Country Manager

East-West Seed

Sales

Who We Are:

East-West Seed is the leading tropical vegetable seed company dedicated to improving the lives of farmers with better seeds and better farming practices. We specialise in breeding, producing, and distributing high-quality vegetable seeds. Our seeds are adapted to local markets and growing conditions, and we share innovative farming practices to help farmers grow better crops, get better yields, and earn better income. Founded over 40 years ago by Simon N. Groot, the 2019 World Food Prize Laureate, it remains a privately owned company headquartered in Nonthaburi, Thailand. The company employs about 2,800 people and has 22 R&D establishments in 9 countries. To learn more about us, please visit www.eastwestseed.com.

What are the challenges, and what do we need?

East-West Seed has successfully introduced a diverse and competitive portfolio of product hits in the market. As we continue to grow and expand, fueled by an ongoing enterprise-wide transformation initiative that will allow us to meet the increasing and changing requirements of the business, we will need a dynamic and highly progressive Country Manager who can lead and inspire our functional teams at East-West Seed Nigeria towards shaping the new and exciting future for EWS as we are elevating our business to new heights.

With at least 8 to 10 years of experience in a senior general management leadership role gained from different organisations with P&L responsibility, preferably seed industry or a related sector. We seek a credible, seasoned, and visionary Commercial leader who has successfully driven/led strategic and complex Commercial initiatives at a national/regional scale involving multiple stakeholders and has, ideally, led a business transformation.

Key expectations and deliverables for the Country Manager will include: (i) overall responsibility for achieving country’s business targets and continuously growing it by driving clear strategies (ii) managing efficient business operations through a team that is aligned, inspired and motivated to deliver their best (iii) Contributes to the achievement of the overall vision, mission and long-term strategy of East-West Seed Group translates these into actionable plans at the country level (iv) Ensures that the business operates in a sustainable manner aligned with the company’s core values and business Code of Conduct principles.

Starting with our unique commitment to the world’s smallholder farmers, our corporate vision, and our strong pioneering and entrepreneurial spirit, EWS has achieved continued success for several decades. It has always been strongly motivated by its core value of serving the world’s most vulnerable farmers.

In today’s increasingly complex and competitive business landscape, commercial operations, along with the other key players of the company, will need to quickly shift gears so that we can operate with more agility and respond quickly to drive business growth faster than competitors. The evolving requirements will require new and different ways of working, breaking boundaries to allow more free flow of creativity and better information-sharing across functions.

The best fit for the role will be someone who is inspired by and shares a deep conviction for our core Values - Purposeful, Pioneering, Nurturing, and Trustworthy - and our passion for advancing our mission of supporting smallholder farmers around the tropical world.

JOB SUMMARY

Overall responsibility for achieving a large country’s business targets and continuously growing it by driving clear strategies and managing efficient business operations through a team that is aligned, inspired, and motivated to deliver their best. Contributes to achieving East-West Seed Group's overall vision, mission, and long-term strategy and translates these into actionable plans at the country level. Ensures that the business operates in a sustainable manner aligned with the company’s mission and core values.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Strategy Development and Execution

• Contribute to the development of the overall EWS group strategy by providing valuable business insights from the country. Using their market knowledge and expertise helps enrich the formulation of EWS strategies.
• Leads the team in developing a clear strategy for the country by using market needs, anticipating trends, and identifying the unique and complex challenges and opportunities in the market.
Ensures that the country strategy aligns with the long-term EWS Group strategic direction and is supported by clear initiatives from each department at the country level and a robust implementation plan.

Business Planning & Financial Management

• Leads the development of annual and long-range business plans.
• Sets business targets for the country supported by a clear set of actions to drive achievement.
• Identifies resource requirements, including strategic investments needed to support growth plans.
• Ensures alignment of priorities and integration of key activities or projects amongst the different departments within the country.
• Conducts regular business performance reviews; leads the team to identify and manage risks/opportunities and develop corrective actions to minimise or eliminate unfavourable impacts on business results.
Reviews and approves the annual country budget; ensures efficient utilisation of the budget.

Leadership, Organisation, and Culture Development

• Sets the tone from the top by role-modelling the mission and core values of EWS and communicating the right messages to the organisation, supported by consistent actions and behaviours.
• Strengthens the organisation by identifying opportunities for improving capabilities to meet the current and emerging/future business needs. Ensures a robust succession plan in leadership and critical positions for business continuity.
• Manages the country’s overall performance; holds direct reports accountable for achieving their individual and functional team’s targets; ensures that the individuals and teams' successes are recognised, rewarded, and celebrated.
Promotes an open, empowering, inclusive, and inspiring work environment and supports the company’s aspiration to become a high-performing organization.

Stakeholder and Risk Management

• Identifies and manages various stakeholders (internal/external) by understanding and addressing their needs/issues/concerns; ensures that they can support the communication of correct information to stakeholders.
• Proactively identifies and anticipates risks that may have potential adverse impacts on the business and works collaboratively with other functions to develop and implement a risk mitigation plan.
Represents the country in external relations with customers, local government agencies, industry, public, etc. Ensures the corporate image and EWS brand are protected and consistent with the EWS group branding guidelines.

Minimum Requirements (Education, Experience, Skills)

Education:

Experience:

• 8-10 years of experience in commercial roles within the agribusiness, life sciences, chemical, FMCG or CPG industry, focusing on sales and commercial operations with P&L responsibility.

Skills:

• Previous experience in driving commercial strategies for agricultural products, ideally vegetable seeds or similar B2B or B2C sectors, is a strong advantage.
Leadership and people management skills working cross-functionally and across multiple cultures (directly and through dotted-line)

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