Area Vegetable Seeds Production Representative at Bayer East Africa

 About Bayer East Africa

Bayer is a Life Science company with a more than 150-year history and core competencies in the areas of health care and agriculture. With our innovative products, we are contributing to finding solutions to some of the major challenges of our time. Bayer group An analysis by well-known branding agency Interbrand in 2015 valued the Bayer brand at €6.3 billion. A growing and aging world population requires an adequate supply of food and improved medical care. Our research and development activities are therefore focused on improving people’s quality of life by preventing, alleviating and treating diseases. At the same time, we are making an important contribution to providing a reliable supply of high-quality food, feed and plant-based raw materials. Our understanding of the biochemical processes in living organisms helps us address these demanding challenges. Our goal is to achieve and maintain leadership positions in our markets. In this way we create value for our customers, stockholders and employees, at the same time strengthening the company’s earning power. We are committed to operating sustainably and addressing our social and ethical responsibilities. We also respect the interests of all our stakeholders. Employees with a passion for innovation enjoy excellent development opportunities at Bayer. Bayer’s mission: Science For A Better Life Exclusive Focus on the Life Science Businesses Following the stock market flotation of Covestro, we reorganized the Bayer Group effective January 1, 2016, and are now focusing on our Life Science activities. These businesses hold leading positions in innovation-driven, rapidly growing markets. Together, the Life Science businesses make up a strong, attractive and balanced portfolio that is resistant to fluctuations in demand and to potential risks. Our operations are managed in three divisions - Pharmaceuticals, Consumer Health and Crop Science - and the Animal Health business unit, which are also reporting segments

Role purpose

Accountable and responsible for producing seeds and achieving expected yield, quality, cost and at the right time.

Responsible to deliver reliable seed from the field to the plant.

Accountable for managing professional relationships with growers, toller, other external parties and alignment with internal stakeholders.

Manage all aspects of safety and compliance, contractual agreements, propose and obtain approvals on grower pricing and contract guidelines and strategies. 

Key responsibilities and tasks

Responsible for the grower selection process to achieve higher production reliability which includes grower background check, review previous reliability and performance, isolation distance, suitability of the production area etc.

Ensure that all the prework is done before the start of each production cycle and grower is prepared to start the production within the optimum sowing window.

Responsible for all aspect of Seed Production, Parental seed receiving, Nursery, Crop Management, Harvest and Delivery are followed as per the internal guidelines. 

Manage operational expenses, grower costs and CAPEX within company targets.

Accountable and responsible for maintaining grower relationship including negotiation of grower contracts, conciliation of all the production issues, etc.

Ensures planned orders are accepted within target timelines, AOAs are created, and crops are placed in a manner to meet targeted contract quality, quality, cost and timeliness requirements. 

Production Data and Analysis - Review quantity, quality, cost and timeliness data and address areas for improvement, simplification, optimization, or expansion of our business, including Grower Performance analysis, grower pricing strategies.

Aim for competitive base rates and align with Crop Placement Managers.

Responsible for timely grower settlement and coordinate / support to resolve any issue with grower / vendors.

Ensure that seeds are shipped to processing plant along with necessary documentation.

Liaising with local authorities for field inspection and arranging required phyto-certificates for seed shipments

Providing technical instruction and support / advise to growers and their team related to growing seeds crops – crop management pre/post-harvesting etc.

Updating information in Velocity Scout, SAP, and other tools.

Innovation. Work with Production Research personnel to identify and address projects to improve reliability, quality, and/or cost.

Ensure external and internal compliance in our operations, including HSE, Human Rights, Business conduct, PGRP, NAFI, SKAL, QMS, CSP etc.

Key Working Relations:

Member of Regional VS PS Seed Production team

Interfaces with: VS PS Global Production Team, Global Supply Chain, Logistics, Seed Technology / PR, Trade & Compliance, Data & Analytics, Product Management, MD, Quality, Finance / Controlling, IT

Experience, Skills, and Qualifications

BSc degree (Agronomy, Agriculture, Horticulture etc) with 5+ years' experience in seed industry.

Excellent human relation and effective communication skills required.

Experience in working with cross functional team, preferred.

Ability to influence all levels in the organization.

Customer focus, innovation & experimentation, collaboration and implementation of best practices, knowledge sharing.

Process Oriented and Results Orientated.

Negotiations Skills, Plans and Aligns.

Ability to learn and use digital and analytic tools.

Instill Trusts (with and Growers and other stakeholders).

Courage & candor, business insight.

Method of Application

Interested and qualified? Go to Bayer East Africa on bayerza.my.salesforce-sites.com to apply