Regional Manager Prospecton

What we’re looking for:

We're looking for a Regional Agronomy Manager to join our team in Prospecton. The successful incumbent will be responsible for the management of the commercial potato supply in relation to negotiations, contracting, supply co-ordination and potato supply chain management for KZN (including commercial potato transport and storage) within the required AOP framework. This entails potato supply and demand balance management, regular monitoring of crop cycles, identification of supply risks, management of the regional agronomist team and driving solutions to cover supply risks.

In addition, KZN is to aim to become a self-sufficient hub where seed from G0 to commercial is to be managed within this role, determined by commercial demand over PSP.

To provide Agronomic leadership and technical growing support to Simba potato growers. Roll out revised agricultural best practices to new and existing growers to support IPS product design. Responsible for production information capturing (Smart Agro), volume forecasting and the successful integration of new Pepsi Co proprietary varieties within the BU’s agronomy productivity agenda.

• Manage the commercial potato supply programme in accordance with the production needs of the Prospecton factory.
• Manage the seed pipeline in KZN, in accordance with Prospecton PSP, under the guidance of the Technical Services Manager.
• Manage negotiations and contracting of commercial and seed potato supplier agreements; including transport.
• Manage the KZN commercial potato supply to ensure the following:
• The efficient flow of timeous crop information.
• The timeous execution of delivery contracts (coordination of planting & harvesting).
• The accurate and timeous capturing of supporting crop data through the Smart Agro system.
• Manage KZN seed potato supply, in conjunction with the Technical Services Manager, to ensure the following:
• Seed planning from G0 – G4, based on the PSP volume requirements of the Prospecton factory.
• The timeous execution of delivery contracts (coordination of planting & harvesting).
• Accurate pipeline management to minimize seed requirements from external regions.
• The accurate and timeous capturing of supporting crop data through the Smart Agro system.
• Maintain accurate weekly, monthly and annual potato supply plans for the KZN factory.
• Review supply balances, evaluate risks (e.g. processing plant stock levels, demand, weather, crop availability, quality loss, etc.) and cause of change on a regular basis (daily/weekly/monthly).
• Work with planning team to understand demand and capacity developments for short and medium term supply (e.g. outsourcing projects, promotional activity, capacity changes, etc.) and provide input from potato supply.
• Manage any mandates for spot purchasing / out-of-contract procurement of potatoes for contingency purposes.
• Support the Agro BU Lead with productivity target execution, supplier development, price and volume negotiations, and supplier performance reviews through KPI reporting, feedback and meetings.
• Responsible for educating growers on latest agronomic practices that drive best in class potato quality (lower defects, higher solids), increased yields, reduce foreign objects, inspects and recommend farmer washing/grading operations and equipment.
• Develop, implement and maintain good handling practices for potatoes to ensure high quality potatoes from storage to the factory.
• Provide Simba growers with best in class, specialist agronomic support to deliver improved potato quality, monitor crop performance (Smart Agro) and implement sustainable improvements across all Simba growers and growing regions.
• Provide regional Agro management with monthly commercial crop volume estimates compared…