Portfolio Manager Herbicides- Southern Africa

Mayfly Agri; Durban; On-site; ZAR 900,000 - 1,300,000; Full time

Job summary

Mayfly Agri in Durban, South Africa, is seeking a senior professional to lead market intelligence and strategic marketing for agrochemical categories. You will manage budgets, monitor market dynamics, and drive product positioning within spray programmes across regional markets.

The role requires deep knowledge of herbicides, adjuvants, and crop protection, plus strong financial and analytical skills to guide pricing, launches, and strategic decisions.

Qualifications

• BSc Agric or Business degree with AVCASA registration.
• 5+ years in Agricultural Chemical environment, herbicides & adjuvants.
• Broad knowledge of agrochemical and agricultural input business.
• Strong market intelligence and analytical skills.
• Understanding of regulatory frameworks.
• Solid financial acumen for decision-making.
• Practical knowledge of crop-specific practices and spray programs.

Responsibilities

• Deliver budget targets for the categories.
• Maintain up-to-date knowledge of markets and submarkets.
• Contribute to market intelligence projects (surveys, pricing).
• Understand technical aspects and positioning of products in spray programs.
• Contribute to product and market opportunity assessments and business cases.
• Conduct range GAP analyses and advise on R&D budgets and acquisitions.
• Define portfolio strategies, crop spray programmes and 4Ps.
• Lead new product introductions, launches and promotional programmes.
• Drive procurement for launches and ensure compliance with internal systems.
• Position range price and provide value propositions; benchmark against competitors.
• Contribute to marketing assumptions for the yearly budget across categories.
• Manage promotional campaigns and cross-functional knowledge sharing.
• Support regional teams with training, product launches and campaigns.
• Develop key account approaches and coordinate promotional initiatives.
• Identify opportunities to add third-party products to expand the portfolio.
• Coordinate demonstrations to support business development.
• Suggest improvements for current product labels and packaging.
• Identify new applications for existing products.
• Input into regional marketing strategies and company execution.
• Investigate product claims and performance issues.
• Keep all administrative tasks and system inputs up to date.

Skills

Agriculture industry experience

Market intelligence

Financial analysis

Pricing strategy

Regulatory knowledge

Agricultural product marketing

Education

BSc Agriculture

Business degree with AVCASA registration

Job description

Minimum requirements for the role:

• Must have a B. Sc. Agric degree, and or Business degree with AVCASA registration
• Minimum 5+ years' experience in an Agricultural Chemical environment with specific focus on Herbicides, Seed applied Technology and Adjuvants
• Broad knowledge of Agrochemical and Agricultural input business with good industry credibility and value chain expertise
• Proven expertise in business and market intelligence, including the application of marketing concepts and analytical tools
• Solid understanding of market dynamics and relevant regulatory frameworks
• Strong financial acumen with the ability to interpret and apply financial data in decision-making
• Practical knowledge of crop-specific agricultural practices, including the implementation and management of spray programmes

The successful candidate will be responsible for:

• Responsible for delivering budget targets for the categories.
• Maintaining up-to-date knowledge of the markets and submarkets (based on market information databases).
• Contributing to market intelligence projects (e.g., market surveys, pricing surveys).
• Understanding all technical aspects and positioning of different products in the spray programmes.
• Contributing to product and market opportunity assessments and defining business cases.
• Responsible for conducting range GAP analysis and providing guidance to R&D budgets and acquisition strategies.
• Defining portfolio strategies, crop spray programmes, and product strategies, including the 4 Ps (Product, Place, Price, Promotion).
• Responsible for new product introductions, launches, and promotional programmes.
• Driving the procurement process for product launches, including ensuring compliance with all related internal systems.
• Responsible for price positioning of the range, including providing value propositions and conducting competitive benchmark analyses to support pricing decisions.
• Contributing to marketing assumptions for the yearly budget across the categories.
• Managing promotional and advertorial campaigns and functions related to current products and portfolios.
• Attending global category meetings to enhance cross-functional knowledge sharing and information dissemination.
• Contributing to business support initiatives aimed at achieving gross profit targets (e.g., training meetings, product launches, marketing campaigns, technical and marketing support for regional teams).
• Developing and delivering training programmes for the sales team, distributors, and agents, focusing on product positioning and value propositions.
• Contributing to the development of key account approaches, including maintaining customer databases and coordinating key promotional initiatives.
• Identifying and negotiating opportunities to add third-party products to expand the current portfolio.
• Coordinating demonstration trials to support business development and product launches.
• Recommending continuous improvements for current product labels and packaging.
• Identifying new applications for existing products.
• Providing input into general marketing strategies for the sub-region.
• Contributing to company strategies and supporting execution within the region.
• Investigating product claims and performance-related issues.
• Ensuring all administrative tasks and system inputs are being kept up to date.

Please note that subsequent to the screening and shortlisting process, all further communication will be entered into, only with the shortlisted candidates