Job Description
Posting Start Date:  6/9/25
Offer ID:  1023
Unit:  Vilmorin-Mikado
Job Title:  Sales Manager
Job Location:  Salinas
Contract type:  Permanent
Job Description: 

Main Goal

The main goal of this position is to increase the Sales revenue, market share and profitability within the USA and Canada which includes key or large accounts (Direct Sales and Dealers). This will be achieved by leading and coordinating the Sales and Customer Service teams.

This customer-oriented position leads the team offering strategic guidance on the customer’s journey, and the commercial excellence.  The role supports the development and local implementation of the company’s strategy. Success on this role is the achieved through the construction of the strategy and the implementation of the sales campaign, the growth of sales and the margin, as well as the strong partnership with the customers

Job Description

MANAGEMENT - Organize teamwork and planning, set up and follow up objectives, organize team and individual meetings, develop the skills of the team, identify competencies gaps and recruitment needs, participate to the recruitment and onboarding process, identify talents

SALES - Coordinate and create partnership with key accounts, propose strategy to grow and increase the market shares and the margin. Strategize and co build the sales campaign with the commercial range and new products to gain market share and increase the profitability of the Business Unit business within the region.

FORECAST - Consolidate and review all regional sales forecasts and design a forecast for the country with a focus on volume, monthly allocation and average sales price. Manage and follow up sales vs. forecast. Propose/prioritize product allocation amongst areas in case of seed availability issue.

PRICING - Design and implement a coherent sale and price policy at country level to increase gross margin.
Define the objectives of average sales price and the sales actions value & frame. Follow up sales objective completion & prioritize actions during sales campaigns in coordination with customer service.

CREDIT MANAGEMENT - Follow up the day sales outstanding (DSO) and validate, coordinate high value/risk situations with the Credit Management team.

CUSTOMER, MARKET & COMPETITION INTELLIGENCE - Benchmark & analyze local customers, market & competition knowledge to identify business gaps and opportunities.  Propose a different customer’s journey based on customer’s profile, segmentation.

PRODUCT RANGE DESIGN & UPDATE - Based on the recommendations of the Product Development Manager, assess gaps & opportunities of the current portfolio from a sales performance perspective and propose product range optimization.

COMMERCIAL EXCELLENCE - Champion of key company ERP systems, forecasting tool, CRM. Challenge the customer segmentation, propose customers journey based on the customer segmentations and work closely with the Global customer service .

BUDGET - Manage the operating expense budget for the team. Define and supervise actions, goals, and achievements of the team.

REPORTING - Consolidate and analyze regional reports to the management, design and monitor KPIs. Direct interface with customers. Work closely with the Product Development Manager to maintain a high level of knowledge regarding the competitor’s key products.

Requires daily travel to visit customers in industry functions and field trials. May require frequent trips outside of the region to attend company and/or industry-related meetings. Multiple overnights stay throughout the year in the region.  And eventually, one international trip per year may be required.

Education

  • Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture, Plant Science, Business, or related field.
  • Master’s level degree preferred.

Skills

  • Minimum 5 years’ experience in Sales, Management, and/or related positions within the vegetable industry
  • Extensive knowledge of the seed industry; specifically, vegetable seeds within the US/Canada markets
  • Proficiency in the English language is required
  • Commercial Excellence, Sales Effectiveness, Sales campaign
  • Budget and Forecast Management
  • Ability to analyze data
  • Customer orientated
  • Knowledge of Microsoft Office programs such as Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
  • Must be available for international travel
  • Mentor, Coach and Manage teams with ongoing support and direction

Competencies

To perform the job successfully, an individual should demonstrate the following competencies:

Strategic Planning and Analysis – Ability to initiate and lead the planning and analysis of market data, through constant communication and coordination with research, development, and product management teams, to evaluate main targets.  Ability to take a lead role in the overall strategy, research and development requirements, development, and processing coordination for new and emerging products. 

Technical Skills – Vegetable production knowledge.  Technical expertise in key vegetable pest and management practices. Knowledge of the Fresh Market or Processing market/industry.  Sales and customer management skills, as well as crop management skills.  Ability to evaluate trials and new variety selections.  Budgeting experience.  Computer skills (Word, Excel, PowerPoint).  Strong verbal and written communication skills. Good interpersonal skills and integrity.  Ability to work with people of different cultural and ethnic backgrounds.

Interpersonal Skills – Possess strong leadership and communication skills. Ability to develop and maintain productive work relationships with associates, dealers, growers, customers, and related industry personnel.  

Teamwork – Team player with a positive attitude.  Ability to facilitate teamwork among staff.

Judgment - Exhibit sound and accurate judgment. Accept personal responsibility for task fulfillment and job performance

Professionalism – Highly self-motivated individual, with high time management and organizational skills. Have a creative aptitude.  Well-organized, committed, accurate, and thorough, with attention to detail. 

Adaptability - Ability to deal with frequent changes, delays, or unexpected events.  Ability to handle multiple projects simultaneously.  Ability to travel regularly throughout assigned area.  Ability and willingness to work outdoors in adverse weather conditions.  Ability to work in a highly competitive sales/business environment.  Autonomous.

Attendance/Punctuality - Ensure work responsibilities are covered.  

Dependability - Ability to work in an independent and self-directed manner.
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Information at a Glance
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Vilmorin-Mikado is a Franco-Japanese seed producer that has specialized in creating, producing, and selling vegetable seeds for professionals since 1743. As a responsible partner in the vegetable food chain, Vilmorin-Mikado is committed to helping better nourish people everywhere. Our wide range of unique, original seeds is distributed on five continents in more than 100 countries. Vilmorin-Mikado has more than 1,000 employees and recorded sales of €230 million in 2022-2023, of which 15% was entirely devoted to research. World leader in carrots and witloof chicory, Vilmorin-Mikado is also a major player in salads, tomatoes, sweet peppers, kabocha squashes, daikon radishes and bunching onions. Nearly three centuries ago, Vilmorin-Mikado's founders began our Tree Seeds work, which actively contributes to rebuilding sustainable forests.

Limagrain is an agricultural cooperative and an international seed group owned by 1,300 farmers located in Auvergne (in the center of France). Present in 49 countries and with 9,335 employees, the Group breeds, produces and distributes field seeds, vegetable seeds and agri-food products. Focused on the genetic progress of plants, Limagrain is the fourth largest seed group worldwide.
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