Seedcare Business Development Lead Eastern Africa at Syngenta

Role purpose

• Develop and grow the Seedcare business across Eastern Africa by driving portfolio acceleration, NPI excellence, Key Account leadership, downstream market development, and P-A-S-S (Product–Application–Services–Sustainability) execution.
• Manage and coordinate strategic Seedcare initiatives for Strategic Key Accounts operating across AME South, ensuring a unified customer experience, aligned value propositions, and seamless regional collaboration between South Africa, Southern Africa and Eastern Africa.
• Shape the seed industry through strong partnerships, stakeholder influence, and capability development while building a high‑performing team that delivers the AME South growth ambition.

Key Accountabilities

Portfolio Leadership & NPI Acceleration

• Own the Seedcare portfolio lifecycle in Southern Africa, including commercial, biological, and stewardship dimensions.
• Identify portfolio gaps, customer needs, and new business opportunities.
• Drive portfolio management excellence for NPIs (VICTRATO, ARCANA/NEVANZA, VIBRANCE Maxx, ATUVA, ARVATICO, NUELLO range, biologicals).
• Partner with CPD, Marketing and AME Seedcare team to shape portfolio evolution and secure future pipeline readiness.
• Ensure PASS value propositions are competitive and consistently executed.

Key Account & Commercial Leadership

• Develop and deliver account strategies for upstream seed companies and down-stream/on‑farm partners.
• Lead commercial negotiations, pricing execution, and contract performance for Key Accounts based in Southern Africa.
• Strengthen tender participation and deepen strategic partnerships with seed industry partners
• Ensure Salesforce.com discipline with robust key account planning and customer relationship management (visits, planning, KA plans and strategy, business intelligence)

Strategic Key Account Coordination (Bayer, Corteva, Seedco, Zamseed, Twiga, KSC)

• Collaborate closely with the Eastern Africa Business Development Lead to ensure seamless multi‑country execution for Strategic Key Accounts operating across AME South. The Southern Africa Business Manager is the strategic and commercial owner for Key Accounts based in Southern Africa and supports the Eastern Africa BD Lead with local execution when these ac-counts operate in Eastern Africa. Conversely, the Eastern Africa BD Lead is the strategic and commercial owner for Key Accounts based in Eastern Africa and supports the Southern Africa Business Manager with local execution when these accounts operate in AME South. This structure ensures a unified customer experience while maintaining clear single‑point ownership in each region.
• Deploy PASS initiatives (Products, Application, Services, Sustainability) to drive differentiation.
• Lead downstream expansion via Seedcare Academy, On-Farm Seed Treatment (OST), quality assessments and SMARTLC diagnostics.
• Use SCI services to strengthen customer loyalty through application support, wastewater management and stewardship.
• Ensure high standards of stewardship, HSE compliance and safe-use practices.

Market Shaping & External Influence

• Build trusted relationships with regulators, associations, multipliers and industry partners.
• Influence regulatory frameworks and industry standards to support Seedcare adoption.
• Co‑create solutions with strategic partners across cereals, soybeans, sunflower and emerging crops.
• Monitor competitor activity and translate insights into action.

Team Leadership & Capability Development

• Lead and develop a team of 1–2 Seedcare professionals with clear performance expectations.
• Promote a “Lead to Win” culture focused on accountability, collaboration and continuous improvement.
• Strengthen technical capability through field immersion and collaboration with CPD and SCI.
• Enhance cross-functional ways of working across CPD, Marketing, Regulatory, Supply Chain and Finance.

Business Delivery & Operational Excellence

• Deliver annual sales, market share and gross profit targets for Southern Africa.
• Contribute to EASA Must-Wins through targeted KA support and NPI execution.
• Lead S&OP, forecasting, budgeting and MBR cycles for the region.
• Ensure disciplined pricing, commercial excellence and value extraction.
• Maintain full compliance with HSE, stewardship and driving policies.

Qualifications

Knowledge, experience & capabilities

Critical Knowledge

• Minimum 10 years in agriculture, seed, crop protection or seed treatment industry.
• Tertiary education in Agriculture, Marketing or Business Management preferably with postgraduate degree
• Deep understanding of seed treatment technologies, crop agronomy and pest control practices
• Proven multi-country Key Account Management experience
• Deep knowledge of agricultural markets, channel and GTM approaches
• Strong track record in portfolio management and NPI launches.