Soil Librarian

Salary: $70,000-$82,000/annual rate

Join EarthOptics as a Soil Librarian! 

Our mission is simple: Revolutionize sustainable agriculture to do more with less. 

EarthOptics’ tools help farmers and ranchers to sustainably increase their yields and feed the growing world through all things soil. With proprietary proximal sensor technologies and machine learning, we create accurate and real-time maps with fewer samples in less time, ultimately saving our end users money, time, and resources.  

We are a growing, distributed company with a passion for soil health, innovative technologies, and supporting all within the food value chain. We are currently ~90 individuals spread across 31 states, from all walks of life, industries, and experiences. We are deeply focused on building the future of AgTech and sustainability, and helping the world to see soil differently.

Our Soil Librarian will join our PMO (Program Management Office) team to impact our mission through individual contributor responsibilities. We have certain criteria across all our hires at EarthOptics, no matter the position or team. Regardless of the role, our team embraces learning, craves collaboration, and is driven by a fast-paced environment. If you resonate with our values and goals, we encourage you to apply—even if you don't meet every requirement. You could be the perfect fit for this role or future opportunities. This role will be responsible for managing and overseeing the physical and digital soil library currently located in Mankato, MN. Since the library is in development, we are looking for someone who has experience with managing and standing up collections and familiarity with conservation. Tasks will include gathering soil samples from labs, labeling and organizing soil vials by project and region. In addition to the physical soil samples, the samples need to be organized and entered into a database to ensure they can be easily identified and tracked

The digs: 

• Job Type: Temporary Full-Time, Exempt. This role is expected to last 3-4 months, with some likelihood of extending up to 6 months. 

• Work Location: Mankato, MN

• Travel: 20% of the time; monthly trips to labs in NE and IA.

• Compensation: $70,000-$82,000 (annual rate)

*Your actual base pay will depend on your geographic location, job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. EarthOptics uses compensation regions that vary depending on location, so ask your recruiter to share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process.

What you’ll cultivate as a Soil Librarian: (Your responsibilities)

• Manage and curate a physical and digital Soil Library by organizing, cataloging, and maintaining soil-related data, information, and processes from various sources such as research studies, surveys, field observations, and laboratory analyses
• Label and organize physical soil samples ensuring appropriate curatorial standards are met and quarantined soil is appropriately handled
• Create and standardize metadata and indexing systems to categorize soil data based on parameters such as location, project, soil type, soil properties, and research methodology
• Ensure the integrity and accuracy of soil databases by regularly updating and validating data, resolving discrepancies, and implementing quality control measures
• Direct and maintain Soil Library operations by ordering necessary materials, evaluating inventory needs, and establishing organizational structure for physical samples
• Serve as the primary point of contact to receive and track soil samples, monitor and report physical conditions, respond to inquiries, and promote collaboration across internal and external stakeholders
• Foster collaboration and communication with individual labs and internal stakeholders by retrieving relevant soil data, providing assistance in data interpretation, and offering guidance on accessing additional resources
• Collaborate with QA Lead, Product and Engineering teams, soil scientists, geologists, agronomists, and other professionals to exchange knowledge, share data, and contribute to interdisciplinary research projects

Are you our soil-mate? You’ll bloom in this role if you have experience in: (Your qualifications)

• Associate’s degree or related experience in any STEM field or equivalent relevant professional experience
• 2-3 years of relevant experience preferred in soil science and lab management
• Detail-oriented work approach and strong organizational skills
• Ability and desire to work in a fast-paced, fast-growth environment; capacity to handle multiple projects and workstreams
• Comfortable and efficient working both independently and collaboratively; can operate calmly and work under pressure
• Strong communication and presentation skills, both verbally and in writing
• Ability to collaborate cross-functionally and work in partnership with a variety of stakeholders,  both internally and externally
• Ability to work independently with limited supervision
• Desire to actively contribute to process development, documentation, and change management
• ​​Familiarity with database management
• Ability to lift boxes of 30 lb and not afraid to get your hands dirty  

**We are interested in every qualified candidate eligible to work in the United States. However, we cannot sponsor or transfer visas at this time.

Although not required, we’d love to see roots in:

• Agriculture, sustainability, or soil science degree or industry experience.
• Familiarity with: GIS/Mapping Apps and Project Management Apps

Aside from “the green”, we can offer you:

• Medical, Dental & Vision Insurance - 80% funded by EarthOptics for employees and 70% for benefit-eligible dependents
• Company paid LTD, STD, and Life Insurance
• Meaningful equity option grants
• 401k Plan + Employer Match up to 4%
• Tenured PTO policy, starting with 17 days of accrued days off
• 9 additional company holidays
• Parental Leave
• Professional Development Stipend + access to learning platforms
• Candidate Referral Program
• Above and Beyond Bonus Program
• Flexible Schedule & Hybrid/Remote Work Environment
• Regular opportunities to give feedback on our benefits offerings

How we stay grounded:

Although we have teammates working in the field, in-office, and at home, we aim to create a cohesive, diverse, and enriching environment for all of our employees. We embrace different tools to enhance our workflows and communicate intentionally, both live and asynchronously. A few quick facts you should know:

• We rely on Slack to communicate. Although there are a variety of team-specific systems to facilitate your work, this is our primary! 
• We love both food and emojis at EarthOptics. If hired, you’ll come to love (and use many) taco and donut emojis.
• Our core business hours are Monday through Friday 11am-4pm EST. We have teammates in every time zone, and have some teams that operate outside of that timeframe. As a remote employee, you are asked to honor those hours to ensure enough time to overlap with key cross-functional teams.
• In order to maximize our remote culture, we host company-wide opportunities to connect (virtually and in-person) and create space for focus work. For example, we have a weekly all-hands stand-up meeting on Monday and reserve Fridays as a regular “No Meeting” day.
• Instead of values, we believe in actionable “cultural concepts”. Collectively, we hold one another to act and give feedback with these concepts in mind. Ours are information and intent, recognition and respect, and autonomy and accountability. 

Inclusion and Diversity at EarthOptics: 

At EarthOptics, we embrace diversity and equality, and stand against any form of discrimination or harassment. We base all hiring and promotion decisions on business needs, job requirements, and individual qualifications, regardless of race, color, religion, gender, gender identity, national origin, age, marital status, parental status, veteran status, or disability.

We are deeply committed to welcoming and including every qualified individual. As a part of this commitment, we ensure that persons with disabilities have access to reasonable accommodations. If you require assistance during the job application or interview process, need support to perform essential job functions, or seek other benefits and privileges of employment, please reach out to us at accommodations@earthoptics.com.