Commodity Sourcing Manager at Farmerline Limited

Role Overview

• Providing market access for smallholders  is fundamental to Farmerline’s interventions to smallholder farmers. In helping smallholder farmers make lasting profits, you'll oversee the purchase of quality commodities, update our inventory strategy, and liaise with suppliers to ensure the stability of our supply chain. 
• The role of the Head of Commodity Sourcing is to lead on sourcing and sales of commodities.
• The head would work with other members of the Farmerline team to generate revenue for the business through commodity sales across various channels and ensuring proper documentation of all operations.
• The key deliverables would be to ensure market access opportunities for commodities produced by smallholder farmers. Importantly, the manager would lead in securing fair prices for smallholder farmers in Farmerline’s network
• Ultimately, he/she should be able to effectively navigate market risks to help the business reach its commodity goals.

Responsibilities 

• Identify, profile and build a detailed national database of commodity suppliers (outgrower businesses, aggregators, nucleus farmers, coops and farmer groups) ahead of supplies.
• Engage suppliers to aggregate farm produce at the right time while ensuring high quality and reducing post harvest losses.
• Leverage the Mergdata platform to predict yield, food quality and track produce sourcing.
• Provide global contract expertise for sourcing of commodities.(maize, soybean etc)
• Facilitate fair, timely and transparent payments to all farmers/coops supplying to the micro-entrepreneurs and agribusinesses in Farmerline’s network.
• Work with other team members to build the capacity of suppliers to consistently supply commodities while increasing their business profitability.
• Integrate successful parts of the market access model into Farmerline’s operations and partnerships across Africa.
• Lead in aggregating and communicating market price information from major markets to key stakeholders especially farmers in our network.
• Work with management to devise online and offline marketing strategies best suited for crop marketing goals and objectives
• Help build and maintain a strong and consistent brand through a wide range of online and offline marketing activities.
• Study market trends and identify any risks with the  sourcing and procuring of commodities. Devise means to maximize commodity buying efficiency and minimize risks.
• Leverage knowledge and experience in local and global commodity prices/pricing to negotiate local and international purchase orders.
• Plans all crop marketing operations to ensure timely delivery of all purchase orders received in the required quality and quantities.
• Stay abreast with key market trends and intelligence with the ability to seek new business opportunities and formulate strategies to capitalize on growing the business
• Coordinates the procurement of all off-taking and market-related logistics including storage and transportation.
• Develop impactful, cost effective and scalable market access models for all major crops produced in Ivory Coast.
• Collaborates with other units to ensure all farmers receive adequate training, agro-inputs and prompt digital payments
• Preserve and promote company standards by building a strong and self-sufficient commodity supply base.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Agricultural science, Agribusiness, Supply Chain Management or related courses.
• Knowledge of the systemic challenges in agriculture value chains in Ivory Coast, a passion for creating lasting solutions to them and ability to navigate farming communities.
• Project management skills and the ability to create and stick to timeliness.
• 4-5 years of working experience in crop marketing/crop sourcing in Ivory Coast with experience cashew, among other major crops in Ivory Coast. 
• Strong research and field  experience in  coffee is required
• Proven experience in the use of mobile technology to facilitate market access. 
• Strong business analysis, planning and financial management skills
• Excellent oral communication, writing and presentation skills.
• Ability to speak  multiple languages across Ivory Coast is an added advantage
• Contract Negotiation and Business Development skills require