New

Manager Application Operations (Salinas, CA)

Wilbur-Ellis Company
$104,900 - $146,920
401(k), retirement plan
United States, California, Salinas
Feb 03, 2026
Investing in You, join a 100-year-old, family-owned leader in Ag - and grow with us! Wilbur-Ellis invests heavily in our employees by offering skill development and training, competitive compensation and benefits, and a tradition of promoting from within for a broad range of career opportunities. And we foster a supportive, people-first work environment. "We know the confidence gap can get in the way of meeting spectacular candidates, so please don't hesitate to apply - we'd love to hear from you." General Purpose and Scope of Position: The Application Operations Manager leads the safe, timely, and efficient application of fertilizers and crop protection products across agricultural field operations. This role is accountable for building and sustaining a culture of safety, operational discipline, and continuous improvement while ensuring customer commitments are met in a highly regulated, peak-season environment. A Sample of What You'll Do in this Role: Lead day and night field application operations in a 24/7, on-call environment. Foster a safety-first culture, ensuring compliance with all regulatory and company standards for agricultural chemical application. Manage and develop 4-6 direct reports, overseeing a total team of approximately 70 employees. Act as a player-coach, providing hands-on leadership during peak season, incidents, and operational disruptions. Ensure effective use of systems that support field execution, including scheduling and dispatch, spray controller software, fleet/GPS tracking, mobile field tools, and ERP systems. Partner cross-functionally with Sales, Safety, Compliance, Finance, Retail Store Managers, and external vendors. Lead incident response, investigations, and continuous improvement efforts to reduce accidents, errors, and inefficiencies. Align operational capacity with customer timing, seasonal demand, and environmental conditions. Manage the operational P&L, expenses, capital expenditures, budget, and gain approval for any large purchases needed for operations. What You Bring to this Role: Extensive experience in agricultural chemical application operations Deep understanding of safety, risk, and regulatory requirements related to fertilizer and pesticide application Proven experience managing managers and leading large, distributed teams Working knowledge of spray controller systems, dispatch and scheduling tools, fleet tracking, mobile field applications, and ERP systems Ability to lead calmly and decisively in high-risk, time-sensitive environments What Makes You a Great Fit: You're able to improve customer satisfaction through ensuring reliable, on-time application You have a strong focus on reducing safety incidents and operational disruptions You know how to increase efficiency, consistency, and accountability across field operations You can lead the team to adopt processes and tools that support safe execution Compensation and Benefits: In compliance with all states and cities requiring transparency of pay, the base compensation for this position ranges from $104,900 - $146,920. Note that salary may vary based on location, skills, and experience. This position is eligible for an annual discretionary bonus and vacation, holidays, health, dental, vision, mental health, and retirement plan participation, including an employer contribution of up to 7% into your 401(k). Follow this link for more information regarding Wilbur-Ellis employee benefits: https://mywebenefits.com/ Please note that salary ranges provided for this role on external job boards are salary estimates made by outside parties and may not be accurate. Our Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion: Diversity of people, cultures, opinions, and ideas makes us all stronger. From leadership commitment to employee buy-in, we know that creating an inclusive environment and providing opportunities for all employees to reach their full potential is a shared responsibility. *Wilbur-Ellis is a company you can be proud to call your employer* Wilbur-Ellis markets and distributes agricultural products, animal feed specialty chemicals, and food ingredients. A privately held and consistently profitable company, we employ more than 4,000 people throughout North America and Asia-Pacific. *Wilbur-Ellis is for and about people* Wilbur-Ellis has enjoyed over 100 years of success and growth, all thanks to our people. Our employees are both leaders and team players who thrive on creativity, entrepreneurial spirit, and a dedication to quality work, our customers, and each other. *Wilbur-Ellis invests in the industry's best workforce* Wilbur-Ellis invests heavily in our employees by offering skill development and training, competitive compensation and benefits, and a tradition of promoting from within for a broad range of career opportunities. And we foster a supportive, people-first work environment. Follow our career social media accounts! Instagram: IG * TikTok: TikTok * Facebook: FB * LinkedIn: LinkedIn