Now Hiring - Groupe Limagrain Holdings - Agriculture Sales and Marketing Manager, North America in Fort Collins, CO

PURPOSE OF THE POSITION:

To lead the Limagrain Cereal Seeds’ (LCS) Sales and Marketing Department to develop and generate sales growth of LCS varieties and brands in Wheat, Barley and Pulse crops throughout North America.

POSITION DESCRIPTION SUMMARY:

This North America Sales and Marketing Manager will manage commercial activities for the North American territory of the USA and Canada, by planning, implementing, and overseeing sales strategies and marketing plans. The main objective is to develop sales and increase market share and customer base for LCS, with the end goal of maintaining or improving market share and associated company financial performance.

Essential Tasks include the following. Other duties may be assigned.

• Define and supervise objectives, actions, and achievements for the LCS sales team and the LCS marketing personnel.
• Structure sales and marketing activity, develop sales targets, inspire and focus team on meeting targets.
• Manage the licensing program with key business partners, including facilitation and implementation of license agreements in conjunction with G&A team. Develop and prepare exclusive license agreements in accordance with G&A team.
• In conjunction with senior management and the regional commercial managers, plan and implement sales strategies to gain market share and increase profitability.
• Coordinate the budgeting process for the LCS regional commercial managers and marketing department / promotional activities.
• Determine sales volume targets by region and product and monitor achievements against targets.
• Interface directly with customers to help build strong working relationships.
• Identify and develop key accounts for the regional sales managers and offer support in developing and maintaining relationships.
• Monitor and supervise the reporting of sales by regional commercial managers and produce consolidated national sales reports of the North American territory.
• Oversee national segmentation strategies and determine specific pricing policy for each region.
• In conjunction with the Product Development Manager, define production targets and seed releases volumes for each region.
• Structure and frame commercial and marketing activity in different market segments.
• Coordinate various sales events within the regions: product launches, distributor meetings, field days, industry meetings and other conventions
• Frequent travel utilizing a company provided vehicle to meet with customers, attend industry functions and visit field trials and open days.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

The positions of Regional Commercial Manager (currently 5 regions) and Technical & Marketing Associate will report to the North America Sales and Marketing Manager.

Education and/or Experience

• Minimum of a Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture or related discipline required; Master’s level degree highly desirable;
• 5-10 years of experience in Agronomy, Sales, Product Management and/or related position.
• English fluency required.
• Must be available to travel both domestically and internationally.
• Must have a valid work permit for the USA
• Must hold a currently valid driver’s license.

To perform the job successfully, the North America Sales and Marketing Manager will require the following competencies:

Strategic Planning and Analysis

Able to initiate and lead the analysis of market data through consistent communication and coordination with breeding teams, the Product Development Manager and the COO in order to evaluate targets; able to plan and implement regional and national sales strategies consistent with market opportunities; able to develop and execute appropriate action plans; able to analyze and report results; able to complete market segmentation and create a strategic road map for LCS future development.

Technical Skills

Knowledge of wheat production and agronomy, with reference to the production and marketing of QA and certified seed. Sales and customer management skills. Budgeting experience and financial competence. Computer skills including MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint. Excellent verbal and written communication skills.

Interpersonal Skills

Possess strong leadership skills. Able to develop and maintain productive work relationships with key clients and various positions within the organization such as breeders, lab personnel, product development staff, financial and administrative staff, etc. Ability to manage relationships and to work with people of different cultural and ethnic backgrounds.

Teamwork

Team player with a positive attitude. Ability to lead and to collaborate.

Judgment

Exhibits sound and accurate judgment. Accepts personal responsibility for task fulfillment and job performance.

Professionalism

Highly self-motivated individual with good time management and organizational skills. Have a creative aptitude. Well-organized, committed, accurate and thorough, with attention to detail.

Adaptability

Able to successfully manage frequent change, delays, or unexpected events. Able to handle multiple projects simultaneously. Willing to travel on a regular basis. A self – starter who can work in a highly competitive sales/business environment with minimal supervision.

Attendance / Punctuality

Ensures work responsibilities are covered.

Dependability

Ability to work in an independent and self-directed manner.