Job Description

About the Unit

Founded in 1905 and headquartered in Oslo, Yara International is a Norwegian multinational company (MNC) and the leading sustainable agricultural, digital farming solutions, and farmer livelihood-enhancement company. Our dedicated team of 18,000 professionals in 160 countries are committed to helping the world achieve a nature-positive food future through regenerative farming, climate neutrality, and farmer prosperity.

With its headquarters in Singapore, Yara Africa & Asia (YAA) is one of Yara\'s three regional geographic operating units. YAA and its team of 2,000 employees support an extensive and diverse region of 22 market economies. YAA works closely with in-country, regional, and global stakeholders - including policymakers, commercial and smallholder farmers, retailers and channel partners, and NGOs to identify how the company can best support priorities around food security, farmer livelihoods, sustainability and circular economy across the food value chain.

With global production capacity and product innovation, digital technology across seven gigital farming hubs - four of which are in Africa and Asia (Singapore, Bangkok, Bangalore, and Shanghai) - Yara Africa & Asia is supporting millions of farmers to grow our food sustainably.

Yara Africa & Asia (YAA) is seeking a hard-working, dynamic, and motivated professional who has excellent written and verbal communications skills to help support the growth of YAA\'s public policy, stakeholder engagement, and external communications strategic initiatives across Africa, APAC, and Oceania. The person will serve as YAA\'s Government Relations and Public Affairs Manager - Africa & Asia (i.e., \xe2\x80\x9cthe GR/PA Manager\xe2\x80\x9d).

This role will be part of the YAA Social Impact and Public Affairs (SIPA) team and will report to the Director of Public Affairs & Corporate Communications - Africa & Asia (\xe2\x80\x9cthe Director\xe2\x80\x9d), who is based in Singapore. The successful candidate will also help support engagements with YAA\'s Executive Vice President (\xe2\x80\x9cthe EVP\xe2\x80\x9d), Senior Vice President for Innovation & Impact (\xe2\x80\x9cthe SVP-II\xe2\x80\x9d), YAA country leaders, SIPA and Global Initiatives teams, and Marketing Communications colleagues in Yara\'s 22 country offices across the region.

Responsibilities

The GR/PA Manager will:

1. Help the Director undertake comprehensive mapping of relevant key public- and private-sector stakeholders.

2. Assist the Director with formulating YAA\'s annual GR/PA strategic plans and budgetary requirements.

3. Help drive and support all aspects of the YAA EVP\'s and Director\'s external engagements with appropriate stakeholders, including: coordinating with the Head of EVP Office on scheduling and logistical matters, helping to develop, prepare, and maintain detailed schedules and briefing books for participation in local and overseas conferences (e.g., World Economic Forum (WEF), Africa Green Revolution Forum (AGRF)), government and industry forums, in-country visits, event planning, and related aspects.

4. Research and help to develop internal and external communications for the EVP and/or the Director. This will include contributing to and helping to write e-mails, talking points, town hall remarks, speeches, PowerPoint presentations, press releases, media interviews, social media posts, and other communications.

5. Assist with developing internal and external communications (through Yara\'s internal platforms and via external social media such as LinkedIn and Facebook) to raise awareness of YAA\'s commercial, social impact, and public affairs priorities and activities. Work closely with Yara\'s in-country teams and global HQ to help develop content and messaging that align regionally and globally as appropriate.

6. Build and further relationships with a variety of Yara corporate stakeholders and external partners in Singapore and across the region, including relevant government ministries and agencies, trade associations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), consumer groups, academic and research institutes, think tanks, and media.

7. Serve as Yara\'s secondary representative (to the Director) in industry trade associations and other membership-based organizations where Yara is involve, and as Yara\'s lead on selected committees and task forces where appropriate.

8. Help spearhead greater Yara engagement within ASEAN, including providing designated ASEAN markets with supplemental GR/PA support.

9. Contribute to YAA\'s thought leadership and public policy contributions on a range of issues:

a. Food security through economically empowering farmers - especially smallholder farmers and women and youth farmers.
b. Accelerating adoption of climate-smart and climate-resilient agricultural practices.
c. Promoting growth of small and medium businesses, women-owned enterprises, and youth entrepreneurship across the food value chain.
d. Advocating the importance of adopting and enabling access to digital technology-enabled solutions and other innovations to improve competitiveness of food system actors, specifically smallholder farmers and small businesses.
e. Championing Yara\'s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) commitment within corporate environments across the region.

10. Help prepare and coordinate written recommendations to government working groups / committees and responses to questions from government partners and related stakeholders.

11. Any other duties as may be reasonably expected, including supporting day-to-day progress of the YAA SIPA agenda as assigned.

Profile

• A bachelor\'s degree in political science, international relations, or a similarly relevant field within the social sciences.
• 6-8 years of demonstrable experience of working in public policy, public affairs, and/or corporate communications in ASEAN or APAC. Africa- and/or Europe-related experience a plus.
• Excellent attention to detail (i.e., perfectionist attributes), organizational ability, time management, and ability to prioritize competing demands and to provide quality work under short notice and tight turnaround times.
• Discretion, tact, personal and professional ethics, and a diplomatic demeanour are essential.
• Experience working in/with multicultural environments, and a keen interest in learning about other countries and cultures.
• Excellent interpersonal and written communications skills in English are critical; proficiency in other national languages and lingua franca in Africa and/or Asia are highly desired.
• Proven research and writing skills and experience in writing policy documents, white papers, press releases, etc.
• Experience working in or with the public sector and multi-stakeholder environments. Proven experience engaging with stakeholders at all levels (including up to C-level, government ministers, and heads of state) highly desirable.
• A background in agriculture, digital technology, or sustainability is not required, but would be an added advantage.
• Pragmatic, resourceful, and flexible approach to work.
• Capable of operating independently as part of a small, hard-working team and are prepared to assist outside of office hours where necessary to meet company requirements.
• Open to international travel opportunities if/as they arise.

Additional Information

Candidates must have relevant work authorization in Singapore (e.g., Singapore citizenship, permanent residency, or non-immigrant visa status that allows employment). Yara is unable to provide relocation support for this role.

To apply, please send a cover letter detailing how your career accomplishments and professional/personal interests would make you a great fit for this role, your detailed resume, and two short, relevant, non-confidential writing samples (max. 2-3 pages each).

A cover letter and writing samples are mandatory for further interview consideration.

Apply no later than

Yara