AMEA Insect Control Project Manager

Company Description

As a world market leader in crop protection, we help farmers to counter these threats and ensure enough safe, nutritious, affordable food for all – while minimizing the use of land and other agricultural inputs.

Syngenta Crop Protection keeps plants safe from planting to harvesting. From the moment a seed is planted through to harvest, crops need to be protected from weeds, insects and diseases as well as droughts and floods, heat and cold.

Syngenta Crop Protection is headquartered in Switzerland.

Job Description

• Lead regional Insect Control portfolio of projects, within AMEA & JANZ Crop Protection Development (CPD), including new active ingredients and product life cycle management projects
• Ensure delivery of projects in line with strategic drivers, within agreed timelines and budget, and according to company R&D governance framework
• Work in partnership with Head Project & Portfolio Management, portfolio operations manager and marketing portfolio lead to define regional development priorities for insect control product line
• Business partner at cross-functional project development forums and insect control product line leadership teams (regional, global)

• Lead and ensure delivery of special projects/initiatives as needed, including business improvement initiatives, digital transformation, new business opportunities
• Enable decision making that is fact-based and focused on Value Over Investment (VOI); leads Portfolio Leadership Teams to assemble complete, consistent, and reliable overviews, insights, and recommendations on projects in a form that serves review bodies such as the AMEA Development Committee (DeCo), R&D Functional Leadership Teams or Country/Regional PLT’s in assessing projects. Conduct formal reviews of progress at agreed stage gates in the Stage Plan

Accountabilities: 

• Lead and deliver the agreed CPD portfolio of projects for Insect Control new active ingredients and product life cycle management projects across the region
• Manage resource deployment, risk profile and clarity on project progress and delivery to milestones and budget
• Lead regional multi-functional project teams to proactively identify, document, and manage project risks, issues, and opportunities for rigorous control of product development
• Represent regional positions and requirements in global development teams for new active ingredient and product development
• Lead projects through established stage gate promotion governance process at Regional and Global levels; ensure documentation for stage promotions are well prepared and archived; and ensure appropriate stakeholder engagement with technical and commercial stakeholders before governance body review
• Work in partnership with Head Project & Portfolio Management, portfolio operations manager and marketing portfolio lead to define regional development priorities for disease control products in line with strategic drivers.
• Provide transparency of development costs and business value of managed projects in project and portfolio management IT tools to enable fact-based, timely decision making and portfolio reporting
• Promote global standards, methodology, tools and ways of working aimed at managing and reducing complexity and increasing effectiveness and efficiency in operations
• Lead and ensure delivery of regional special projects/initiatives as needed
• Collaborate with portfolio managers in successful implementation & running of Regional Insect Control PLT.

Qualifications

• Science degree to MSci level; Agronomy, Biology or Chemistry background preferred; Additional qualifications in finance/business administration/MBA
• Advanced project management training, such as PMP (Project Management Professional) or equivalent qualification is desirable
• At least 7 years of project / program / portfolio management experience, proven track record of managing large development projects
• Hands on business experience preferably in agrichemicals/life sciences/chemicals
• An excellent communicator, able to use different styles to influence and build effective relationships at both working and senior levels
• Good interpersonal skills and capability to operate effectively in a matrix organization
• Rigor in fact finding, ability to set clear objectives and to define how to reach them, create accountabilities for project team members and willingness to review and react
• Strong organization skills
• Strong facilitation skills to plan and manage effective meetings and decision making
• Ability to think and work in complex structures
• Adept at working with diverse and remote teams

Knowledge and technical capabilities

• Fluent in English
• Proven record in the application of project and/or portfolio management methodologies
• Technically competent with a broad-based science knowledge, ability to learn quickly to understand CPD activities and the resources required to deliver them
• Good understanding of Agrichemical business strategies and principles of value creation for growers, especially in the disease control segment, is a plus
• Broad knowledge of the Syngenta business gained through experience in a range of different roles and functions is a plus
• Broad knowledge of or ability/interest to quickly learn the use of digital technologies for product development in Agribusiness
• Broad knowledge of or ability/interest to quickly learn supporting IT tools (SmartChoice, QlikView, SmartSheet)
• Change management experience