Facilities Don’t Grow Cannabis Plants, People Do
February 10, 2022 
An artists’ rendering of the finished Massachusetts Cannabis Center production greenhouse space.
The foundation of any successful cultivation business is the grow team. Without enthusiastic, well-trained employees, how can you expect to run an efficient and profitable business?
If you think your cultivation program lacks steam, it may be time to shuffle things up. But before you let someone go, make sure you have a suitable replacement on the horizon. Each role requires different skillsets and experience.
Keep the following qualifications in mind as you search to fill key positions on your cultivation team:
Director of Operations
The director of operations coordinates all departments within a commercial cultivation facility. From cultivation and maintenance to purchasing, shipping, and security, the director of operations makes sure that all departments function in unison and move the entire company toward the same end goal. Consider hiring someone with at least 10 years of experience directing operations for a manufacturing business. Commercial cultivation facilities and manufacturing plants have a lot in common, and these types of individuals can infuse valuable work experiences and lessons learned from other industries.
Head Grower
At a minimum, your head grower should have five years of experience with commercial plant production. Cannabis experience is preferred, but skills gleaned from cultivating ornamental or vegetable crops can be easily transitioned to cannabis. Because only half of a head grower’s job is to grow plants, excellent candidates should also possess people management and conflict resolution skills. The ability to communicate effectively and intelligently with board members, media, investors, and visitors is a plus. Time management skills are also critical for growers, as they balance office demands with time on the production floor.
Section Growers
A section grower manages cultivation activities for a specific area of the grow facility. In greenhouses, this is usually defined by greenhouse bays, while indoor operations typically divide sections by grow room. Section growers keep the company’s cultivation plan on schedule by guaranteeing that tasks like transplanting, pruning, spraying, and harvesting happen on time within their assigned areas. They forecast labor needs, coordinate additional help when necessary, and alert the head grower to any anomalies in plant performance that could negatively affect the outcome of the crop.
Plant Technicians
Plant technicians support the head grower and section growers by handling day-to-day plant maintenance and facility cleaning. These individuals are the true labor force behind any commercial cannabis business since they have a hand in every part of the cultivation process. For this reason, plant technicians must be properly trained on company protocols and the importance of regulatory compliance. A company may have impeccable cultivation SOPs, but if the individuals performing these tasks do not follow company protocols, it can result in unsalable cannabis or product recalls.
Post-Harvest Manager
The post-harvest manager is responsible for the finished crop once it’s removed from the cultivation area. This hand-off of responsibility allows the cultivation team to immediately focus on cleaning and refilling a grow space once the harvest is complete. The post-harvest manager ensures that the finished cannabis flower is trimmed, dried, and cured to company specifications prior to being released for sale or sent to the extraction department for further processing. They work closely with section growers to coordinate harvest dates and guarantee the availability of space and people to process the raw plant material.
Trimmers
Trimmers are like soldiers on the frontline of quality control. Most commercial cultivators harvest weekly or bi-weekly, and trimmers are critical to the success of this final step in the cultivation process. Trimmers remove excess leaf from the harvested cannabis flower and help guarantee that the end product is visually appealing. A room full of trim machines can be loud, and working with scissors eight hours a day requires relentless focus, so trimmers must constantly be aware of safety hazards in their work environment to avoid potential injury.
System Control Specialist
This is the techie on your grow team. This individual should have a unique talent for understanding technology and the complexities of getting independent pieces of equipment to work together. From climate control equipment to inventory tracking systems, almost everything in a commercial grow facility is online, in the cloud, or on a computer. When something fails to perform as expected, growers can’t afford to track down a user manual and spend the rest of the day troubleshooting. The system control specialist supports the head grower and section growers by allowing them to focus on growing, not technical troubleshooting.
Every cultivation site is different; smaller companies may blend roles together, while larger operations will expand them. For example, it’s common for the head grower to manage operations and post-harvest activities in a fledgling start-up. In contrast, large commercial growers will have dedicated IPM managers, irrigation technicians, and inventory control specialists.
Regardless of the size of your cultivation facility, the recipe for success is the same: Identify the necessary positions, clearly define those roles, and then fill these jobs with the best people that you can afford.
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