Seeds Business Development Manager at Dorbe-Leit Solutions Limited

Job Description
The role is an integral role with key responsibilities across the following areas:

• Review of Seed trends, new product introduction issues, and special product and customer demands, and provide insights for credible forecasting.
• Participate in the Monthly Demand Planning Session & provide demand forecasts for seeds by customers as input in the S&OP process.
• Achievement of Sales Forecast Accuracy Target
• Recruit & develop Seed customers for existing portfolio
• Recruit & develop commercial farms for Seeds and other products.
• Reach out to technical personnel in Farms and make presentations on our seed range, then liaise with field team for follow-up.
• Carry out demonstrations or trials to show the benefits of our seeds range.
• Hand over recruited customers to Territory Manager or Key Account Manager for follow-up and closing of sale.
• Achieve placement of our brands in the recruited farms and distribution outlets.
• Identify gaps in the Seeds/brands portfolio.
• Carry out Product screening of potential Seeds and present it to NPD team for approval.
• Confirm suitability of product as well as Registration & other requirements adherence.
• Liaise with the relevant departments for the development of suitable product approvals and identify suitable inputs from suitable suppliers.
• Liaise with relevant regulatory bodies to perform prerequisite product trials.
• Carry out market trials of products under development and present results to NPD team.
• Liaise with Brand Managers, QA & Supply chain to identify suitable packaging for the product in development.
• Confirm what is existing in the market & liaise with Brand Managers to create a price matrix/pyramid.
• Identify risks & recommend mitigation steps.
• Pursue and close on new product registration.
• Liaise with Brand Managers and Sales department for execution of launch plan.
• Continuously seek to gain customer feedback on the ground, on the performance of our products
• Training staff in Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda) as may be required from time to time, on best practices in suitable seeds range of the company.
• Training of farmers & provision of farming advice to farmers. Assessing the relative gaps and working with farmers to increase productivity and uptake of the introduced seed.
• Liaise with Brand Managers & Digital Marketing Managers to create relevant
• content on the seed brands for social media as well as for use in mainstream media, and for use in marketing communication material. Conduct virtual training for farmers the company's range of seed.
• In collaboration with the procurement team and the regulatory team, liaise with relevant suppliers and partners to ensure compliance to seed regulations in relevant countries.
• Weekly review of seed brands' performance as per Corporate Strategy
• Track and report on new developments in the category, including competitor activity, in specific territories and routes & recommend favorable action for responsible brands
• Maintain/Grow market share of Seeds for our organisation.
• Deliver agreed on KPI's as per department objectives. Institute immediate corrective action where performance is below par.
• Proactively manage personal learning and development
• Update personal job knowledge by participating in educational opportunities, reading professional publications, maintaining personal networks, and participating in professional and industry events, meetings and forums.
• Real time record all customer interactions.
• Adhere and comply with the relevant seed regulations, GMP, policies, procedures and statutory guidelines.
• Prepare and submit reports on Seed performance, project updates and industry trends.

Qualifications
Qualifications and Experience:

• Minimum Degree in Crop Science, Breeding, and Seed Systems would be desired.
• Highly developed skills in seed selection, development, and commercialization
• Exposure to agriculture development research, preferably working on seed systems
• Good Communication Skills
• Training, Planning & Organising skills.
• Not less than 3 years’ commercial experience in Seed development and commercialization

Core Competencies:

• Championing the Customers: uniting the organization to meet customer needs and achieve all business goals, identifying and leading change across the organization for the benefit of the customer.

Technical Competencies:

• An understanding of the scientific basis of seed development
• The capacity to form long-term relationships with customers and clients
• Able to analyze the market needs and demand for various seeds.
• Able to plan, conduct, analyse and report on investigations into an aspect of the
• seeds field in a responsible, safe and ethical manner.