Group Crop Breeding Manager, Corn

Our client is a leading Global vegetable seed Company with offices across the Global and Headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand. They are seeking a dynamic and strategic leader to develop, drive and execute breeding strategy for the corn seed group. You should have solid technical and commercial experience in plant breeding and be a strong communicator. This is a Global role and reports directly to the Group Head of Breeding. This is an excellent opportunity to embark on an amazing journey with a global tropical vegetable seed business who are committed to providing high-quality seeds and knowledge on effective agronomic practices to millions of smallholder farmers.

Responsibilities:

• Jointly accountable with the Crop Manager in engaging the commercial teams from the Group and various countries in regular crop strategic planning discussions to gain understanding of external market and business insights. Establishes alignment of the crop’s breeding strategic direction and allocate resources appropriately to support commercial targets
• Supervises senior breeders to ensure successful execution of assigned breeding programs and guides them in resolving issues that might potentially delay the product advancement process
• Reviews crop breeding programs based on established performance measures and provides recommendations to breeders on course-corrective actions for new product delivery to target markets
• Builds strong collaboration and seamless coordination between and amongst the different functions within Group Research and Development (ie, Biotechnology, Pathology, R&D operations) to maximize the use of available technology and support to ensure success of breeding programs
• Promotes and encourages innovation in crop breeding programs. Keeps abreast of new and emerging trends and developments in the market, genetics/breeding, agronomy, biotechnology, pathology and related research
• Reviews and evaluates available studies, publications and journals and applies relevant concepts and techniques to enrich or innovate our breeding technology and practices
• Manages the overall performance of the breeding team by ensuring that team and individual KPIs are clearly defined at the start of the year, aligned with key stakeholders (for shared KPIs) , measured and monitored at the end of the year
• Provides regular performance feedback and coaching to the breeders to ensure they successfully meet or exceed performance expectations
• Improves the talent bench strength by identifying and developing potential successors to critical and leadership positions
• Work with other group functional managers within R&D local managers from other functions/departments (Breeding, R&I, R&D Operations) and other country ROMs to share and exchange best practices

Requirements:

• M.Sc. or higher (Ph.D.) in Plant Breeding, Genetics, or related discipline
• Minimum 10 years of relevant work experience in breeding with established and extensive global experience in a similar industry or for a similar crop
• Innovative thinker with strong strategic mindset and business acumen
• Proven track record of leading successfully a team
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills
• Strong change agility; is able to adapt nimbly and lead the team through complex situations