General Manager of Agriculture
Our client, Boschendal was established in 1685 and is one of the oldest fruit and wine farms in South Africa. They pride themselves on their purpose of creating a sustainable business that ensures the conservation of the environment, providing gainful employment to their employees and creating a positive impact for their surrounding communities. They are currently looking for a suitably qualified and experienced individual to appoint as their General Manager (GM) of Agriculture.
The GM is expected to remain informed of agricultural science and innovation to mitigate risk, implement innovative practice and build a sustainable business that maximizes the return on investment.
The General Manager’s overall responsibility will include:
- Profit and loss for the Farming Division
- Managing a team of managers, supervisors, administrators and staff
- Manage a temporary labour broking workforce
- Fruit production (approx. 150ha – plums, citrus, pears and apples)
- Vineyard production (approx. 130ha)
- Livestock management (Black Angus Cattle amongst others)
- Irrigation management
- Packhouse relationships with surrounding packhouses (logistics, communication, quality control and reporting)
- Conservation and biosphere protection (manage alien clearing teams)
- Compost production
Key responsibilities:
- Manage the full fruit production value chain
- Compile a 5-year budget and forecast
- Prepare workforce plans and schedules
- Actively implement and manage risk appropriately (winds, hail, heat waves, drought, water retention etc.)
- Manage key supply relationships (materials, sprays, assets etc.)
- Implementing, training and upliftment programs for all levels of staff
- Lending support to other business units
- Implement regenerative farming practices across the farm
- Build a work culture that prides itself on fair, equitable and uplifting employee practices in order to become a leading employer of choice
- Maintaining and managing maintenance and capex budget for fleet and equipment with the team
- Ensuring alignment and quality of the marketing and sale of products produced on the farm
- Ensuring all staff adhere to health and safety regulations – creating a safe work environment
- Assisting with the recruitment and training of new staff members
Requirements:
- Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture or equivalent
- 10+ years’ experience in large scale commercial farming particularly focused on fruit production
- Additional courses in Business Management or Administration is recommended
- Proven experience in managing a large team
- A passion for sustainable practices is advantageous
- Excellent problem-solving, analytical, and critical thinking skills
- The ability to make decisions in stressful environments
- Superb communication and interpersonal skills
- Willingness to work overtime as required
By Submitting your information and application you hereby confirm:
- That you have read and understood our Privacy Policy (www.hopcal.co.za).
- That you give us permission to retain your personal information in our database for future matching to employment opportunities.
- Should suitable opportunities arise we will contact you and request your consent to submit your CV to a specific client for a specific purpose.
- That the information you have provided to us is true, correct and up to date.
Please ENSURE that your application includes the following:
- a comprehensive Curriculum Vitae, inclusive of contact and email information
- a covering letter motivating the application
- an indication of current and expected remuneration
- availability
- contactable referees
If you have not heard from us within 4 weeks of the closing date, please accept that your application was not successful. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.
Closing date: 29 October 2021