Agronomy Manager

As part of an ever-growing ag community, we are uniquely positioned to address the challenges and seize the opportunities of a growing global population. We are dedicated to finding the most talented people to support the businesses of our member owners, local ag retails and cooperatives across North America. We strive to match people that share our passion for agriculture with sustainable careers in the communities in which our member owners operate. There is no better time to be part of the growing, dynamic world of agriculture – let’s help you find your fit.

Location: Belgrade, MN

The Agronomy Manager balcony view of responsibilities is to have the agronomy business develop lifetime customer relationships. These are based on value selling of our cooperative’s products and services. Another responsibility is to lead a team of professionals by directing this team to provide members a return on their investment. The product mix consists of agronomy technology, crop nutrients, crop protection products, and seed. The cooperative’s goals for agronomy are woven together with the expectations of the cooperative member. The manager provides key communication lines with the following: General Manager, Board of Directors, Seed Sales Manager, Agronomy Sales Staff, Agronomy Operations Manager, and Cooperative Members.

Essential Functions

• Supports and directs initiatives for the sales and marketing efforts of Agronomy Sales Team.

• Establishes sales goals and secure funding to reward Sales Team for their success, making sure that goals align with cooperative’s mission and vision.

• Initiates the growth and development for Sales Staff and self in regard to continued product knowledge.

• Lead a robust market segmentation review annually and develop multiple channels and approaches to care for all cooperative members.

• Review all agronomy sales staff giving opportunity for advancement and professional/personal development.

• Assist Operations Manager and General Manager with recruitment of operational staffing.

• Give overall purpose and business vision to the entire agronomy sales and operational staff helping everyone understand the cooperatives objective vision.

• Work with the General Manager, Seed Sales Manager and Operations Supervisor to establish the agronomy budget with emphasis on sales volumes and gross margin.  

• Develop a growing season supply plan for crop nutrients crop protection products and seed. The supply plan is a collaboration with General Manager, Operations Manager, Seed Sales Manager, Winfield United and Prairie Land Ag.

• Develop a gross margin plan and implement with agronomy leadership team.

• Manage key accounts and plan the cooperative approach and care for these key accounts.  

• Utilize the current CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tool to log and organize sales call information.

•  Evaluate each growing season looking for improvements and effiencies’

Key Competencies

• Financial Management.
• Performance Management.
• Problem Solving/Analysis.
• Technical Capacity.
• Customer/Client Focus.
• Agronomist sales function
• Agvance software reporting skills

Supervisory Responsibility

Direct reports: Operations Manager, Seed Sales Manager, Sales Agronomists, Assistant Sales Agronomists, Melrose Location Manager, Community Outreach Assistant.

Required Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s Degree in Agriculture related field, Marketing, Business Administration or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Demonstrating leadership and the ability to lead people.
• Strong Interpersonal skills, good judgement and capable of communication with a wide range individuals.
• Requires industry exposure and interest with some prior sales experience

Preferred Education Experience

• Certified Crop Advisor.
• CDL with Haz Mat and other DOT qualifications for operation of a commercial motor vehicle.
• 5 plus agronomy sales experience.

Position Type/Expected Hours of Work

This is a full-time position. Days and hours of work are typically Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5 p.m. Early morning, evening, and weekend work is required in-season to meet business demand.

Travel
Travel is primarily local during the business day, although some out-of-the-area and overnight travel may be expected.

Work Environment

Primary function of this job is a combination of indoor and outdoor activities There is outdoor activity with possibility of exposure to extreme heat and cold.

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk and hear. This position is very active and requires standing, walking, bending, kneeling, stooping, crouching, crawling, and climbing all day. The employee must frequently lift and/or move items over 50 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and ability to adjust focus.  

Other Duties
Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

If you have questions about how to apply, please call the HR Solution Center at 844-LOL-HR4U (844-565-4748) M-F 8:00am-4:30pm CT.