Senior Manager, Head of Regulatory Affairs Seeds & Traits APAC

at  BASF South East Asia Pte Ltd

OBJECTIVES OF THE POSITION

Why does this position exist? With what permanent objectives?
The Head of Seeds and Traits Regulatory Affairs, Asia Pacific is responsible for responsible for maintaining and expands its license to operate for BASF by directing global priority projects; providing guidance on our pipeline and re-registrations; championing key projects with high strategic impact; and leading teams through the management of new projects through different stages of development.
Reporting to the global Vice President Seeds and Traits Regulatory Affairs, this role is a key member of the global Regulatory, Sustainability & Public Affairs leadership community, working closely with peers, and the Senior Vice President for Regulatory, Sustainability and & Public Affairs. It also serves as a member of the Reg Affairs Leadership team and the Global S&T Regulatory and Stewardship MARS team.
The Regulatory team Supporting the Seeds & Traits Products operates in a highly dynamic and challenging global market where new seeds products (developed using tools of modern biotechnology) are subject to high public and political scrutiny. The ability to influence markets, stakeholders and policy makers is a key strategic requirement for any company operating in this industry. The operating environment can be described as complex and un-harmonized where market rules, policies, laws, and regulations are evolving globally and where powerful interest groups and industries with divergent business objectives are highly engaged.
As a way of operating, Seeds and Traits the products is involved in several joint (third party) business collaborations to jointly develop products. These joint collaborations represent a huge financial opportunity, significant costs and resource and significant reputational risks. Participants to such joint collaborations must priority includes protecting BASF intellectual property and observing all corporate legal and compliance requirements in this highly competitive environment and ultimately supporting the development, launch and commercialization of profitable novel product offerings.

REQUIREMENTS:

• Minimum Degree in agriculture field or other related field (or related scientific discipline) with 12-15 years’ experience in the ag/ biotech area
• Must have comprehensive working Strong knowledge of global GMO regulations with a proven track record for successfully registering GM events.
• MSc in agriculture field (or related scientific discipline) with 12-15 years’ experience in the ag/ biotech area, preferrable in the Seeds industry or Relevant Government
• People management
• Leadership in associations activities with competitors
• Ability to define regulatory strategies in an everchanging political environment, communicate changes and deliver License to operate Globally.
• Excellent communications and interpersonal skills. Advanced English a must.

Key responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Lead the strategy, large, complex organization of regulatory professionals; continually developing culture, competency, capability, and related matters.
• Ensure proper relationships are established with the regulatory authorities at Seeds relevant Asia countries and other important Asian authorities. Serve as primary point of contact for Crops Seeds and Traits in Asia Leadership.
• Ensure timely input to business community on regulatory timelines / milestone development and support the enablement of timely product regulatory approvals, including submission of dossiers for assessment by regulatory authorities at the Federal and State level.
• Drive technical advocacy to achieve and to defend BASF ´s LTO (License to Operate) by using and combining best scientific-, regulatory- and political advocacy.
• Drive product stewardship to maintain proper compliance with government rules and regulations.
• Advocate for regulatory policy, and a political environment, that fosters commercialization of the Agricultural Solutions portfolio. Proactively identify emerging/cross-cutting international issues that impact biotech/regulatory policy and create opportunities for the representation of the “Seeds Business” in international fora where these issues are discussed and negotiated.
• Actively lead, participate in and/or promote others in our company to be involved with industry organizations; to include Crop Life Asia, ILSI, AFSI, etc. and global industry associations.
• Actively collaborate and partner with other LTO functions, and in the extended global LTO leadership community, as well as close collaborations with Strategic Marketing and Legal.