We are seeking a talented and inspired Horticulture Operator to become a key member of Alora’s team. As we embark on a mission to create a truly sustainable agriculture system the successful candidate will hold a pivotal role within Alora’s growing Horticulture team.
For this position, Alora is seeking a detail-oriented and motivated candidate to take a vital role in the daily operations of our glasshouses, hydroponics and field trial operations that support Alora’s crop development pipeline. You’ll be responsible for the propagation, growth, health and monitoring of genetically edited plants, primarily rice, with occasional work on other crops.
This role is ideal for someone with strong horticultural skills, a solid grounding in plant biology, physiology or agronomy, and a proactive mindset in maintaining growing environments and supporting scientific teams.
Alora is currently running the first rice field trial ever performed in the UK. Maintenance of such field trials will become an annual priority balanced with continual glasshouse trials run on-site and with partners. Beyond maintaining and monitoring these trials, the successful candidate will innovate on methodologies, improve data collection practices and where required analyse phenotypic and harvest data.
Purpose of the Role
The Horticulture Operator plays a critical role in ALORA’s mission to develop climate-resilient crops and sustainable agriculture systems. This position bridges the gap between scientific discovery and real-world crop performance by ensuring the consistent, healthy growth of our genetically-edited plants under controlled and field conditions.
By managing our glasshouse and field trial operations, the Horticulture Operator ensures that experimental crops are nurtured, monitored, and maintained to the highest standard—enabling scientists to generate reliable, meaningful data. Your work will directly impact our ability to scale climate-adaptive crops, from rice to future cereal varieties, and bring ocean agriculture one step closer to global deployment.
You will report directly to the Chief Operating Officer (COO) and work closely with both technical and scientific leads to coordinate trial activity and crop performance. ALORA is a rapidly growing company where you will have many opportunities to grow within the horticulture team.
This is not a routine horticulture role. It’s an opportunity to shape the future of food production through innovation, precision, and a deep respect for plant health and environmental conditions.
Key Responsibilities
This role requires the successful candidate to be on-site for the majority of their time, however on days where you can work from home then there is that option.
On a day-to-day, responsibilities of the successful candidate will include:
- Plant Cultivation: Manage daily care of plants in the glasshouse, including watering, pruning or sample collection, if necessary, pest management, and phenotyping.
- Trial Operations: Assist with experimental setup and take a leading role with data collection for glasshouse and field trials. Including growth measurements, stress responses, development tracking and yield analysis.
- Environmental Control: Monitor and adjust environmental systems (irrigation, ventilation, temperature, lighting) to maintain optimal growth and environmental stress conditions.
- Record-Keeping: Maintain clear, accurate records of plant care, environmental conditions, and trial events using spreadsheets or data tracking software tools.
- Site Maintenance: Help maintain clean and functional glasshouse, hydroponic and field environments, including pot preparation, bench sanitation, and organisation of supplies and equipment.
- Field Work: Support seasonal germination and transplanting, sampling, and monitoring at our field sites. This may include short periods outdoors in variable weather.
- Collaboration: Work closely with scientists and technicians, offering feedback on plant performance, observations, and trait logistics. Occasionally present trial progress updates to the team.
Skills and Qualifications:
- Degree or equivalent experience with a focus on horticulture, agronomy, plant science or physiology or similar hands-on experience.
- 2+ years of hands-on experience in a glasshouse, nursery or field-based crop care.
- Knowledge of horticultural best practices, including pest and disease identification, irrigation systems, and plant nutrition.
- Strong record-keeping and data logging ability.
- Comfortable with physical tasks in warm or humid environments.
- Excellent attention to detail, with ability to multitask.
- Strong communication skills, both written and oral.
- A collaborative team mindset with observational acuity.
- Creative problem-solving mindset for experimental improvements.
Bonus Qualities (not essential)
- Experience with rice or cereal crops.
- Experience supporting research trials or working in regulated crop environments.
- Interest in climate change adaptation, regenerative agriculture, or biotechnology.
Benefits
- Free on-site parking.
- Canteen and kitchenette.
- Company and community events.
- Supportive, mission driven team.
- UK visa sponsorship available.
- Casual dress.
- Pension scheme.
- Possible equity scheme.
- Part of a fast-growing impact driven start-up.
Schedule & Job Type
Full time, in person. From Monday to Friday, with ability to commute to:Alora, Office 1, Centrum, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, Norfolk, NR4 7UG
Or ability to relocate to Norfolk, UK.
Compensation:
Base pay between £25,400 - £28,500 annually, with competitive equity options based on performance.
Please send an email under the subject: "Horticulture Operator" to [email protected], that includes your CV and either a cover letter sharing why you are interested in ALORA and an introduction to why you are the right person for the role.
We look forward to meeting you!
About Alora
Alora is the Ocean Agriculture Company, and our mission is to solve world hunger. We’ve pioneered a platform to generate climate adaptive crops, from salt-tolerance to heat-tolerance and increasing yield. We innovate traditional farming in the face of climate change whilst redefining how we grow our food. This vision is Ocean Agriculture, a reimagined food production system relying on no fertilisers or pesticides and most importantly no fresh water. From adaptive crops to floating oceanic farms Alora is at the forefront of Agri-Biotech innovation.
Rice is currently the core crop for Alora’s technology, but increasing this to include model organisms such as Brachypodium distachyon or other important crops such as wheat and other cereals will be a priority.
We are a highly dynamic and innovative startup. Born in Yorkshire, shaped in San Francisco, cultivated in Ontario, and returning proudly to our roots in the UK in 2024. To all motivated questioners ready to be part of the team working to solve world hunger: we look forward to meeting you!
Job Types: Full-time, Permanent
Pay: £25,400.00-£28,500.00 per year
Benefits:
- Bereavement leave
- Canteen
- Casual dress
- Company events
- Company pension
- Free parking
- On-site parking
- Sick pay
- UK visa sponsorship
Ability to commute/relocate:
- Norwich NR4 7UG: reliably commute or plan to relocate before starting work (required)
Experience:
- Horticulture/Growing: 2 years (preferred)
- rice or cereal: 1 year (preferred)
- field trial: 1 year (preferred)
Language:
- English (required)
Work Location: In person
