Position Summary:
The General Manager – Greenhouse is responsible for leading and the agriculture business across Qatar, with full accountability for profitability, commercial growth, operational efficiency, and market leadership. The role will oversee farming operations, protected agriculture, livestock (if applicable), Agri-trading, supply chain, and end-to-end Sales & Marketing functions.
This position requires a commercially driven leader with strong regional market knowledge, experience in food security initiatives, import substitution strategies, controlled-environment agriculture, and relationships across government, retail, hospitality, and wholesale sectors.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES.
Strategic & Business Leadership:
- Develop and execute the agriculture growth strategy aligned with Qatar National Vision 2030.
- Identify investment opportunities in greenhouse farming, hydroponics, vertical farming, livestock, dairy, poultry, feed, or Agri-processing.
- Drive innovation, sustainability, water efficiency, and smart farming technologies.
- Build strategic partnerships with government entities, private sector groups, and institutional buyers.
Full P&L Ownership:
- Assume full Profit & Loss accountability for the agriculture division.
- Deliver annual revenue, gross profit, and net profit targets.
- Lead annual budgeting, rolling forecasts, and strategic financial planning.
- Manage costs across labor, utilities, water, logistics, imported inputs, feed, packaging, and overheads.
- Improve margins through pricing strategy, product mix, productivity, and channel optimization.
- Present monthly business reviews and board-level reports.
Sales Leadership:
- Develop and lead sales strategies across modern trade, traditional trade, HORECA, wholesale, institutional, and export markets.
- Build relationships with hypermarkets, supermarkets, hotels, catering companies, distributors, and government procurement entities.
- Negotiate annual supply contracts and strategic commercial agreements.
- Drive penetration into premium retail and foodservice sectors.
- Establish sales KPIs, route-to-market strategy, incentive programs, and territory management.
- Lead key account management for major regional customers.
Marketing & Brand Growth:
- Develop strong local brand positioning focused on freshness, quality, sustainability, and locally grown produce.
- Lead packaging strategy compliant with Qatar/GCC labeling regulations.
- Execute trade marketing, retail promotions, seasonal campaigns, exhibitions, and food industry events.
- Drive digital marketing and brand presence across GCC consumers.
- Launch new SKUs and value-added product lines based on market demand.
Agriculture Operations & Supply Chain:
- Oversee all farming operations including open fields, greenhouse, hydroponic, or controlled-environment production.
- Maximize yield, quality, crop planning, harvesting schedules, and year-round production continuity.
- Ensure efficient irrigation systems, climate control, fertigation, and mechanization.
- Manage sourcing of seeds, fertilizers, substrates, equipment, and packaging materials.
- Lead warehousing, cold chain, transport, and distribution efficiency.
- Reduce waste and optimize post-harvest handling.
Government Relations & Compliance:
- Maintain relationships with relevant ministries, municipalities, food security authorities, and regulatory bodies.
- Ensure compliance with Qatar agricultural, labor, food safety, environmental, and import/export regulations.
Team Leadership:
- Lead multicultural workforce across operations, agronomy, commercial, finance, and logistics teams.
- Build strong management succession pipeline and high-performance culture.
- Establish KPI-driven accountability systems.
QUALIFICATIONS:
- Bachelor’s degree in agriculture, Agribusiness, Business, Finance, or related discipline.
- MBA preferred.
- 12–15+ years leadership experience in agriculture, food production, Agri-trading, or FMCG.
- Proven full P&L management experience (large-scale business unit).
- Strong Sales & Marketing leadership experience in Qatar/GCC markets.
- Experience dealing with major retailers, HORECA, distributors, and government contracts.
- Knowledge of protected agriculture / desert farming is highly preferred.
- Proficiency in Arabic & English is mandatory.