The Director of Vineyard Operations & Grower relations is responsible for providing leadership and expertise to the Vineyard Operations team and for initiating, developing, and maintaining relationships with wine grape growers that are key to our brands success.

Vineyard Operations - This position involves overseeing the day-to-day activities of a multi-site winegrowing team, aligning viticulture practices with quality targets and fiscal requirements. The Director will develop farming strategies to ensure long-term efficient farming of high-quality grapes. Manages hiring & monitoring of Farm Labor Contractor’s (FLC’s) as well as day to day operations in vineyards. Oversight of regional production and capital budgets for vineyards. Liaise with Technical Viticulture, Winemaking, and other Constellation departments to foster strong relationships and drive continuous improvement of the grape supply, focusing on winegrowing best practices that enhance quality.

Grower Relations - Accountable for the management of all the grape supply activities, including negotiation of contracts, estimating of crop size, maintenance and promotion of grape quality, and involvement in the resolution of any winery-grower conflicts. Initiate grower liaison activities, including grower education programs, and seminars. Coordinate harvest sampling, scheduling, and delivery of fruit from external vineyards.

Responsibilities

Leadership:

• Provide exceptional leadership to the Vineyard Operations team, modeling company values and behaviors, and aligning efforts with strategic imperatives.
• Maximize labor utilization and ensure appropriate people structures and training programs are in place to support peak and non-peak work periods.
• Cultivate successful business relationships with key third parties, including Farm Labor Contractors,consultants,andotherstakeholders.

Grape Supply / Quality:

• Provides direction on viticulture practices, monitoring grape maturity, identifying, and addressing challenges, and overseeing harvest activities.
• Plans and directs, on an annual and multi-year basis, all grape growing activities necessary to achieve high quality wine production. Assure that grapes are grown to maximize quality for specified end use.
• Work closely with the relevant stakeholders including winemaking and technical viticulture teams, to ensure that alignment is achieved related to desired grape quality characteristics.
• Prepare and manage the annual regional operational and capital budgets for the vineyards in your area, to ensure the department functions within budget.
• In conjunction with the Viticulture department formulate and implement technical programs necessary meet grape quality and ensure vineyard health.

Grower Relations:

• Work with our growers to develop farm plans, monitor vineyards, document observations of grapevine phenology, pruning, training and cultural practices, as well as recommend and implement viticultural management practices to improve wine quality for our brands and products. Maintain accurate maps and annual vineyard plans for each grower.
• Organize and assist in procuring the appropriate wine grapes for each brand and product as needed by Constellation Brands. Negotiate grape contracts within pricing guidelines and quality parameters set by the Director of Grower Relations. Proactively provide buying strategies and planting recommendation.
• Responsible for making grape pricing recommendations for differing varieties, appellations, and quality levels.
• Have a thorough understanding of grape availability and opportunities. Maintain database of vineyards, varietals, and tons.
• Foster strong working relationships with winemaking teams through wine tasting evaluations, vineyard visits, and Grower events.
• Responsible for ensuring the accuracy and maintenance of all grower records, contracts, and statistical reporting. Understand and utilize Grower Relations databases for contract set-up and maintenance, grape supply/cost evaluation and analysis, and harvest scheduling.
• Provide and maintain accurate and timely estimates of short and long term grape pricing, future supply, and grape market activity.
• Update and maintain accurate crop estimation of contracted vineyard blocks. Coordinate the grape harvesting schedules and deliveries during harvest with Growers and Wineries. Assist in the hiring, training, and supervision of seasonal field staff. Provide and manage the timely collection of grape maturity samples to wineries during harvest. Liaise with winemaking team at harvest to evaluate vineyard conditions and to assess the flavor ripeness and physiological development of grower vineyards.
• In conjunction with the General Manager, plan annual grower functions for specific regions and/or wineries.
• Provide feedback to grower by organizing tastings and vineyard visits.
• Represent Constellation Brands in regional viticultural groups/associations as appropriate and maintain up-to-date viticultural knowledge through trade publications, seminars, and industry symposiums.

EHS & ESG:

• Establish and lead a culture of Health and Safety across the production department that strives beyond compliance and is proactive, embedded and understood.
• Responsible for compliance with CBI sustainability policies, and practices which are economically viable, socially acceptable, and environmentally sound. This is done by supporting programs at each location for conservation, energy efficiency, and recycling, which are critical for our operations to achieve tangible environmental results.
• Perform any other duties as reasonably required, leveraging experience and expertise to support the overall success of the department.

Minimum Qualifications

• B.S. in Agriculture, viticulture, or another related field.
• 10+ years of industry experience.
• 5 years demonstrated management and leadership skills.
• Technical viticulture knowledge.
• Must have valid driver’s license with clean driving record.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office products, ability to learn to use specific software as needed.

Preferred Qualifications

• Extensive wine knowledge and evaluation skills.
• Knowledge and practical application of health and safety requirements.
• Bilingual-English/Spanish.
• Strong leadership and teambuilding skills including demonstrated coaching and mentoring abilities.
• Highly developed communication and interpersonal skills, ability to work with people at all levels within an organization.
• Time management and planning ability.
• Must be very organized, accurate, and have good presentation skills.
• Highly self-motivated with a strong drive for results.
• Proven ability to cultivate and maintain strong internal and external relationships, fostering collaboration and communication across departments, stakeholders, and industry partners.