Product Manager Monogastric Nutrition at Kemin Industries

Overview

The Product Manager provides marketing support for designated products, which includes implementing a product development process, reducing product cost, and ensuring worldwide product standards.  They manage, promote, direct, plan, and coordinate activities for the product line and ensure synergy with related product team members to ensure the product line objectives are accomplished within prescribed time frame and parameters.  They support the product lifecycle, including gathering and prioritizing product and customer requirements, and work cross functionally throughout the company to achieve financial and customer objectives.  The Product Manager also collaborates and executes activities as part of the product management team that supports overall company strategy. 

Responsibilities

• Achieving our budget and strategic objectives within the product group will be the main performance measure.
• Owner and driver behind the formulation and implementation of the marketing strategy for your product groups.
• Define and recommend the KSSA marketing activities for your product groups through the development of a strategic marketing plan for the product groups; product value chain, competitive field, identify unmet customer needs, developing services, monitoring market trends, analyzing emerging product/market opportunities, identify new distribution channels, strategic pricing analyses etc.
• Identify customer product and/or application needs, manage them into prioritized product programs and drive execution with the commercial team.
• Develop, implement and control the marketing strategy by country where appropriate in co-ordination with the commercial team.
• Responsible for day-to-day Product Management activities interacting with all departments (purchase, operations, sales, R&D, logistics…) to drive your Product group for Net Sales and Gross Margin and customer satisfaction.
• Guardian of a constant product quality, managing customer complaints within agreed time frame.
• Align with R&D and follow up on research projects supporting your products. Drive the launch of new products.
• Work in collaboration with the Marketing Head on the promotional activities for your portfolio.
• Participate in and attend local exhibitions, seminars, training and workshops.
• Support R&D for registration affairs regarding your Product Groups: collect all technical information and trial results available, assists in setting up and follow-up of new trials, if necessary. Responsible for tracking registration dossiers of your Product Groups.
• You are responsible to update the Product Binder.
• Communicate and interact with the global product manager and your global counterparts.
• Ensure that the formulation system, time periods, plants, costing of raw materials, matrices etc. are kept up to date.

Qualifications

• A Bachelor of Science Degree with Honours, preferably in Animal and Poultry Science, or one of the life sciences, (specific science background is dependent upon position) with 2-5 years of related experience.
• Professional registration as an Animal Scientist (SACNASP).
• Postgraduate Diploma Marketing Management will be an added advantage.
• Additional related experience may substitute.

Essential Skills:

• Experience as an effective product manager, project team player, leader and motivator; and the ability to present ideas effectively and communicate well with customers, peers and all levels of management.
• Demonstrated achievement of product sales objectives and financial targets.
• Must be proactive, self-motivated, energetic, business-minded monogastric formulator with a broad scientific/technical aptitude base who is able to provide product leadership, set priorities and meet timetables leading to the attainment of set target and sales.
• Strong cross-functional team, leadership and interpersonal skills to be able to work effectively in a diverse team environment.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, problem solving, and critical thinking skills.
• Strong analytical skills; especially the ability to understand financial statements and to analytically evaluate and understand product costs, margin, pricing and market share.
• Requires a nutritional mentality combined with nutritional training and experience as it relates to monogastric nutrition products within the industry.
• Demonstrated integrity and honesty in all aspects.
• International experience highly desired.
• Working knowledge and experience with feed/premix formulation programs.
• Working knowledge of feed and premix ingredients.
• Working knowledge of the monogastric industry i.e. farming, manufacturing, feed safety and operational nutrition.
• Interpretation of NIR and wet chemistry results.
• Knowledge of anti-nutritional factors related to inclusions of various raw materials.
• Knowledge of the nutritional specifications for the various phases of an animal’s life cycle.
• Knowledge of on-farm production parameters.