AddressGakon Netafim, a world leader in Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA), has 70 years of experience building Dutch glasshouses with precision agriculture expertise. We deliver high-quality projects worldwide with a local team across various crops and climates. Gakon Netafim supports local and sustainable food production by enabling high yields in any environment using fewer resources.
Position Summary
ThePresale Engineer - Greenhouses is responsible for all the technical aspects of developing a proposal for a commercial greenhouse project, including site suitability review, regulation and zoning requirements, modeling and conceptual design, budgetary pricing, proposal development and contract support. This role is an essential part of our rapidly growing greenhouse and project management teams that will help us deliver exceptional results to clients. The successful candidate will possess the knowledge, experience, and confidence to engage and professionally interact with our customers, commercial greenhouse experts and agronomists, the global presale engineering team, and outside vendors in the process of building our business in this key strategic area.
Position Responsibilities:
- Assist with the development of proposals to existing and potential greenhouse customers, gaining a full understanding of the project requirements to meet and exceed customer expectations.
- Conduct customer needs analysis to understand their objectives and constraints, considering those and adapting the eventual project design to accommodate those objectives and constraints.
- Review the site that has been selected and document the requirements and limitations related to that specific location, collecting any known safety, environmental, zoning, or other regulations that will impact the design and construction of the project.
- In collaboration with the global greenhouse team, develop a preliminary conceptual layout for the greenhouse and other associated buildings and site details (e.g., dams, tanks, roads, etc.); review that conceptual layout with the client in order to gain alignment.
- Define the scope of our involvement in the greenhouse project; clearly list which items are Netafim’s responsibility and which items fall under the client’s responsibility.
- Develop details for each of the systems in the greenhouse to properly specify the general dimensions and performance of each component and the greenhouse as a whole.
- Interface with suppliers to secure cost estimates for their individual portions of the Netafim scope of work.
- Based on the system details and input from suppliers, prepare budgetary estimates for our scope of the project which may include the supply of materials, installation, and supervision services.
- Collaborate with the commercial and legal teams to incorporate necessary language into the construction contract to define our scope of work, define what is outside our scope, and ensure project success during the construction phase.
- Convene hand-off meetings with the project execution team (detailed engineering and construction management) in order for them to gain a complete understanding of the design intent and scope of the project and continue to support the commercial and project execution teams as needed throughout the project.
- Create an organized workflow process and maintain all documents related to the project.
- Participate in regular update meetings with the commercial team to maintain awareness of the upcoming project pipeline and associated customer needs.
- Some travel to project sites required.
Position Requirements
- Qualified and Certified Civil / Structural / Building Engineer.
- Chartered Engineer or more than 5 years of experience would be an advantage.
- Thorough understanding of national construction code would be an advantage.
- Proficient 2D/3D CAD skills - BIM and / or CASTA would also be an advantage.
- Proficient in MS Office (Word, Excel and PowerPoint).
- Ability to work with flexibility to be able to facilitate online meetings with the team in Europe and other international time zones.
- Thorough knowledge of local processes and permit requirements is not required however is an advantage.
- Experience with Polyethylene or glass greenhouse structures and systems is not required however is an advantage.
- Ability to work effectively and collaboratively in a diverse work group, as well as independently with minimal supervision.
