IRS26164 Product Manager, Dryland Crops Program (DCP)
On-site : Dryland Crops Program (DCP) Full time: IRS26164
Nairobi, Nairobi County, Kenya
Description
CIMMYT is a cutting edge, non-profit, international organization dedicated to solving tomorrow's problems today. It is entrusted with fostering improved quantity, quality, and dependability of production systems and basic cereals such as maize, wheat, triticale, sorghum, millets, and associated crops through applied agricultural science, particularly in the Global South, through building strong partnerships. This combination enhances the livelihood trajectories and resilience of millions of resource-poor farmers, while working towards a more productive, inclusive, and resilient agrifood system within planetary boundaries.
For more information, visit cimmyt.org .
CIMMYT seeks an agribusiness-oriented Product Manager to strengthen demand-led product development and delivery for dryland crops in East and Southern Africa. The role ensures that breeding pipelines translate into market-relevant, socially inclusive products that are validated with stakeholders and adopted at scale.
The Product Manager provides end-to-end product leadership from product definition through late-stage validation to release and commercialization readiness of sorghum, pearl millet, and groundnut. The incumbent will ensure strong communication and effective handover of candidate products across Market Intelligence, Breeding, and Seed Systems functions, and with external partners and industry.
This position will be based at CIMMYT’s office in Nairobi, Kenya with travel across East and Southern Africa as required to support partner engagement, field validation, and commercialization readiness activities.
Key responsibilities:
Product strategy and definition
- Work with Market Intelligence, Seed Systems, and value chain actors to understand and document drivers of variety replacement and adoption, and to inform product cycle strategy.
- Ensure Target Product Profiles (TPPs) are defined, validated, and supported by robust business cases, and are adopted and used by breeding teams to guide selection decisions.
- Ensure socially inclusive needs and circumstances, particularly of women and youth, are intentionally incorporated into target setting, product development, and market strategies.
Pipeline governance and advancement decisions
- Manage advanced testing and ensure qualitative and quantitative data from on-farm trials and pertinent studies are available, organized, and fit-for-purpose for product advancement meetings.
- Support transparent, evidence-based germplasm advancement processes from late-stage testing through recommendation for release and commercialization.
- Promote good data practices and clear decision criteria aligned to TPPs, including documentation of trade-offs and risks.
Validation, release and commercialization readiness
- Coordinate with the Seed Systems unit and the seed industry to ensure complete seed production and multiplication information is available for products recommended for release.
- Support development of product dossiers and related materials required to inform release, licensing, and commercialization decisions with partners and national authorities.
- Facilitate structured feedback loops from farmers, seed companies, and other stakeholders back into product design and breeding priorities.
Planning, partnerships and capacity development
- Contribute to DCP and CGIAR product design and management modules, annual and multi-year work plan development, execution, and reporting.
- Manage and track budgets associated with product management and late-stage testing activities, in line with CIMMYT financial policies and donor requirements.
- Build capacity of CIMMYT colleagues and external partners in modern product management and delivery approaches for dryland crops.
- Contribute to refereed publications, project reports, knowledge products, and fundraising.
Requirements
- MSc or higher in crop sciences, plant breeding, agricultural economics, seed science and technology, agronomy, or a related field.
- Four or more years of experience in seed product management, marketing of seed hybrids/varieties, and/or business administration (desirable).
- Agrobusiness experience in the commercial seed industry in Africa and/or demonstrated understanding of industry and value chain trends and developments.
- Working knowledge of product development principles, including understanding requirements for variety adoption and practical methods for marketing.
Skills and attitudes
- Commitment to social inclusiveness, including awareness of the roles of women and youth in variety uptake and market participation.
- Cross-cultural and cross-functional team leadership and collaboration skills.
- Strong oral and written communication skills; able to translate technical information into decision-ready insights.
- Results focus, persistence and pragmatism; able to drive progress in multi-stakeholder environments.
Core competencies
- Team leadership, negotiation, conflict resolution, client orientation, critical thinking, design thinking, strategic thinking, problem solving.
Benefits
- The position is for an initial fixed-term for three (3) years, after which further employment is subject to performance and the continued availability of funds. CIMMYT’s internationally competitive salary and benefits include housing allowance, car, comprehensive health and life insurance, assistance for children’s education, paid vacation, annual home travel airfare, contribution to a retirement plan, and generous assistance with relocation shipment.
Candidates must apply online. Applications must include a CV with contact details (telephone and email address) of 3 work-related references along with the confirmation that Recruitment can contact them) and a cover letter. Incomplete applications will not be taken into consideration.
Please note that only short-listed candidates will be contacted.
Internal applications could be considered in line with internal eligibility guidance, please contact HR for more information.
This position will remain open until filled.
CIMMYT is an equal opportunity employer. It fosters a multicultural work environment that values gender equality, teamwork, and respect for diversity. Women are encouraged to apply.