Production Manager at Syngenta

Role Purpose

To Secure Flowers Production processes and ensure a reliable system is in place for sustainable performance from the employees and other assets to achieve Syngenta’s objective of delivering quality flower cuttings to our customers in the agreed specifications on time and right quantity

Accountabilities

• Direct people responsibility: Responsible for the supervision and giving direction to all direct reports who will include, Production Leads and Senior Supervisors.
• Responsible for growing plants: Growing the PS1, PS2 and PS mother stock and eventual production of quality cuttings using the best possible balance between cost and quality. Ensuring optimal plant growth regulator application for production of the agreed profile and toning the cuttings.
• Responsible for process organization: Organize and build multiplication processes and coordinate resources in order to run the Production department efficiently and in line with the set objectives.
• Responsible for production excellence: Improve production methods to maximize yields/quality and drive innovation. This includes know how to organize and develop tested best practice and innovative techniques.
• Responsible for plant nutrition: Irrigation systems, Fertilization, Climate control, growing media and management of water sterilization.
• Crop protection: In coordination with the Crop protection Lead where applicable, Prepare and optimize weekly pest and disease control program and implementation for the whole farm. Responsible for the implementation of IPM programs in the farm.
• Phytosanitary and quality: In close coordination with the Phytosanitary specialist and the Quality Assurance Lead, ensure production department processes attain and maintain high phytosanitation standards.
• Production Planning: Translate the required demands coming from planning into a production plan for the season and ensure expected availability. Evaluate the potential of the plants and translate it into data in order to provide precise calculations for the production plan. Season Production planning includes space planning, PS1 URC quantity planning and ordering, PS1 and PS2 planting planning and execution and required material planning.
• Season Labor planning: In co-ordination with the Labor Planner/HRM, budget and request to hire seasonal labor based on production operations demand. Strict follow-up of the labor forecast and control on deviations to avoid any financial exposure and lose of cost control.
• People management: Responsible for building a strong and trusting team which is agile, training and motivation of all personnel reporting to you. You will understand process critical parameters and develop appropriate KPI and target setting for your department and manage them to meet QUOTIF. (Yield and quality) at lowest possible price.
• Production research: Organization and successful execution of production and improvement trials.
• Process improvement: Responsible for the implementation of all process improvement initiatives in the production department
• Data base management: Manage production data related to both crops and people
• Monthly reports: Prepare and send to the Site manager monthly report as per set requirements.
• HSE: Support all HSE initiatives and implementation in the production department.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications and Experience

The ideal candidate must possess the following qualification and competencies:

• A Bachelors’ degree in Agriculture or Horticulture
• A Masters’ degree in Agriculture/Horticulture or Business administration will be an added advantage
• 7 years’ experience as a senior grower, crop manager or as an agronomist
• Thorough knowledge of horticulture business production, end to end
• Ability to do departmental budgeting and follow up on the implementation of the same within the specified timelines
• Good interpersonal and communication skills.
• Must possess a proven track record of leading teams with good problem-solving skills

Critical Knowledge

• Agronomy, Horticulture, hydroponics cultivation and greenhouse management
• Plants pathology (Pests and diseases) and agro-chemicals use.
• Integrated Pest Management
• Windows excel and access
• Large labor force management
• Logistic and exports

Critical Skills

• Supervisory / management skills
• Organizational skills in order to guide the supervisors and large crowd of labor
• Communication skills
• Strong analytical skills, action oriented, quick learner
• Crop management, crop husbandry (what we call “green fingers” skills).
• Able to anticipate
• Agility

Critical Experience

• 10 years of growing flower crops in a greenhouse setting especially Pelargonium and Poinsettia.
• Supervision and training
• Disease and pest identification and management.
• Farm production planning and execution in a developing country
• Data entry and analysis.

Essential Syngenta Competencies

• Customer-focused

Ensure that the plants are grown and fed under the right conditions to ensure quality of the products (URC) to satisfy the customer requirements.

• Innovative

Challenge and improve the current way of doings things in the production depaerment to increase efficiency. Invent simple tools and simplify the operations.

• Decisive

Demonstrate ability to anticipate and take timely and prudent action with little oversight.

• Communicative

Demonstrates openness in communication to others, able to communicate to general workers in a language they can understand, listens well, and incorporates the thoughts and ideas of others.

• Trusted

Track record for building trust and reliability to deliver required products.

• Team-oriented

Ability to work in a team of other growers and other personnel, providing support.

• Results-oriented

Ability to deliver products in defined quantities, quality time and cost. Able to control the targets of subordinates.

Primary Location