Global Sales Director (Fully Remote)
Ignitia AB, Ghana
Job Description
Ignitia AB has developed a highly accurate weather model to help small-scale farmers in West Africa manage their daily activities to predict water availability and improve their yields to optimize food production.
Working in partnership with major telecom, Ignitia is a high-technology company and social enterprise that has recently developed the world’s first highly accurate tropical weather forecast model. We benefit small-scale farmers in West Africa by sending a daily forecast via SMS, provided in partnership with major telecommunication firms.
We started in 2010 as a new research team in physics and meteorology, gathered from different renowned universities and research institutions, such as NASA. We set out to tackle the difficult problem of accurately predicting weather in the tropics.
For the first time, rural small-scale farmers in West Africa were the first clients of a major technology innovation. We like that and we’re just getting started!
WHY IGNITIA?
The current food system contributes to roughly a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions and is ill-equipped to meet rising global food demand in a socially and environmentally sustainable way. At the same time, small-holder farmers, who produce most of the world’s food, are often amongst the world’s poorest and most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. We are working to change this. Ignitia has developed the world’s first and most accurate tropical weather forecasting model to benefit both small-scale farmers and agribusinesses. By providing hyper-local, highly accurate climate and weather information services, farmers make improved decisions that directly impact yield and productivity. We are a high-tech social enterprise that leverages advanced technologies to provide a unique and valuable means for farmers, agribusinesses, and organizations in emerging markets to stabilize operations, mitigate risks, build resilience, and maximize profits. Ignitia is a low-ego, high-energy environment. We don’t have multiple management layers and we are not into red tape or office politics. We have some of the best minds in meteorology, math, and technology working alongside a powerful commercial sales team to change how weather impacts the food system in the tropical belt.
HOW WILL YOU MAKE AN IMPACT?
Ignitia provides climate and weather forecasting services to 2 million subscribers through a robust portfolio of programs and partners in Ghana, Nigeria, Mali, Côte d’Ivoire, and Burkina Faso. We have recently launched in Brazil and have ambitions to scale to other countries in the Latam region. In addition to reaching farmers directly through the region’s largest mobile network operators, and through a web app and web dashboard used by agribusinesses like crop input distributors, we’re also an agtech service provider to INGOs and their farmer beneficiaries.
Ignitia is in search of a high-energy business development professional to build up upon the existing portfolio of projects and support the development of new business opportunities.You will be responsible for selling ignitia’s weather data and software across our global footprint in Brazil, West Africa, and future expansion regions. This is a consultative sales role in which you will be expected to serve as a trusted business advisor to your customers and help them make better business decisions using our weather data and climate smart advisory tools. You will report to the Chief Strategy and Growth Officer sitting within the Global team, and work closely with the Regional Directors of Latam and Africa to achieve Ignitia Group sales targets. The ideal person is creative, energetic and performance-driven.
- Build and maintain long-lasting, strong relationships with customers while partnering with them to better understand their business objectives and needs in order to drive adoption of Ignitia’s solutions
- Understand industry-specific trends and landscapes, including but not limited to agtech and precision agriculture, regenerative and climate smart agriculture, agricultural modeling of carbon, pests, disease and yield, and digital extension services
- Represent ignitia at conference, speaking events, and panel discussions to generate brand awareness and leads
- Effectively communicate ignitia’s value propositions through presentations and proposals
- Develop and qualify a pipeline of sales prospects
- Exceed quarterly and annual targets for new customer sales and renewals
- Support handover of customers during the training and onboarding phase, or piloting and trial phase as needed
- Convey the Voice of the Customer back into our product roadmap process and contribute your own ideas for enhancements
- Effectively manage schedule and travel budget while working independently from your home office and in-person customer visits
- Develop consultative training materials and build the