New Product Introduction Accelerator Specialist

ROLE OVERVIEW

We're seeking a strategic and technical leader to focus on accelerating our New Product Introduction (NPI) pipeline across South Africa. The main objectives of the role are:

• Speed up time-to-market for selected priority products across product lines, including Disease Control, Herbicides, Insecticides, Seedcare and Biologicals.
• Influence and coordinate changes in ways of working to remove bottlenecks, improve decision speed and increase development efficiency.
• Lead cross-functional acceleration initiatives with Crop Protection Development (CPD), Product Biology, Regulatory, Project Management, Marketing, Commercial Units and Regional teams.
• Ensure profiling, registration support, Strong internal consultancy to ensure the timely technical launch platform implementation and country implementation plans are aligned to critical milestones.
• Identify opportunities to simplify development plans, prioritize key studies, use data more effectively and apply digital tools where they can accelerate delivery.
• Provide consolidated technical input to regional portfolio and Portfolio Leadership Team (PLT) forums to support faster, better-informed decisions.

Main Accountabilities

• Acceleration Strategy: Define and drive the acceleration approach for selected priority NPI projects across product lines ZA, ensuring clear focus on value, speed and quality of delivery.
• Time-to-Market Delivery: Identify, prioritize and remove technical, regulatory, development and operational bottlenecks that delay product advancement from profiling to launch readiness.
• Cross-functional Collaboration: Coordinate Product Biology, Regulatory, Project Management, Marketing, Commercial and Regional teams to align priorities, resources, timelines and decision points.
• Technical and Market Readiness: Ensure robust technical positioning, trial evidence, registration support and launch platforms are available on time to support successful commercialization.
• Digital and Data Enablement: Promote the use of data, digital tools and improved planning processes to accelerate technical decisions and increase development efficiency.
• Business Partnership: Serve as a trusted partner to PLTs, Commercial Units and regional leadership by providing clear recommendations, risk assessment and progress visibility for priority NPI projects.
• Communication and Governance: Provide transparent reporting on milestones, risks, trade-offs and decisions required to keep projects on their critical path.
• Compliance, Safety and Continuous Improvement: Uphold Syngenta standards for safety, stewardship, compliance and technical integrity while continuously improving NPI processes and ways of working.

Overarching Accountabilities

• Accelerate delivery across a complex portfolio with multiple product lines, countries and stakeholders.
• Identify bottlenecks, simplify plans and keep priority NPI projects on their critical path.
• Align technical, regulatory, project, commercial and regional teams without direct authority.
• Balance speed, technical quality, compliance and commercial relevance in decision making.
• Effectively communicate of risks, trade-offs, milestones and decisions required to senior stakeholders.

KNOWLEDGE, EXPERIENCE & CAPABILITIES

Critical qualification & experience

• Bachelor’s degree (MSc degree preferred) in Agriculture related qualification or equivalent
• 15+ years of experience in crop protection or product development
• Solid experience managing or coordinating product development projects across functions and geographies
• Experience identifying critical path activities, risks and mitigation actions for product advancement.
• Experience working with external collaborators, country teams and regional stakeholders.
• Proven track record in a research, development, technical or portfolio environment.
• Digital and data experience will be an added advantage.

Critical knowledge

• Strategic thinking on how data can drive more effective and efficient product development decisions.
• Agronomist, crop protection scientist or equivalent with strong technical understanding across crop protection product lines.
• Very good understanding of product development, technical validation, registration requirements and launch readiness.
• Strong knowledge of Syngenta and competitor products, technologies and market dynamics across relevant portfolios.
• Understanding of trialing, protocol design, data interpretation and critical evidence needed for technical positioning.
• Understanding of R&D, CPD and commercial processes involved in moving products from concept to launch.
• Leadership and teamwork in a multicultural, matrix environment.