General Manager - Ulima

Role Profile

We are seeking a self-driven, passionate and experienced professional to hold the General Manager role in our agribusiness arm.  The role holder will be in charge of the day to day running of the Ulima business. He/she will liaise with the CEO to develop the agribusiness strategy and oversee it’s implementation in the business including performance management and team engagement to deliver the vision.

 Key Responsibilities:

• Strategy execution: Work closely with the CEO to develop the short term and long-term strategies for Ulima in line with the organization’s vision and align with the relevant stakeholders to ensure the execution of these strategies. Provide strategic leadership to the team and ensure the appreciation of the business’ strategic objectives. Developing and implementing an innovative and ambitious Agriculture strategy with a clear focus on data, advisory and scaling up of operations.
• Financial Management: Develop the operational budget for Ulima and monitor it’s spent and utilization. Hold overall responsibility for the financial performance of the business and work closely with the Kyosk finance team to develop the financial forecasts and strategy including implementation in the business. Work closely with the CEO to engage donors and source for funding to deliver key farming projects.
• Operations Management: Drive Ulima’s performance to guarantee the achievement of the set targets, performance metrics, revenue generation and manage profit and loss accountabilities for the business. Report on the overall performance of the Ulima business against the set objectives for the financial year. Assess the current and future development opportunities for the Ulima business and their impact to the business’ performance.
• Stakeholder Management: Cultivate and maintain relationships with key stakeholders both internally and externally to guarantee their needs are met. Engage with Ulima’s clients to understand their expectations and ensure the team is able to address the same within the agreed timelines. Engage with key regulatory bodies within the agribusiness space to ensure compliance to regulatory requirements for the farm output. Resource mobilisation and relationship management with main donors and partners, including securing funding at a global (multi-country) level for Agriculture.
• Reporting: Take a lead in the preparation and presentation of business performance reports for the board. Lead the presentation of the key findings from the prepared reports; ensure that there is appropriate and accurate management information available to the management to guide decision making.
• Market Analysis:Lead frequent market and competitor analysis to identify business opportunities market gaps and devise ways to bridge the gaps and maximize on the opportunities for revenue growth. Benchmark with global companies and best practice trends and utilize this information drive value addition.
• People Management & Development:Create an open culture with collaboration across multi-disciplinary teams and significant stakeholders. Oversee the attraction of top talent to work within the commercial department, while developing and retaining talent. Ensure that appropriate performance management and succession planning is in place to guide and motivate a diverse team of high performing individuals to achieve our aggressive business growth goals.
• Any other duties within the Ulima Business as may be assigned from time to time by the CEO

Minimum Requirements & Key Skills:

• A minimum of 10 years’ experience with at least 4 years in a senior management position;
• Experience in agribusiness is an added advantage;
• A master’s degree in Business Administration from a reputable institution;
• Strong leadership skills with the ability to manage a multiplicity of stakeholders.
• Good knowledge of the concepts of crop cultivation, food production, agrichemicals, farm machinery, processing, seed supply, farm machinery and other concepts about agriculture business;
• Experience in the food and animal production and supply chain with a good knowledge of the functions of agri-business operations, namely: financial, production, office, marketing and operations;
• Excellent knowledge of current technology in Agriculture is preferred;
• Significant experience and proven track record of developing and executing Agriculture initiatives in a competitive context;
• Strong network and visibility with managing donors and partners relevant to the Agriculture sector and a proven track record in mobilizing financial resources is an added advantage;
• Exemplary leadership skills and extensive experience in creating and leading high-performance teams.

 Competencies

• Operational Excellence;
• Commercial Acumen;
• Strategic Orientation;
• Financial Acumen;
• Tech Savvy.

Apply by: Nov. 26, 2022