Job Summary:The incumbent of this role will lead the North American Marketing function and Environmental Solutions (ES) business, driving strategic marketing initiatives, portfolio positioning, and demand creation while holding full P&L accountability. The role will also oversee Technical Service alignment to support sales, new product launches, and customer success, with a dotted-line connection to Global Field Research & Technical Development / R&D. As a member of the North America Regional Leadership Team (RLT), this position will ensure execution excellence across marketing, ES portfolio management, and technical service support.
Job Responsibilities: Marketing Leadership- Drive development and execution of marketing strategies to achieve profitable growth across the U.S. and Canada, aligned with regional and global objectives.
- Accountable for delivering annual financial objectives, mid- and long-term growth strategies, and building a highly engaged workforce.
- Partner with Commercial Leaders to establish portfolio leadership teams and optimize sales and operations processes for maximum portfolio profitability.
- Collaborate with global portfolio, R&D, and regulatory teams to shape the regional product pipeline, balancing short-, medium-, and long-term business objectives.
- Design and implement growth strategies through organic initiatives and strategic acquisitions to accelerate regional success.
- Lead Product Marketing, Canada Marketing, Marketing Services, and Communications to strengthen UPL's brand presence and customer engagement.
- Ensure excellence in new product launches, value-based pricing, portfolio management, and global brand enhancement.
- Build and inspire a high-performance marketing organization, fostering a culture of innovation, excellence, and continuous learning.
- Partner with HR to develop and implement a Marketing Capability Development Program to enhance team skills and future readiness.
Environmental Solutions (ES): Portfolio & P&L- Full P&L accountability for ES; lead forecasting, pricing, mix, and portfolio profitability.
- Develop and implement annual ES business and marketing plans including volume targets, pricing, positioning, and market programs to drive demand.
- Oversee advertising, communications, and PR to support ES growth, coordinate product supply and monthly forecast updates.
- Lead coordination of sales processes including business planning; monitor KPIs with appropriate reporting and insights (incl. EDI and account analytics).
- Define market expansion opportunities; conduct competitive analyses and market research to identify opportunities and inform pricing & positioning.
- Create and manage the 5-year strategic plan for ES to achieve sales and profit targets; negotiate and maintain agreements with third parties.
- Develop a high-performance ES team; collaborate with HR on people development, performance management, culture, and engagement.
Technical Service - Alignment & Execution- Lead Technical Service function for U.S. & Canada to ensure alignment with Marketing and support sales of new and existing products.
- Ensure Technical Service team supports sales efforts through research trials and training.
- Assist in managing Technical Service trial planning, budgeting, and execution.
- Facilitate alignment of Technical Service team with key customers to support sales growth and new product launches.
Requirements/Qualifications: - Bachelor's degree required (Ag Marketing, Business, or related); MBA or advanced degree in Ag/Business preferred.
- 15-20 years' experience in Product/Brand/Customer Marketing and/or Environmental Solutions/commercial operations within the agriculture industry.
- 10+ years leading multi-disciplinary teams, with demonstrated success in strategy creation, value pricing, and launch excellence.
- Experience with field trials, data analysis, and interpreting results; ability to manage budgets across fungicides, herbicides, insecticides, and BioSolutions.
- Strong project management, financial acumen, and analytical skills; ability to turn data into actionable insights for sales and account teams.
- Excellent verbal and written communication; adept at influencing cross-functional stakeholders and external partners.
UPL COMPETENCIES: - Adaptability & Resilience: Recognizes and is open to changing circumstances and alters behavior and scales up as necessary; increases personal awareness and appreciation of individual and cultural differences to create an open, inclusive, and accepting workplace.
- Entrepreneurial Mindset: Has a creative mindset and ability to think holistically, takes calculated risks and maximizes opportunities.
- Results Orientations: Acts, pursues goals with persistence and achieves results; communicates goals and vision to the team to drive enthusiasm and ambition.
- Execution Excellence: Enhances the speed of execution and builds efficiency in processes, systems, and people; has sharp focus on quality-orientation.
- Strategic Orientation: Demonstrates knowledge of the social, economic, and environmental factors and how they impact business. Identifies key issues that could impact the business and develops strategy through an analytical lens / design thinking.
- Building Teams and Talent: Empowers colleagues through knowledge sharing and delegation, quickly establishing rapport; provides recognition for achievements and accomplishments.
- Customer Centricity: Understands the customer needs and pain points, fulfills the needs and expectations by focusing on creating value for customers.