Managing Director Commerce South Africa

What does the job of Managing Director Commerce at Rijk Zwaan South Africa look like?

Rijk Zwaan South Africa is responsible for all our business development activities within South Africa. Our subsidiary in South Africa focuses on product development, sales and market development of our fruit and vegetable seeds. Our office is based in Krugersdorp, near Johannesburg.

We are a growing company, both in people, business and revenue. We are active in the whole value chain, from grower to supermarket and wholesale market. Rijk Zwaan is an innovative company. We are constantly breeding new products and looking for new ways to enter the market.
We have a large portfolio of products. Our main crops are tomato, cucumber, lettuce and pepper. We are involved in 44 different crop types, suitable for the South African market. Our customers and colleagues are spread throughout the whole of South-Africa.

The South African team is led by two managing directors. The team consists of 21 colleagues. Two Managing Directors are jointly responsible for all employees and activities in South Africa. Together they form the Board of Rijk Zwaan South Africa. One Managing Director focuses on the commercial activities. The other Managing Director focuses on HR, IT, Legal and financial topics.

You as Managing Director will focus on the commercial side of Rijk Zwaan South Africa. This includes business development, product development and value chain activities. You will develop business and client strategies to grasp the opportunities in the dynamic vegetable seed market. All to ensure sustainable growth for Rijk Zwaan South Africa. Every year the Board will make a five year development plan. This includes sales targets, investments, personnel and cost development. You will have good support from the head office and Rijk Zwaan’s globally operating client and crop teams. The two Managing Directors report the Business Manager, who is located in The Netherlands. Together with the Group Controller and HR Advisor they form the South African management team. In short your tasks include:

- leading the sales team in a people oriented way
- development of our turnover, through your commercial strategy
- close collaboration with your Managing Director colleague

Your contribution:
As Managing Director we expect you to have a broad interest in all aspects of managing a company. We want you to foster the Rijk Zwaan people oriented company culture. The main focus in this role is guiding and motivating your team. Through realizing sales and servicing the various client categories in the market. You should have strong people management skills and the ability to build bridges between people, cultures and companies. Another aspect is managing financial risks and legal compliance. We are seeking a hands on, inspirational leader. An organizer with an international outlook, someone who is both people and business oriented. In addition, we require the following:

- An academic degree preferably in the area of (agricultural) business economics
- At least 10 years managerial experience
- Good understanding of agriculture and markets for agricultural/horticultural products
- A people-oriented management style
- A real team player

What can you expect from us?

As Managing Director Commerce you will be directly responsible for the sales team. Besides a growing international work environment, we are happy to offer you:

- A competitive market-based salary and good additional benefits.
- Excellent training opportunities through our Rijk Zwaan Academy and specific management training courses.
- An entrepreneurial / innovative and stimulating work environment

Rijk Zwaan: your new employer?

Rijk Zwaan is an international family company with a people-oriented culture. Rijk Zwaan is right at the start of the food chain. We develop vegetable varieties and sell the seeds produced from them globally to growers and other chain partners. From our strategic position we contribute to the world food supply. Everything we do is about healthy growth. The growth of natural and healthy products that we export around the world. The growth of our company. And above all the growth of our people: we give you every opportunity to use your own initiative and achieve your full potential.

Interested?
- An assessment and screening will be part of the procedure.