Managing Director

Ceres | Recruitment | Interim | Executive | Food & Agri; Chester; On-site; GBP 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Market-competitive remuneration

Job summary

Aviagen Turkeys Ltd, headquartered near Chester, is seeking a Managing Director to lead a multi-country poultry business and its international distribution portfolio. The role carries full executive P&L accountability, strategic leadership, and interaction with Aviagen Group functions.

Based in the Chester area with 40% international travel, the MD will shape the ATL business and ensure adherence to biosecurity, animal welfare and group standards while developing new international markets.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 10 years’ senior leadership experience in the poultry industry with full P&L accountability.
• Fluent written and spoken English.
• Experience of trading across a multi-country remit including markets with trade, sanctions, currency and geopolitical risk.

Responsibilities

• Lead Aviagen Turkeys Ltd. and its international distribution portfolio.
• Own the P&L and financial performance, develop strategy, budgets and forecasts.
• Direct distribution platforms including subsidiaries, distributors, agents and partnerships.
• Represent ATL with major customers, industry stakeholders and Aviagen group functions.

Skills

Senior leadership

P&L accountability

live production

hatchery operations

multi-country leadership

Fluent English

relocation willingness

international travel

Job description

Aviagen Turkeys Ltd (ATL), with headquarters near Chester (UK), part of the international turkey breeding business within Aviagen Group, is the world’s leading turkey breeding company. As a primary breeder, Aviagen Turkeys provides the highest-quality genetic stock and the technical support to enable efficient and healthy turkey production. ATL supplies breeding stock and hatching eggs to turkey producers across its international markets and is supported by a portfolio of owned distribution businesses. Continuous investments in R&D reflect the desire to better service customer needs. Modern breeding aims to achieve balanced, sustainable selection, which includes health, robustness, fitness and welfare traits, as well as suitability for meat production.

The company is part of EW GROUP GmbH, a both modern, strategic holding company, as well as a traditional family business. Founded in 1928, EW GROUP is firmly established in the world’s major animal breeding, animal health, animal nutrition, and other agricultural markets and consists of over 300 subsidiaries and employs more than 28,000 people.

In preparation for the planned retirement of the current Managing Director, the Company is seeking a successor to assume full executive responsibility for its financial, commercial, operational and organisational performance (incl. accountability for the international distribution companies that report into ATL, which is a large part of this role). The role carries significant executive autonomy within the delegated authorities set by Aviagen Group and the EW Group shareholders, while upholding Aviagen’s standards in customer service, product performance, biosecurity, animal welfare and business conduct.

Geographic remit:

Europe (EU and non-EU), Russia, Central Asia, the Caucasus, plus responsibility for developing new international markets.

Job Description

Lead Aviagen Turkeys Ltd. and its international distribution portfolio.

• Full executive responsibility for the financial, commercial, operational and organisational performance of ATL. Develop and execute the ATL business strategy and operating plans.
• Overall accountability for the P&L of ATL and the international distribution portfolio, covering revenue and sales performance, gross margin, operating profit, cost management, cash generation, working capital, inventory, customer credit, capital expenditure and investment returns.
• Overall executive accountability for the distribution companies: set direction, challenge and support the management teams, allocate resources, agree business plans, budgets, forecasts and performance objectives with the Business Unit Leaders of the individual companies and review performance.
• Develop the distribution platform and routes to market (owned businesses, expansion of existing subsidiaries, distributors, agents, partnerships, joint ventures and acquisitions): prioritize territories, evaluate existing routes, choose the right model market by market.
• Ensure appropriate financial and operational KPI’s are established and reviewed, and ensure corrective action is identified and implemented where performance falls below plan.
• Maintain senior-level relationships with strategically important customers, distributors, partners and industry stakeholders. Ensure ATL’s operational capability supports the requirements of customers and the distribution businesses.
• Represent ATL at senior customer, industry and Turkey Group level and ensure effective collaboration with the wider Aviagen organisation and Group functions
• Be individually accountable for the commercial and operational execution of the product strategy, agreed collectively through the Turkey Board of Executives, of which the Managing Director is a member.

Profile

A Managing Director with multi-country business leadership experience in the poultry industry.

Job requirements

• Minimum of 10 years’ senior leadership experience in the poultry industry, including full P&L accountability for a business of comparable scale and complexity, with direct commercial and operational experience of live production and hatchery operations.
• Multi-country business leadership exercised through subsidiary Managing Directors or General Managers, holding them accountable without taking day-to-day management.
• Experience of trading across the geographic remit, including markets carrying trade, sanctions, currency and geopolitical risk.
• Fluent written and spoken English.
• Willingness to relocate to the Chester area, and to travel internationally on a regular basis.

Competences

• Ability to assess and prioritise investment opportunities and build commercially robust business cases.
• Strong focus on customers, markets, profitable growth and long-term value creation.
• Ability to interpret financial and operational data and translate it into sound commercial decisions.
• Comfortable operating with significant autonomy while working effectively within a privately owned, Group-governed organisation.

Offer

Aviagen Turkeys Ltd offers You a role in which You will lead a complex international business and a portfolio of operating companies. This is an opportunity to lead a highly specialised business at the forefront of the global turkey genetics industry, combining full business leadership with the chance to make a lasting impact on the wider poultry sector.

As part of the international Aviagen group, Aviagen Turkeys operates at the very beginning of the poultry value chain, where genetic progress, bird health, welfare and production efficiency have a direct influence on the performance and sustainability of the industry. Its established B.U.T. and Nicholas brands, international customer base and breeding programmes provide a strong platform for continued development. A market-competitive remuneration package is envisaged, commensurate with the seniority and responsibilities of the role.

Place of employment

HQ in Chester, UK. 40% international travel.

Respond

Aviagen Turkeys Ltd has outsourced the Search and Selection for the Managing Director exclusively to CeresRecruitment. More information about Aviagen Turkeys can be found on www.aviagenturkeys.com. A personality questionnaire can be part of the recruitment process.