Job Details

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.

ROLE PURPOSE

Key Account Management of commercial farming business in Lusaka, Chisamba, Mumbwa.

ACCOUNTABILITIES

The Key Account Manager role reports to Sales Head- Southern Africa and will be expected to carry out the following:

• Visiting our Commercial Farmer base of customers in the allocated region and providing advice and basic technical support in the use of our products- both before and after a sale is made. Add value to the customers business by selling our full Crop Protection portfolio.
• Managing the transaction side of our sales business, including:

1. Providing customers with quotations.
2. Receiving orders from customers which could be in the format of formal purchase order from a customer or a verbal order which is to be turned into a formal sales order.
3. Oversight of the invoicing process, and delivery of the product, working with Syngenta operations team to ensure good, timely service and eliminating errors.
4. Managing credit accounts and payments, through to timely and payment of due invoices.

• Management of the credit accounts of your allocated customers- ensuring that credit arrangements and customer master data are correct and up to date.
• Oversight of the new commercial farmers opportunities business in your area.
• Close coordination with your local Syngenta Operations depot to ensure the correct products are in stock.
• As required, technical input or support to other company processes such as portfolio management, forecasting, account and complaint management.
• Specific reconciliation support to the Syngenta Accounts Receivables team, as requested and only when not busy with other things (note the KAM role has primacy).

KNOWLEDGE, EXPERIENCE & CAPABILITIES

• Degree in Agronomy or related field
• A fully paid-up member of Agriculture Institute of Zambia (AIZ)
• Deep knowledge of crop protection industry in Zambia
• In depth technical knowledge and experience of crop protection products
• 3 – 5 years commercial experience
• Delivers distinctive value proposition to key accounts
• Ability to understand customers’ needs, challenges, and opportunities and to bring solutions that address them better than competitors and build strong relationships.
• Selling and negotiation skills are key

Other behaviors critical for the role

• Service mind set.
• Ability to work with minimum supervision.
• Well natured and mature people management skills.
• Respected, trustworthy individual.
• Must have a high level of integrity.

SYNGENTA LEADERSHIP COMPETENCIES AND BEHAVIOURS

Essential Syngenta Competencies

• Innovative

Offer support to in challenging and improving the current way of doings things to increase labour productivity and efficiency.

• Decisive

Demonstrate ability to take prudent action with little oversight.

• Communicative

Demonstrates openness in communication to others, able to communicate in a language that  can be understood, listens well and incorporates the thoughts and ideas of others.

• Trusted

Track record for building trust and reliability to deliver required results.

• Team-oriented

Ability to work in a team of other collegues keeping in mind the overall company objectives.

• Results-oriented

Ability to deliver required results and support.