Senior Manager, Business Development – Agriculture & Livestock

  • Full Time
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Applications have closed

The Senior Manager, Business Development – Agriculture & Livestock, will drive initiatives to establish leading food security companies and innovators at the NEOM Food sector.

Key Accountabilities and Responsibilities

  • Develop and implement a strategy for company attraction that focuses on retailers, distribution, growers/end-users, and industry experts to promote and coordinate the profitable sale of crop outputs, seed, crop protection, precision agriculture, and services as well as other products to develop NEOM’s agriculture strategy
  • Establish criteria for company selection that include financial stability, technological readiness, product differentiation, safety, and quality standards, as well as impact in significantly contributing towards reaching NEOM’s food security goals
  • Assess the feasibility of, and budgets required, to establish companies at NEOM and support their initial and projected market activities
  • Identify key needs (infrastructure, talent pool, etc.) in incentivizing companies to establish at NEOM and in ensuring market take-off
  • Partner with other tenant attraction stakeholders to draft and communicate effective incentive packages for agriculture-related companies of interest
  • Benchmark strategies and success in attracting companies against other regional and “smart city” efforts, and develop insights to promote NEOM as an advantaged location
  • Initiate strategic recommendations to influence business decisions on specific product development and crop focus
  • Become acquainted with field operations, formulate application plans, and support grower improvement plans and annual performance goals.
  • Collaborate with public research institutions, private companies, and government agricultural programs to leverage regional agriculture expertise.
  • Be a leader in promoting research, evaluation, and new product development pipeline to develop innovative technologies and influence grower use
  • Contribute to research, evaluation, and growth of new environmentally sustainable technologies that drive breakthrough results necessary to increase yield and decrease the cost
  • Attend relevant industry meetings to maintain and expand the current knowledge base on focus crops in the Middle East.
  • Develop and implement marketing leadership and support implementation of key marketing initiatives
  • Performs other related duties and/or special projects as required
  • Build and maintain a partner engagement pipeline, CRM (customer relations management) tooling, and conduct industry scouting/research

Education & Experience

  • Bachelor’s Degree in Business and/or an Agriculture-related field. A graduate degree is desired, and preference will be given to candidates combining qualifications in business and agriculture.
  • Experience in a multicultural environment is a plus as is proficiency in at least two languages
  • Passion for NEOM’s mission in adopting the most innovative and meaningful trends in agriculture and livestock technologies that can be leveraged to enhance sustainable and environmentally sensitive food production, support export initiatives, and provide the NEOM population with healthy, nutritious, and safe food
  • Knowledge of regional and global market trends in agriculture and livestock technologies
  • Knowledge of the agriculture and livestock industry encompassing large corporations, SMEs, and start-ups (including VCs, accelerators, technology transfer offices, etc.)
  • Prior experience in a fast-paced international business development role and/or managerial experience in the agriculture and livestock   industry
  • Prior experience working with consultancy agencies and managing external projects
  • Strong networking skills and willingness to initiate engagement with internal and external stakeholders
  • Proven team-player with a minimum of 7 years’ experience contributing to multidisciplinary teams
  • Highly effective communicator with strong oral and written presentation skills