Area Sales Manager Cape Region at Syngenta

Role purpose

• Accountable for leading the commercial, operational, and strategic performance of the assigned area.
• This role demands a step change in ambition – re-inventing the Cape area’s approach to market development, customer engagement, and business growth through a bold, re-invented strategy.
• The incumbent will define and execute a forward-looking vision and area strategy, aligning people, resources, and partnerships to unlock new value, strengthen competitive positioning, and deliver market share growth, channel loyalty and sustainable profitability.

Accountabilities

• Develop and execute a transformative Area Strategy aligned with national business objectives, incorporating new routes to market, customer segmentation, and value propositions.
• Develop and implement a 5-year strategy for each Distributor in the area, to support a re-defined long-term ambition for the Cape Region.
• Achieve the agreed profit and volume goals for the relevant region and dealerships consistent with overall sales and marketing strategy.
• Optimize territory management, resource allocation, and channel performance to deliver strategic priorities efficiently.
• Identify new growth opportunities through data-driven analysis, competitive intelligence, and market insights.
• Lead change management initiatives to embed a high-performance culture focused on innovation, accountability, and customer centricity.
• Delivery of annual sales targets for the area (agreed profit and volume goals).
• Manage and Lead Sales Managers in the area.
• Manage and develop a high level of service delivery towards targeted Key Customers as well as investigating ways to improve customer SOW.
• Assist and support Sales Managers with the customer (dealer, agent, grower) in terms of technical support, recommendations, and training.
• Oversee and guide all engagement between the Sales, Agronomy, Marketing and CPD teams to ensure effective execution of commercial campaigns and delivery on set targets.
• Manage and develop Market Information, Budgets, Forecasts, Business Planning, Partnership Agreements with area team (Sales Managers, Agronomists, Campaign Leads).
• Identify, define, establish and maintain influential relationships with relevant institutes and key crop value opinion leaders with RBM’s and SP.
• Focus resources on growers and key influencers in the food / feed chain – create pull approaches.
• Build relationships in value chain (identify the lead influencers).
• Identify key crop, product and market opportunities and threats for area.
• Support Sales Managers and Technical Leads and Agronomists to investigate and manage complaints/claims to minimize financial loss (second line of contact for Syngenta).
• Develop the competence, motivation and commitment of Dealers and Agents through effective training, promotion and sales support aids.
• Keep abreast of market, trade and competitor activity in order to revise strategies to meet changing requirements.
• Support the Marketing team to ensure market information accuracy in I-Plan for allocated crops.

Qualifications
Knowledge, Skills & Experience

General:

• The role requires a high focus on building partnerships, managing relationships, motivating others and delivery of targets.
• Been successful and shown leadership potential within the different departments of Syngenta.
• Agricultural degree and background with proven results within the company.
• Good people skills.

Critical Knowledge

• Leadership – ability to lead, coach, drive and motivation of area team.
• Good understanding of the business, key account management, the market and how to add customer value.
• Practical experience of developing and implementing sales strategies and plans.
• Knowledge of key financial and marketing concepts and principles.
• Sound business acumen and negotiating ability.
• Broad technical know-how of crops, products and farming practices. (Approximately five years’ experience within the company)

Critical Skills

• Strong leadership and team working skills.
• Effective communicator, fully bilingual, well-developed skills of persuasion.
• Resilient to pressure.
• Conflict management.

Critical Experience

• Good understanding of the business, key account management, the market and how to add customer value.
• Practical experience of developing and implementing sales strategies and plans.
• Knowledge of key financial and marketing concepts and principles.
• Sound business acumen and negotiating ability.
• Broad technical know-how of crops, products and farming practices.  (Approximately five years’ experience).

Strategic Influencing

• Effectively influences to achieve objectives using different forms and sources of influencing initiatives.
• Seeks to improve continuously. Pro-active in seizing and capitalizing on opportunities.

Critical success factors & key challenges

• A new clearly articulated and executed area strategy that redefines growth potential and market relevance.
• Reinventing the area’ go-to-market model through channel optimization amidst intense generic pressure.
• Sustained improvement in market share, product mix and profitability.
• Strong alignment between sales execution and strategic intent.
• Enhanced customer satisfaction, loyalty, and market influence.
• Accountable for sales forecasting / planning for Key Dealers in region.
• Ensure implementation of related campaigns.
• Support agents with technical and commercial information in order to achieve sales targets.
• Gather market intelligence.

Interface – (boundary linking two systems)

• Area Sales Manager
• Relevant Dealerships and Agents
• Supply Chain
• Customer Marketing
• Strategy & Agronomy
• CPD
• Influencers