S. Rajasekar

Dynamic Agricultural Engineering leader with 24 years of experience in product development, engineering design, testing, and strategy. Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams and deliver innovative, customer-centric solutions.

Sr. Deputy General Manager - John Deere India Pvt Ltd. - Pune, India

(2017-05)

• Led the design and development of new products, delivering innovative and customer-focused solutions.
• Developed and implemented strategies aligned with business growth and expansion objectives.
• Mentored and coached engineering teams to improve performance, capability, and career progression.
• Defined and executed an innovation roadmap to drive technology differentiation in implement products.
• Managed R&D and capital budgets in collaboration with cross-functional partners.
• Developed technology stack solutions for products, including tillage, planter, sprayers and balers.
• Implementation of subsidy-linked agricultural equipment in India required compliance with government certification and testing standards.
• Collaborated cross-functionally with global engineering teams to enable efficient product development and delivery.
• Led India's "Prolific Inventors Club" (75+ members), fostering a strong innovation culture across the organization.
• Contributed to the development of technical content for parts catalogs and operator manuals in the implement domain.
• Provided field-level customer support and drove timely resolution of customer issues related to implements.
• Delivered field training and technical demonstrations to Deere employees and dealer technicians.
• Served as a technical committee member for TIFAN and SAE off-highway technical events sponsored by John Deere India Pvt. Ltd.

Sr. Executive Manager – PV&V - John Deere India Pvt Ltd. - Pune, India

(2010-04 - 2017-05)

• Directed end-to-end PV&V strategy and execution for Crop Care and Hay & Forage implements, ensuring compliance with customer and business requirements.
• Established structured validation frameworks, test methodologies, and performance acceptance criteria to improve product quality and reliability.
• Led cross-functional teams in design verification, risk mitigation, issue resolution, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Enabled successful commercialization of multiple implement platforms through rigorous field, lab, and durability validation programs.
• Championed validation excellence by integrating customer insights, engineering analytics, and reliability engineering practices into product development.

Manager – PV&V - John Deere India Pvt Ltd. - Pune, India

(2010-05 - 2012-04)

• Led development of rice transplanter, ensuring and alignment with customer needs.
• Benchmarked competitor machines and analyzed duty cycles to inform design decisions.
• Validated mechanical and vacuum planters for Indian market conditions.

Section Manager - John Deere India Pvt Ltd. - Pune, India

(2008-11 - 2010-05)

• Collaborated with implement partners nationwide to enhance product integration Conducted comprehensive market research to inform product specifications.
• Executed field testing to validate product performance & reliability in real-world conditions.

Sr. Innovation Officer - National Innovation Foundation - Ahmedabad, India

(2005-10 - 2008-11)

• Assessment of Innovations and discovering the novelty
• Assisting IPR team and providing technical support for patent drafting.
• Collaboration with Govt. and Private R&D Institutes for validation & value addition.

Research Associate - CSTRI - Mysore, India

(2003-07 - 2005-10)

• Design of tools, equipment and machines for mechanization in Mulberry cultivation.
• Adoption of Farm equipment for its suitability in mechanized mulberry cultivation.

Sr. Research Fellow - CIAE-Regional Centre - Coimbatore, India

(2003-01 - 2003-07)

• Design and development of self-propelled Multi Crop Harvester.
• Performance evaluation of harvester and preparation of test reports.

B.E - Agricultural Engineering - AEC&RI, Tamil Nādu Agrl. University (1996 - 2000)

M.E - Agricultural Engineering - AEC&RI, Tamil Nādu Agrl. University (2000 - 2002)

Advanced Certification - DS, AI & ML - Indian Institute Technology., Chennai (2022 - 2023)