Product Manager

Who are we?

Who are we?

SOLEVO is a leading distributor of chemicals and inputs for specific industrial and agricultural segments in Africa. SOLEVO assists African farmers and Industries succeed by providing them with a full range of fertilizers, seeds, crop protection products and industrial chemicals they need with a guaranteed quality and good value. With over 75 years at the frontier of economic growth and transformation across Africa, we deliver critical raw materials and expertise to the continent's high GDP-contributing life sciences and industrials sectors.

What are we looking for ?

We are looking for a Product Manager to join our team in Abidjan. The successful candidate should have solid experience in the field and be fluent in English and French.

What do we expect from the candidate ?

The candidate must be able to :

Deeply understand the needs, constraints, and behaviors of smallholder and commercial farmers across target regions.

Design products that are adaptable to different crops, agro-ecological zones, and farming systems.

Validate product assumptions through pilots, field trials, and continuous user feedback.

Define and execute a product roadmap that supports revenue growth, customer acquisition, and retention.

Ensure products contribute to measurable impact outcomes such as increased yields, reduced costs, improved incomes, or climate resilience.

Enable product integrations with partners such as input suppliers, financial institutions, buyers, and development organizations.

Own the full product lifecycle: discovery, development, launch, iteration, and retirement

The key responsibilities :

1. Champion the Farmer Voice

Continuously represent the needs, constraints, and behaviors of farmers in product decisions, ensuring solutions address real and priority agricultural problems.

2. Achieve and Sustain Product–Market Fit

Design and iterate products that are relevant across crops, regions, and farming systems, balancing scalability with local adaptation.

3. Own and Execute the Product Strategy

Define and deliver a product roadmap aligned with company growth, revenue, and impact objectives.

4. Translate Field Insights Into Scalable Solutions

Convert agronomic, operational, and market insights into product features that can be deployed and maintained at scale.

5. Drive Data-Informed Product Decisions

Establish and monitor product metrics to guide prioritization, measure value creation, and continuously improve performance.

6. Deliver Usable Products in Low-Resource Environments

Ensure products function reliably on low-end devices, with limited connectivity, and for users with varying digital literacy.

7. Coordinate Cross-Functional Execution

Lead collaboration between engineering, agronomy, operations, sales, and support teams to deliver high-quality product outcomes.

8. Enable Effective Go-to-Market and Adoption

Support product launches, user onboarding, and adoption through clear positioning, training, and feedback loops.

9. Build for Partnerships and Ecosystem Integration

Develop product capabilities that integrate with value-chain partners, financial services, and public or donor-led initiatives.

10. Manage the Product Lifecycle With Discipline

Own products from discovery through scale, making clear decisions on iteration, investment, or retirement based on impact and performance.

If you Own…

Indispensable :

Bachelor's Degree (Required)

A bachelor's degree in one of the following or a closely related field :

• Agriculture, Agronomy, Agricultural Economics, or Environmental Science

• Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or Data Science

Foundational Product or Technology Exposure

Formal education or equivalent training that demonstrates :

• Understanding of software development concepts and product lifecycles

• Ability to work with technical teams and translate requirements into specifications

• Experiences 5 years

• Fluent english / french

Skills (know-how):

Product Discovery and User Research

• Ability to conduct qualitative and quantitative user research with farmers, agribusinesses, and value-chain actors.

• Skill in translating field observations and user feedback into clear product requirements.

• Strong problem-framing and prioritization capabilities in complex, resource-constrained environments

Agricultural and Market Domain Understanding

• Practical understanding of agricultural value chains, farming systems, and seasonal cycles.

• Ability to engage credibly with agronomists, extension teams, and farmers.

• Awareness of market access challenges, input distribution, pricing dynamics, and climate risk

Technical and Systems Thinking

• Ability to work effectively with engineering teams and understand software development constraints.

• Competence in writing clear product specifications, user stories, and acceptance criteria.

• Systems-thinking mindset to design products that integrate data, workflows, and partners

Data and Analytical Skills

• Ability to define and track product metrics related to adoption, engagement, retention, and impact.

• Competence in interpreting usage, agronomic, and market data to inform decisions.

• Comfort with experimentation, pilots, and evidence-based iteration

User Experience and Accessibility Design

• Strong intuition for simple, intuitive UX, especially for low-literacy and mobile-first users.

• Experience designing for low-end devices, intermittent connectivity, and offline workflows.

• Ability to collaborate with designers to test and refine usability in real field conditions

Execution and Delivery Management

• Strong backlog management and prioritization skills.

• Ability to balance speed, quality, and scope under resource constraints.

• Discipline in managing dependencies and delivering incremental value

Cross-Functional Leadership and Communication

• Ability to align engineering, agronomy, operations, sales, and support teams around shared priorities.

• Clear written and verbal communication across technical and non-technical stakeholders.

• Confidence in making decisions and managing trade-offs without formal authority

Go-to-Market and Adoption Enablement

• Skill in supporting product launches, onboarding, and adoption strategies.

• Ability to equip field teams and partners with product knowledge and feedback mechanisms.

• Understanding of pricing, incentives, and behavioral drivers of adoption

Partnership and Stakeholder Management

• Ability to work with external partners such as input suppliers, buyers, financial institutions, NGOs, and governments.

• Skill in translating partner requirements into product capabilities without over-customization.

• Experience navigating donor-funded or multi-stakeholder environments is an advantage

Contextual Adaptability and Resilience

• High tolerance for ambiguity, incomplete data, and changing constraints.

• Cultural sensitivity and ability to operate across regions, languages, and socioeconomic contexts

Knowledge (Knowledge):

1. Agricultural Systems and Practices

2. End-to-end understanding of value chains: input supply, production, aggregation, processing, logistics, and markets.

3. Rural market dynamics, informal economies, and last-mile distribution challenges.

4. Product lifecycle management from discovery to scale.

5. Agile and lean product development principles.

6. Roadmapping, prioritization frameworks, and trade-off management.

7. Basic software architecture concepts (front-end, back-end, APIs, data pipelines).

8. Mobile-first product design and constraints of low-end devices.

9. Data collection methods (SMS, USSD, mobile apps, IoT, remote sensing) commonly used in AgTech.

10. Key product and business metrics (adoption, engagement, retention, revenue).

11. ROI methodologies

12. Principles of designing for low literacy and numeracy.

Behavioural qualities (interpersonal skills): …

• Analytical thinker

• Results orientated

• Comfort with ambiguity

• Problem solver

• Pragmatic

• Self-solver

• Decisiveness With Judgment

• Resilience and persistence

Why join Solevo ?

• Join a young dynamic team who is leading the chemical distribution on the African continent.

• Enjoy a collaborative, international and agile work environment.

• Be part of a team where freedom, initiative and 'thinking out of the box' is key.

• Opportunity to work in a growing versatile environment.

• Competitive compensation package and comprehensive benefits package.

• Explore opportunities for professional growth and advancement.

Then, this job is for you

How to join us?

If you're excited about this position, we encourage you to submit your resume detailing your relevant experience and be part of our exciting journey.

What's next ?

If your profile matches our search, you will be contacted by our HR team for a first contact.

Please be informed that we will keep your profile to contact you for future professional opportunities.