--- title: 'Business Development Lead at Ohalo' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/business-development-lead-ohalo-south-san-francisco-n1bc9tccc4ye' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-09-07' --- # Business Development Lead at Ohalo - **Company:** Ohalo - **Location:** South San Francisco, CA - **Posted:** 2026-06-25 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-07 - **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/ohalogenetics/jobs/4709416005 ## Job description Position: Business Development Lead Location: South San Francisco, CA Type: Full-time The Opportunity: Ohalo™ is seeking a Business Development Lead to source, structure, and close the partnerships that bring our agriculture products to market worldwide. This is a deal-driving role at its core. You will build and own relationships across the supply chain — growers, packers and shippers, processors, distributors, and retail/QSR buyers — and convert them into revenue-generating commercial agreements. You will be the commercial face of Ohalo in the field, moving partnerships from first conversation to signed deal to scaled execution, in close collaboration with breeding, commercial, and regulatory teams. As Ohalo expands into new regions, you will also help shape where and how we enter — identifying the right partners, mapping the value chain, and building the strategic roadmap for markets where we don't yet have a playbook. This is a high-impact role for a self-starting operator who thrives on ownership and execution. You will succeed if you are relationship-driven and persuasive, relentless about moving deals forward, and equally at home in a grower's field, a processor's boardroom, and an internal cross-functional huddle. Areas of Key Responsibilities: Business Development & Supply Chain Partnerships - Source, negotiate, and close strategic, revenue-generating partnerships across the supply chain — growers, packers and shippers, processors, distributors, and retail/QSR buyers. - Build and own durable relationships with commercial partners, serving as Ohalo's primary commercial point of contact from first outreach through signed agreement. - Drive deals end to end: structure terms, align internal stakeholders, and steward agreements through to execution and scale. - Serve as a key commercial face of Ohalo in global markets, representing our product vision directly to external stakeholders, growers, and customers. - Build the commercial alliances that secure demand and route Ohalo's portfolio through the value chain to end customers. Strategic Roadmap & Partner Identification — New Expansion Regions - Build the analytical backbone for commercial decisions — run market sizing and pricing analysis that informs priority markets, which partners to pursue, how to structure terms, and where Ohalo's portfolio commands premium value. - For new and emerging markets, identify and prioritize the partners, segments, and value-chain entry points that unlock commercial traction. - Build the strategic roadmap for regions where Ohalo lacks an established playbook, mapping grower economics, processor demand, and downstream value-chain incentives well enough to enter with conviction. - Develop focused business cases and entry plans for new product introductions, sizing the opportunity and sequencing the partner approach. - Where a region is new, shape the volume and adoption assumptions and coordinate launch readiness enough to align supply availability and partner enablement, drawing on field trial data and partner pipeline intelligence. Qualifications: - 5+ years of experience in business development, commercial strategy, or sales in the agricultural industry, with a track record of personally closing deals. - Proven success forging and closing new strategic partnerships across multiple geographies — you have carried a number and hit it. - A true self-starter who sets their own pace and consistently delivers high-quality work without needing to be managed to it. - High drive and high output: you move fast, run multiple deals in parallel, and are relentless about pushing partnerships forward to close. - An exceptional communicator — clear, concise, and compelling both in writing and in person, able to command the room with growers, executives, and internal teams alike. - Strong understanding of crop production systems, grower decision-making, and value chain economics. - Demonstrated ability to translate complex agronomic or technical attributes into clear commercial value propositions. - Skilled in cross-functional collaboration, working closely with R&D, operations, marketing, and regulatory teams. - Comfortable with frequent travel across regions to engage directly with growers and partners. The anticipated base pay range for this role is $140,000 - $200,000 per year for our South San Francisco location. The pay offered to a selected candidate will be determined based on factors such as (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the qualifications of the selected candidate, budget availability, internal equity, geographic location and external market pay for comparable jobs. This role is also eligible for variable compensation in addition to base pay. About Ohalo: Ohalo™ aims to accelerate evolution to unlock nature's potential. Founded in 2019, Ohalo develops novel breeding systems and improved plant varieties that help farmers grow more food with fewer natural resources, increasing the yield, resiliency, and genetic diversity of crops to sustainably feed our population. Ohalo's breakthrough technology, Boosted Breeding™, will usher in a new era of improved productivity to radically transform global agriculture. For more information, visit [www.ohalo.com](https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=4172870-1&h=3148035140&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ohalo.com%2F&a=www.ohalo.com). Notes: If you previously applied for a job at Ohalo Genetics, we encourage you to restate your interest in the position by submitting your application. No visa sponsorship is available for this position at this time. This organization participates in E-Verify. Posters linked [here.](https://www.e-verify.gov/sites/default/files/everify/posters/IER_RightToWorkPoster%20Eng_Es.pdf) No recruiters, please. ## About Ohalo ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Ohalo develops novel plant breeding systems, primarily its Boosted Breeding™ technology, to dramatically increase crop yields, resilience, and genetic diversity while reducing resource use for global agriculture. - **Entity Type**: Private (Series B) - **Headquarters**: South San Francisco, California, United States - **Founded**: 2019 - **Founders**: David Friedberg (CEO), Jud Ward (Chief Technology Officer) ## Core Business - **Primary industry/industries**: Agricultural Biotechnology, Plant Breeding, AgTech - **Target customers**: B2B — global seed companies, commercial growers, and agricultural supply chain partners (e.g., strawberry, potato, almond, corn, and berry producers). - **Mission or purpose statement**: "Accelerating evolution to unlock nature's potential" — aiming to sustainably feed a growing population by shrinking the environmental footprint of agriculture through faster, more efficient plant breeding. ## Products & Services - **Boosted Breeding™**: A proprietary breeding platform that suppresses meiotic recombination, allowing offspring to inherit the complete genome from both parents (2x + 2x = 4x™). This creates "Boosted" plants that contain all beneficial traits from each parent, accelerating genetic gain and delivering predictable heterosis without multi-year selection cycles. - **Agile Breeding™**: A service that applies the Boosted Breeding platform across multiple crops to rapidly develop improved varieties. - **True Seed™**: A plant-breeding service delivering uniform, disease-free seedlings directly to growers — ready to sow, right out of the packet. Applied to crops like strawberries and potatoes. - **FruitionOne™**: The world's first self-fertile Nonpareil almond variety, eliminating the need for traditional bee pollination and cross-variety planting. - **Value-Added Traits**: Custom-developed traits (e.g., improved sustainability, better taste, longer shelf life, disease resistance) integrated into existing varieties for supply chain improvements. ## Market Standing - **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed. - **Key Metric**: Total funding of approximately $100M (USD 99,999,969) across multiple rounds: - Seed (2019): Not disclosed - Early-stage venture (2021): $3.7M - Venture round (2024-01-25): $40.0M (2 investors) - Venture round (2024-05-01): $60.0M - Series B (2025-01-01): 1 investor - **Notable Investors/Partners**: Incubated by The Production Board (venture firm founded by David Friedberg). Partners include University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS), Florida Foundation Seed Producers, Inc., Florida Strawberry Growers Association, and the Ohalo Strawberry Consortium. - **Growth Signals**: - Headcount grew 40% YoY to 85 employees (with 17 active job postings as of mid-2025). - Recognized on the "50 by 2050" list by Congruent Ventures and Silicon Valley Bank for climate tech innovation. - Launched FruitionOne™ (self-fertile almond) and the Ohalo Strawberry Consortium in 2025. - Expanding into Brazil and United Arab Emirates. - CEO David Friedberg has appeared on the All-In Podcast with the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, signaling high-level policy engagement. ## Competitive Advantages - **Proprietary technology moat**: Boosted Breeding™ is a breakthrough approach that fundamentally changes plant reproduction — enabling entire genome inheritance from both parents. This is a patentable, hard-to-replicate scientific platform applicable to nearly every crop. - **Speed to market**: Traditional breeding can take decades; Ohalo's method can deliver improved varieties in a fraction of the time, with predictable outcomes. - **Broad crop applicability**: The platform works across potatoes, corn, berries, almonds, and more — not limited to a single crop. - **Strong investor & partner network**: Backed by The Production Board and partnered with major agricultural research institutions and grower consortia. - **Sustainability angle**: Higher yields with fewer inputs (water, land, pesticides) aligns with global climate and food security trends. ## Strategic Focus - **Commercial expansion**: Scaling the Ohalo Strawberry Consortium and potato programs, with plans to enter corn, berries, and other row crops. - **Partnership development**: Collaborating with seed companies, grower groups, and research institutions to license Boosted Breeding™ and distribute True Seed™. - **R&D pipeline**: Developing new self-fertile and disease-resistant varieties (e.g., FruitionOne™ almonds) and integrating value-added traits. - **Global footprint**: Building operations in Brazil and UAE to address international agricultural markets. - **Talent acquisition**: Actively hiring across engineering, plant breeding, commercial sales, and operations — with 17 open roles as of mid-2025. ## Why Work Here - **Mission-driven work**: Directly contribute to solving global food security and sustainability challenges through cutting-edge science. - **Innovative culture**: Described as "Farmers First," with a bias toward action, iteration, and finding truth — a fast-paced, science-first environment. - **Talent & team**: Employees come from top institutions (UC Davis, Iowa State, North Carolina State) and companies (Driscoll's, Zymergen, Inari). The team includes 29 researchers (26% of workforce) and 20 technical staff (18%). - **Growth trajectory**: 40% YoY headcount growth and $100M in funding signal a well-resourced, scaling company with career advancement opportunities. - **Diverse roles**: Openings range from Senior Full Stack Engineer and Quantitative Geneticist to Technical Sales Representatives and Greenhouse Technicians — appealing to both technical and commercial talent. - **Location & flexibility**: Headquarters in South San Francisco, CA, with remote roles available for some positions (e.g., Technical Sales Representatives across multiple US regions). Presence in Brazil and UAE offers global exposure. - **Perks**: Not explicitly listed, but as a well-funded private company, competitive compensation and equity are likely. The company emphasizes "improving the lives of farmers" and a collaborative, truth-seeking culture. ## Sources 1. [ohalo.com](https://www.ohalo.com/) 2. [ohalo.com/about](https://www.ohalo.com/about) 3. [Greenhouse Careers](https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/ohalogenetics) 4. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohalo_Genetics) 5. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/ohalo-genetics) ## Other roles at Ohalo - [Product Manager - AI-Native Business Systems](https://feeny.ai/job/product-manager-ai-native-business-systems-ohalo-south-san-francisco-zyfvp2sjy3dv) — South San Francisco, CA - [Greenhouse Maintenance Technician](https://feeny.ai/job/greenhouse-maintenance-technician-ohalo-watsonville-5as3swhxtpyj) — Watsonville, CA - [Field Technician – True Potato Seed Production](https://feeny.ai/job/field-technician-true-potato-seed-production-ohalo-watsonville-m0pbwqchnncx) — Watsonville, CA - [Global Crop Product Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/global-crop-product-manager-ohalo-south-san-francisco-6byvykwzefnx) — South San Francisco, CA - [Senior Greenhouse Facilities & Maintenance Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-greenhouse-facilities-maintenance-manager-ohalo-watsonville-e5wetq8vy76w) — Watsonville, CA - [Executive Assistant to the President & Chief Operating Officer](https://feeny.ai/job/executive-assistant-to-the-president-chief-operating-officer-ohalo-south-san-qbkhy1hs25g4) — South San Francisco, CA - [Biotech Program Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/biotech-program-manager-ohalo-south-san-francisco-kkmf971cb6wc) — South San Francisco, CA - [Greenhouse Technician](https://feeny.ai/job/greenhouse-technician-ohalo-watsonville-85xh750e2xbm) — Watsonville, CA - [Business Development Lead](https://feeny.ai/job/business-development-lead-seven-ai-boston-gc1ytz5h09k1) — Boston, MA - [Business Development Lead](https://feeny.ai/job/business-development-lead-payjoy-jakarta-57tmyxdf4cef) — Jakarta, Indonesia