Project Manager - Regenerative Agriculture Cotton

Company Description

Louis Dreyfus Company is a leading merchant and processor of agricultural goods. Our activities span the entire value chain from farm to fork, across a broad range of business lines, we leverage our global reach and extensive asset network to serve our customers and consumers around the world. Structured as a matrix organization of six geographical regions and ten platforms, Louis Dreyfus Company is active in over 100 countries and employs approximately 18,000 people globally.

Job Description

The Regenerative Agriculture Cotton Project Manager is an organized and motivated individual who brings their knowledge of farm operations into the frame of regenerative agriculture production systems.  

He/she will lead projects from conception to execution, collaborating with farmers, MRV partners, and field specialists to implement regenerative agriculture practices with measured outcomes aligned with RegenAgri Certification and Value Change Initiative carbon insets. He/she will develop comprehensive project plans, manage timelines and budgets, and report progress and outcomes according to project deadlines. He/she will oversee and facilitate training sessions and workshops to educate stakeholders about RegenAgri certification and regenerative practices. He/she will build upon and/or develop new effective relationships with internal and external stakeholders and organizations, including current program implementers, MRV companies, agronomists and upstream partners engaged in the program. He/she will spend a significant part of his/her time in visiting farmers in the field (40 to 50%).

Main Responsibilities:

Project Coordination and Management 

• Coordinate field activities with local field teams, MRV partners, and other project stakeholders ensuring milestones are met and resources are allocated efficiently 

• Actively visit farmers to recruit them into the program and follow-up on regenerative practices implementation 

• Develop and implement annual project plans, timelines, educational materials and track budgets 

• Collaborate with farmers, agricultural organizations, community groups, and government agencies to promote regenerative practices 

• Organize workshops, training sessions, and outreach events to educate stakeholders on regenerative agriculture  

• Work with the data science and execution teams to ensure traceability goals are met 

Monitoring and Evaluation:  

• Coordinate the collection and analysis of project data to assess progress against RegenAgri certification and generation of carbon insets under the VCI methodology, including during field visits  

• Review and analyze results, provide feedback to field teams and MRV partners, and conduct quality assurance  

• Stay up to date with external grant funding opportunities - whether from government or private entities, and coordinate grants application process 

Knowledge Creation & Dissemination:  

• Act as subject matter expert on RegenAgri certification and VCI for cotton 

• Create farmer facing reports based on results  

• Actively contribute to the definition of regenerative agriculture KPIs by staying up to date on GHG, soil, water, and nature metrics and methods for evaluating project impact 

• Customers outreach and negotiation 

• Implement Go To Market strategy for regen ag cotton program 

• Support LDC commercial team in explaining, valorizing and pitching LDC cotton regen ag program and certified products to customers to deliver commercial opportunities – based on customers profiles, needs and interests 

• Support in customers negotiations 

• Project origination 

• Develop new project plans including scope, objectives, partners, timelines, resources, and budgets 

Qualifications

Experience 

• 10 years working experience of which at least 3 years in the project management space with focus on cotton productions systems  

• Masters Degree (or equivalent)

• Extensive experience in North American cotton agriculture communities  

• Experience in Agri - commodity supply chains, and in regenerative agriculture or carbon insetting projects 

• Knowledge of agronomy, soil science, or farm economics  

• Knowledge of RegenAgri; knowledge of BCI, GOTS, or other relevant certification programs a plus   

• Strong analytical skills to understand, use and/or assess quality of data related to project outcomes for GHG emissions, carbon re