Senior Executive leadership opportunity at world leading livestock genetics company

With approximately $500M in revenue, Genus is a pioneer in global biotechnology serving the agricultural sector. Its programs of natural animal genetic improvement help its global customers in the bovine and porcine supply chain to produce offspring in their herds with greater production efficiency.  The Company’s rapid growth and multiple porcine market opportunities have created the need to take its general management capabilities to the next level and to expand the depth of its senior executive leadership team.  Kincannon & Reed has been retained to recruit a superior executive who has general management capabilities for the new role of Head of PIC China.

The Company

 

The company’s Porcine Genetics business unit is the international leader in providing genetically superior pig breeding stock and technical support for maximizing genetic potential to commercial pork producers. Pork demand has been and is forecasted to be strong. Economic prosperity is creating changes in global eating patterns. It is not so much the billion additional mouths at the bottom of the consumption pyramid that are creating pressure, but the burgeoning middle class in the emerging markets like China.

Genus is headquartered in the UK and listed on the London Stock Exchange.  With revenues of around $500m, it has a presence in over 70 countries with a workforce of approximately 2,500 employees.  Genus’s market capitalisation is over $1.2bn and Genus has been one of the best performing stocks on the London Stock Exchange (with approximately 17% annual rate of return during the last 10 years).

Not only has the company been very successful from an investor perspective, but also it is in a unique position to benefit from a number of global trends and the business is poised to expand dramatically through both organic growth (primarily within key emerging markets) and potentially through strategic acquisitions.  

Genus is truly a global company, selling in 70 countries and operating in 34, with research laboratories located in Madison, Wisconsin in the United States.  Their competitive edge has been created over the years from the ownership and control of proprietary lines of breeding animals, the biotechnology used to improve them, and its global production and distribution network.  Operations are managed through a geographical matrix of North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia, supported by consolidated global Research, Development and Production facilities.

With a continuously growing population and finite resources, the world’s farmers have been faced with the need to maximize production and yields for many years.  Furthermore, the pressure to boost output is coupled with a need to achieve this safely and sustainably. .  For the individual farmer this means more milk, more meat output and higher quality overall for the same size of herd.  Essentially, Genus helps provide access to more milk and more meat protein to more end consumers around the world.  Its vision is to be ‘The pioneer of animal genetic improvement vital to increase the supply and accessibility of affordable, safe proteins to nourish the world’.

Since the appointment of Karim Bitar as the CEO of Genus in September 2011, a strategic review has been carried out across all the business operations, to determine what the focus will be for the next 5 to 7 years.    The scale of opportunity for the business is large, both in the developed markets where Genus is already market leader, but also in the emerging markets, specifically Brazil, Russia, India and China.  Genus already has established businesses in each of these countries, but there is an opportunity to grow them significantly over the next years.  The business is strongly placed, both financially and operationally, to take advantage of such opportunities

The Position

This critical role will be accountable to lead, grow and develop the PIC China business, delivering the agreed China Porcine strategy. It will report into Nancy Jiang, General Manager for Genus China who was appointed last year to deliver the ambitious growth plans for China in swine, dairy and beef.

Key roles and responsibilities will include:

·       Be accountable for leading and developing to world class standards the PIC China business, including the technical services, health assurance, own farm and customer production and JV implementation teams.

·       Direct financial planning and budget reviews with responsibility for driving sales, growth & profit across PIC China.

·       Lead monthly sales reviews with business unit senior managers/key account teams and provide a monthly report to the General Manager, Genus China in line with reporting timelines. 

·       Mentor technical and sales teams to grow & develop business opportunities & influence key decision makers.

·       Lead, motivate, coach & build key account teams in line with market growth to deliver budget and expected market share.  Additionally, s/he will ensure that support teams in Finance, HR or Administration receive appropriate guidance, coaching and direction.

·       Ensure the performance management processes are implemented for both sales & support teams, and training/development needs are identified, to generate a forward pipeline of capabilities as part of an effective succession planning process.

·       Ensure regular communication with all country teams, focusing on business activity & market growth.

·       Hold confidential all product and program proprietary knowledge.

Other important parameters for this position include:

·       The successful candidate will be rewarded by a strong compensation package.

·       The position is supported by a team of 8 direct reports.

·       This position will require national and global travel and will be based in Shanghai, China.

·       English language is required, Mandarin Chinese would be preferred.

Candidate Profile

For this challenging role we seek a results-driven, commercial business leader who has business builder’s perspective and thought process. The winning candidate will have a 'roll-up-your-sleeves', collegial work style and strong interpersonal skills that are equally effective in a boardroom and an on-farm visit with a grower. S/he must be a resilient and commercial problem solver as well as a capable people & relationship manager, with the ability to generate collaboration between teams & across cultural boundaries. We are looking for someone who has the ability to be innovative & to lead change. The ideal candidate will have:

·       A Bachelor’s degree in business or ag-related discipline. An MBA or advanced degree in a related discipline is an asset.

·       A proven record of exceptional business growth and market expansion in the agricultural sector, ideally porcine, but this is not essential.

·       A style and ability to bridge cultures both locally and globally. A mix of both Western and Chinese experience is essential  

·       The ability to quickly develop relationships and generate trust with all stakeholders. 

·       Skill in attracting, developing ,and motivating and maintaining talented managers and employees at all organisational levels who will succeed and achieve ambitious targetss

·       Detail orientation with the ability to quickly master the subject matter and see it in the context of the broader business framework.

For consideration as a candidate or to suggest a prospective candidate, please contact in confidence:

Gary Weihs	Mike Banks	Cathy Hsieh
Managing Director	Managing Director	Research Associate
712-744-5230 (office)	61-3-9509-3959 (office)	571-312-0842 (office)
712-579-9412(mobile)	61 418-172-648 (mobile)	443-845-1057 (mobile)
gweihs@krsearch.net	mbanks@krsearch.net	chsieh@krsearch.net