Sr. Director, Commercial Strategy

About the role....

As the Sr Director, Commercial Strategy, you will lead the efforts to identify and prioritize market opportunities across the USA and across the globe that will grow Inari in a scalable and sustainable way aligned to the Vision and Mission of Inari.  Our crop focus is on corn, soybean and wheat for which the possibilities of our SEEDesign edits are nearly endless and must be prioritized to deliver on our promise to our stakeholders, including customers, investors, and consumers.  This role will collaborate across nearly all functions of Inari.  Utilizing great collaboration skills, market knowledge, strategic thinking, analytical aptitude and a desire for creating new value, this role will have a significant impact on the success of Inari.

This position may be based remotely or in our West Lafayette, Indiana location and reports to the SVP, Commercial.  

As Senior Director, Commercial Strategy, you will…

• Lead the efforts to identify and prioritize
• Crop strategy/direction across corn, soybeans and wheat aligned with the company’s long term strategic growth plans and translate those strategies into action plans, product roadmaps, and go to market/launch strategies, plans and deliverables
• Crop, geography, edit/trait and breeding technology product concepts
• Formalize product concepts and bring them to life as projects via the stage advancement process with a focus on (1) value creation and alignment to Inari Vision and Mission utilizing input from Product Concept Team, internal resources (Science, Product Development, Sales) and direct customer feedback
• Build the prioritization process and then lead across the crop teams with Leadership Team oversight the prioritization of product concepts, projects and products to develop based on alignment to strategy and value
• Establishment of cradle to grave stage gate, partnering with Project Management, to manage and track each product concept as it moves to becoming a product
• Partner with Project Management team to establish and optimize standard commercial deliverables for stage gate stages and decision gates
• Manage global product portfolio by identifying market introduction needs for new product launches with a focus on market development
• Define project specifications and value proposition across crops and partner with the broader Commercial team for successful implementation and growth plan achievement as projects move to products
• Drive alignment of project go to market strategy with technical capability and develop corresponding detailed launch plans  
• Collaborate with FP&A and technical functions to establish financial thresholds cross crop categories and leverage on-going to define individual project financial KPIs and success criteria 
• Collaborate with FP&A function to establish approach, categories, requirements, and roadmap to develop P&Ls for crop categories
• Ensure achievement of financial KPI’s for the product concepts advanced to projects and then to products
• Manage alignment of functions to achieve commercial success including alignment to QMS and stewardship to assure responsible use of products and technologies. Track key competition seed technologies by identifying risks, and opportunities 
• Support and collaborate with IP and technical functions to define commercial value of IP ring fencing and white space opportunities

You Bring…

• 10+ years of commercial experience including key account management or  complex deal negotiation in seeds or plant traits
• Experience developing crop strategies and defining product concepts, with preference for experience to be global/multinational.
• Working knowledge of product lifecycle management, portfolio management, and optimization
• Demonstrated strength in working and influencing across functions and teams. Ability to collaborate across Science, Product Development, and Commercial
• Excellent time management and organizational skills
• A strong sense of purpose and drive to develop unique, high impact solutions
• Adaptability and enthusiasm for new challenges, innate curiosity, and a passion for learning
• Creative and strategic thinking, willingness to be bold and take risks, and the ability to recognize and learn from failure
• A collaborative mindset that is open to giving and receiving ideas, perspectives, and feedback
• Ability to work both independently and deliver on responsibilities within a highly collaborative environment
• Ability to effectively communicate with a diverse range of individuals and audiences
• Ability to travel as needed, including internationally

Bonus Qualifications…

• Previous experience in seed licensing very beneficial, though not required