About Reservoir
Reservoir is a new rural institution that combines an agricultural innovation platform with a venture capital fund to advance the impact of rugged physical AI in critical industries. Reservoir Farms are the world’s first on-farm technical communities, starting in the Salinas Valley and Wine Country, and now expanding across California, Arizona, Washington, and beyond.
By combining R&D space, hands-on grower input and early-stage capital, Reservoir helps turn promising ideas into tools for the growers who feed the world.
Role OverviewThe Business Associate is an early-career role for someone who moves fast, thinks structurally, and wants to sit at the intersection of cutting-edge technology and leading agricultural prodcuers. This role works directly with the startups and partners that comprise Reservoir's ecosystem – recruiting startups into our community, helping startups overcome real-world blockers, executing on new partnerships, and translating patterns into stronger programs.
The Business Associate is expected to generate original insight, communicate directly with startups and partners, and bring forward-looking recommendations to leadership on how Reservoir can continue evolving our functions and offerings.
Key Responsibilities
Startup Support & Ecosystem Enablement
Support the Business Team’s efforts in recruiting the best startups from around the world to put their solutions to the test at Reservoir Farms
Coordinate startup participation at on-site events (partner visits, field days, workshops, media tours, video shoots), working closely with our Marketing and AgTech teams
Coordinate off-farm resources and introductions that help Reservoir’s portcos and startup members reach their milestones resourcefully (i.e. investors, tech perks, partner matching)
Work directly with Reservoir’s startup members to understand their near-term milestones and help address specific blockers; maintaining active knowledge of each startup's status, needs, and progress within the Reservoir ecosystem
Corporate Partnerships
Support the delivery of corporate partner programs with new partners across the technology and agribusiness landscape
Pattern Recognition & Program Development
Work cross-functionally across the Reservoir team to ensure milestones and key events are effectively planned for and punctually executed on
Identify recurring themes and gaps across startup interactions, partnership conversations, and field activity
Synthesize observations into structured recommendations for new or updated Reservoir functions or programs
Bring findings to leadership with clear framing, supporting evidence, and a point of view
Qualifications
2+ years of professional experience, ideally in AgTech or DeepTech business development, management consulting, venture capital, or corporate agriculture R&D
Able to communicate credibly with both startup founders and growers – some level of fluency in modern tech stacks and/or production-scale agriculture
Proactive communicator who keeps stakeholders informed and moves conversations forward without being prompted
Comfortable in fast-paced environments where priorities may shift and learning is continuous
Strong analytical and synthesis skills, with the ability to move from raw observation to structured recommendation
Consistently seeks workflow efficiency improvements via AI
Why This Role Matters
Reservoir's value comes from being close to the work – close to the startups, the growers, the enabling technology, and the wider agriculture and technology industries. The Business Associate plays a connective role across all of it: removing friction, executing on promised deliverables, and turning ground-level insight into better programs. For someone who wants to understand how agricultural innovation actually gets deployed, this role is a front-row seat.
