Business Development Manager Job at Advanta Seeds

Advanta Seeds delivers innovative farming solutions and technology to farmers around the world. Advanta Seeds has global footprint in 66 countries. Advanta Seeds prides itself on decades of research and deployment of the most advanced technologies in traditional plant breeding to deliver high quality seeds.

Advanta Seeds is a global leader in tropical and subtropical corn and has leading positions in many regions in corn, forage and grain sorghum, sunflower, canola, rice and vegetables.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Position: Business Development Manager
Job Location: Abuja

Job Description

• Advanta is seeking a well-rounded, experienced Business Development Manager with a strong technical background to grow their portfolio of agricultural products in Nigeria
• Reporting to the Regional Head – Africa & Middle East for Advanta, the incumbent must have a love for building value for farmers, while also being comfortable building the business of Advanta and interacting with a wide range of stakeholders.
• This is an exceptional individual with a proven track record in developing new business, selling business value, interacting with channel partners, leading in trials and registration of products with the relevant government agencies whilst simultaneously working with Executive leads, Governments and functional practitioners.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Research, prepare and execute a sales plan focused on delivering new recurring revenue for both Field and Vegetable crops through partnerships with agro-input companies and the public and private sector in Nigeria.
• Develop and manage the distribution channels for Advanta products in the Country leveraging strengths of UPL/Arysta in the region.
• Work closely with the TD team in the registration of Advanta products in line with the regulatory requirements of Nigeria
• Be an outstanding external spokesperson for the company, its values and products.
• Generate new business by leveraging existing relationships and building new relationships across private and public sectors, NGOs, Government, Commercial and SHF.
• Provide market feedback as well as analyze data to aid in decision making.
• Travel to client sites and conduct market visits up to 50% of the time.

Desired Candidate Profile

• Education: You have an Undergraduate Degree in a relevant discipline
• Experiance: You have at least 10 years experience in Agri Business, preferably in the West Africa region
• Preferance: Experience and knowledge of the seed industry will place you at an advantage. Preference is for Nigeria nationals proficient in written and spoken English.

Other Requirements:

• You have knowledge and understanding of dealing with C-suite executives with excellent communication and presentation skills, integrity and impeccable professionalism
• You have experience working with Government officials at all levels and navigating government structures.
• You are comfortable working against a sales target
• You have the ability to professionally and respectfully dissent, and logically debate challenges
• You have substantive experience working and/or living in rural African farming contexts and building relationships across sectors and disciplines
• You have demonstratable fluency in key work tools such as Microsoft Office.