, with 5 ha planted in Q3 2024
• Freixo, Redondo — 103 ha, with 14 ha planted in Q4 2024
• Comporta, Grândola — 13 ha, with an open-air nursery since Q3 2026, a 5 ha plantation planned for 2027/2028, and an on-site distillery in the making a new 70–100 ha land, to be established starting 2027

If you're someone who thrives on complexity, takes an action-first approach, moves fast while staying organised, and genuinely enjoys the mix of soil, spreadsheets, and people, we'd love to hear from you!