Job Purpose
- The Plantation Projects Lead, Agro-Industrial Projects is a programme-level execution andintegration lead responsible for driving the development, scale-up, and operational readiness ofthe Company’s agro-industrial plantation initiatives across multiple crops.
- The role combines hands-on project delivery discipline with strong agro-economic and commercial judgement, coordinating plantation development, field operations, research inputs, financinginterfaces, public-sector engagement, and technology adoption.
- The role will support a multi-crop portfolio including (but not limited to) cocoa, soya, maize, and cashew.
- This role serves as the economic, execution, and programme integrator, ensuring that specialistinputs into bankable, scalable, and operationally viable plantation businesses.
- The position is execution-led (not academic or purely research-driven) and is designed totransition seamlessly into steady-state plantation and agro-processing operations leadership asprojects mature.
Key Responsibilities
Programme & Project Delivery:
- Lead end-to-end delivery of plantation development projects from mobilisation throughoperational handover
- Develop and manage integrated programmes covering land acquisition, land preparation,nurseries, planting, infrastructure, and utilities
- Coordinate internal departments (PMO, Operations, Procurement, Finance, Legal) andexternal contractors to deliver against scope, schedule, cost, and quality
- Ensure plantation scale, phasing, and layout are aligned with long-term operational andeconomic objectives
Plantation Establishment & Field Operations Oversight:
- Oversee plantation establishment activities including site preparation, nursery scale-up,planting programmes, and early yield development
- Coordinate and integrate crop-specific technical guidance from research institutions andagronomy consultants
- Drive implementation of good agricultural practices (GAP) and field-operation systemssuitable for large-scale commercial farming
- Ensure plantation models are scalable, repeatable, and cost-disciplined across locationsand crops
Research, Benchmarking & Strategic Insights:
- Coordinate benchmarking of plantation models against leading global and regionalcomparators.
- Support study visits, trials, and external research engagements, ensuring outputs aretranslated into practical operational and economic decisions
- Lead product-market and value-chain analysis to inform crop prioritisation, phasing, andvalue-addition opportunities
- Support multi-crop SWOT, sensitivity, and scenario analysis to guide portfolio strategy
Financing & Investment Readiness:
- Support preparation of bankable plantation and agro-industrial business cases alignedwith DFIs, development finance, and climate-linked funding
- Interface with internal finance teams and external advisers on funding structures.
- Provide agro-economic inputs to investment memoranda, lender discussions, and financialsensitivity analyses
- Track plantation economics including cost per hectare, yield ramp-up, breakeventimelines, and return metrics
Public-Private Partnerships & Institutional Engagement:
- Support PPP frameworks and government engagement aligned with food security, exportgrowth, employment, and sustainability objectives
- Coordinate engagements with research institutes, commodity boards, private partners,and development programmes
- Support land acquisition and community engagement processes in coordination withinternal legal and government-relations teams
- Ensure institutional partnerships are commercially grounded and operationally executable
Technology, Mechanisation & Infrastructure Economics:
- Support evaluation of irrigation, mechanisation, and on-farm technology options from acost-benefit and scalability perspective
- Work with engineering and projects teams to prioritise technology investments alignedwith crop needs and economic returns
- Ensure technology adoption supports productivity, resilience, and long-term operabilityrather than pilot-only solutions
Operational Readiness & Transition:
- Build operational workflows, SOPs, staffing models, and performance standards forplantations and linked processing assets
- Support recruitment, training, and mobilisation of operations teams
- Lead structured transition from project execution into stable operations, ensuringownership, continuity, and accountability
Performance, Risk & Governance:
- Track key KPIs including yield per hectare, cost per hectare, throughput, and operationalreadiness milestones
- Identify and manage agronomic, execution, financial, and market risks
- Provide structured progress and performance reporting to the PMO and seniormanagement
- Ensure compliance with internal controls, safety, environmental, and regulatoryrequirements
Key Skills & Experience
- Degree in Agriculture, Agribusiness, Agricultural Economics, Agricultural Engineering,Industrial Engineering, or related discipline
- 8–12+ years’ experience in plantation development, agro-industrial projects, or integrated agribusiness programmes
- Demonstrated experience delivering projects that successfully transition into liveoperations
- Strong understanding of plantation economics, scaling models, and agro-industrial valuechains
- Proven ability to work effectively with specialist consultants, research institutions, andmultiple internal departments
- Practical, execution-oriented leadership style with strong coordination andproblem-solving capabilities
- Solid project management experience within complex, multi-stakeholder environments
Technical & Operational Competencies:
- Plantation Systems: Nursery scale-up, planting programmes, harvest planning, andearly-stage yield management
- Agro-Economics: Cost modelling, yield economics, investment trade-offs, and sensitivityanalysis
- Project & Operations Tools: MS Project, Excel, Microsoft Office Suite, dashboards, andERP-adjacent systems
- Sustainable Agriculture: Resource efficiency, ESG alignment, and compliance withcertification and regulatory standards.
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