Head of Agric Technical

DUE: 15 JULY 2023

Summary

Our client is the agricultural sector is looking for a suitable individual to fill in the role of Head of Agric Technical. This role assumes executive responsibility for sustainable vertical and horizontal growth initiatives across the catchment, as well as driving efficiency and accountability for resource utilization in the agricultural divisions.

Agronomy

• Monitor, advise and implement strategies to adopt agricultural best practice in both McP and third- party out grower operations, including but not limited to pest and disease detection, control and mitigation; planning and production; variety selection and optimization; and soil health, crop nutrition, ripening and herbicide programs and recommendations.
• Provide scientific agronomic support and benchmarking to both McP and out grower divisions in the development of annual crop estimates, as well as plough out and replant programs.
• Formulate plant protection and nutrition programmes and ensures adherence to good agronomic practices by the McP operations; and implements strategies to enhance the productivity of the outgrower operations.
• Develop and manage agricultural information systems for use in the setting up of crop production targets and resource utilization efficiency parameters.
• Set information parameters that allow estates to benchmark with other operations and best
• Set and compile budgets and recommend production parameters for the Agriculture division

Water Management:

• Lead, coordinate and manage the industry irrigation catchments (and related strategic stakeholder engagements and/or strategic business cases), including the optimization of reticulation, application, water demand and power supply through appropriate measurement, commercial contracting, control and benchmarking processes.
• Approve and monitor irrigation and drainage policies, as well as the cost-effectiveness thereof.

Land preparation & Infrastructure:

• Approve annual land preparation activities in line with budgeted cropping program.
• Manage and monitor third-party service providers against efficiency, cost, quality and governance parameters.
• Determine the agricultural mechanization strategies and plans.
• Manage all land preparation, internal water civil infrastructure including roads through formulating and implementing machinery utilization programmes, sourcing, servicing and maintenance programmes.
• Determine on introduction of cost effective and high yielding irrigation systems and harvesting technologies.

Outgrowers:

• Develop and implement horizontal and vertical growth initiatives geared towards the sustainable increase in third-party out grower production. This explicitly includes the staffing structure, service offering and implementation models of the department.
• Lead and develop a strong working relationship with third-party outgrowers and assume accountability for their operational performance.
• Sensitivity towards the socio-political environment, ensuring that the business unit recognizes and is responsive to this reality.

Projects:

• Lead, design and manage development projects
  ensuring they are competitively priced, within budget and quality standard, and follow appropriate governance and accountability protocols.
• Undertake post-implementation reviews to evaluate actual performance against project feasibilities. Source development-oriented finance for new projects.

Qualifications and Experience

The ideal candidate should:

• BSc degree in Agriculture/ Agricultural Engineering.
• MSc in Agricultural Engineering an added advantage.
• Minimum of ten years’ senior management and operational experience directly in commercial agriculture, agribusiness, agricultural projects and/or support.

Skills & Competences

• Commercial acumen.
• Strong mathematical, analytical and scientific aptitude.
• Strong problem-solving abilities.
• Strong research and organizational skills.
• Wide business network in the agricultural sector.

TO APPLY

Send your CVs and certificates to: jobs@epzglobal.com