Ephraim M. Ndarathi
Nakuru,Kenya
Summary
Over 20 years’ experience driving strategic growth and product visibility for leading corporate organizations. Highly competitive, passionate, persuasive and articulate, able to achieve results others believed to be impossible. Experienced in marketing, public relations, partnership building and product management.
Overview
34
34
years of professional experience
Work History
Head of Business-Veterinary & Agriculture
HIGHCHEM GROUP OF COMPANIES
- Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer (C.E.O)
- Responsibilities
- Strategic Leadership
- Develop and implement business strategies for veterinary and agricultural products.
- Identify new market opportunities and growth areas.
- Drive expansion into new regions, products, and customer segments.
- Sales & Marketing Management
- Lead sales and marketing teams to achieve revenue and market share targets.
- Develop annual sales forecasts, budgets, and business plans.
- Strengthen relationships with distributors, agrovet outlets, farmers, and key accounts.
- Product Portfolio Management
- Oversee veterinary pharmaceuticals, vaccines, feed additives, crop protection products, and other agricultural solutions.
- Identify new products for introduction into the market.
- Monitor product performance and profitability.
- Financial Management
- Manage divisional budgets and profitability (P&L responsibility).
- Monitor costs, margins, and revenue performance.
- Ensure achievement of financial targets.
- Technical & Regulatory Oversight
- Ensure compliance with veterinary, agricultural, and regulatory requirements.
- Coordinate product registration and regulatory approvals.
- Maintain quality and safety standards.
- Customer & Stakeholder Engagement
- Build relationships with farmers, veterinary professionals, government agencies, and industry associations.
- Represent the company at industry events and conferences.
- Drive customer satisfaction and retention.
- Team Leadership
- Recruit, mentor, and develop high-performing sales, technical, and marketing teams.
- Set performance targets and monitor execution.
- Foster a culture of accountability and innovation.
- Innovation & Business Development
- Identify emerging trends in animal health and agriculture.
- Lead product launches and strategic partnerships.
- Evaluate acquisitions, distributorships, and new business opportunities.
Head of Sales
HIGHCHEM MARKETING LTD, Essentials Division
01.2016 - 01.2024
- Reporting to the General Manager, Operations
- Key Job Tasks and Responsibilities:
- Responsibilities
- Management of Sales Team
- Management of the Sales team, currently at 25 distributed all over the country.
- Monitoring individual Sales Representatives performance against set budget.
- Establishing a balanced sales force in terms of numbers, location, skills and competence.
- Sales force recruitment and placement in the different regions in the country.
- Identification of various areas of training for the Sales team, to keep it in tandem with the changing world.
- Conducting of quarterly/regular meetings to evaluate the performance of the various regions.
- Evaluating and reviewing of the staff reporting to me.
- SALES MONITORING AND REPORTING
- Execution of Company sales programme aimed at achieving the Sales targets.
- Routine monitoring of performance of the Sales Reps and against set budgets, both value based and Standard Keeping Units (S.K.U’S)
- Generating of Sales teams and Company variance reports and setting measures to mitigate the same.
- Continuous monitoring of Distributor’s to ensure their sales are in tandem with agreed budgets.
- Adherence to Quarterly plans to eliminate shuttling by the reps.
- Preparing and reporting to the Management the periodical performance of the Sales team and Distributors.
- Product by product performance evaluation and instituting the appropriate measures depending on the performance.
- Recruiting/appointing managing and developing business with existing and new customers, generating new markets and growing market share and value for the company brands.
- Closely working relationship with the Technical Department and advising on the new products derived from the market trends.
- Devising strategies aimed at increasing market share in target business areas. Such include demonstration, company visibility in outlets, distribution of products to the customers on time and ensuring entire product range is available in the different market segments.
- BUDGETING
- Preparing the division’s annual budget based both on value and SKU’s.
- Monthly monitoring of the performance of the set sales target and where need be setting appropriate mitigating measures.
- MARKETING
- Preparation of the annual marketing budget.
- Identifying the particular products to advertise at given periods to optimize sales.
- Identifying and engaging the various media houses, choosing the appropriate one to use in the different market campaign.
- Ensuring that all marketing activities are set into place before advertising on air with the aim of creating synergy during the marketing campaign.
- DEBT MANAGEMENT
- Monitoring of debt portfolio to ensure adherence to the agreed credit terms between the company and the Customers.
- Evaluating of new customers for credit eligibility and authorizing their credit application forms as necessary.
- Regular monitoring of the customer’s debt to ensure that they operate within the credit terms.
- COST MONITORING
- Monitoring cost of goods from the production unit and external suppliers to assist in calculating the price of the products.
- Authorizing of stores requisitions, production sheets and Goods Return Notes.
- INVENTORY MANAGEMENT
- Monitoring the number of days the inventory remains in the warehouse to reduce on costs with particular emphasis on stocks over 90 days in the warehouse.
- Timely external ordering to ensure no stock outs over supplies (in liaison with General Manager and Logistics department)
- Liaison with external suppliers by giving the annual projections/ months taking into consideration the various lead times for different products
- Allocation of pack sizes to be produced in the event of a low stock product.
- Allocation of low volume stocks to distributors to avoid scarcity in some regions while others are over supplied.
- Developing of liquidation plan for slow moving/short expiry products to reduce losses.
- PRICING
- Pricing of new products and adjustment for existing products to confirm to target margins as well as responding to market forces in the environment.
- Developing of reduced prices/ offer especially during peak season to escalate the products uptake.
- Annual price review.
- FIELD EXPENSE REGULATION
- Approval of Sales Reps travel expense claims.
- Approval of Seminars/field activity expenses.
- DISTRIBUTION MANAGEMENT
- Regular meetings with the Distributors, addressing distribution challenges and setting strategies to geared to achieve set targets.
- Evaluation and developing new Distributors all over the country to ensure enhanced availability of company products.
- Setting distributor trainings for the company products.
- Preparing of the company annual Sales and Marketing budgets.
- Continuous monitoring of existing and upcoming distributors to ensure their sales volumes continue grow.
- Motivation to distributors especially those who have achieved the set sales targets.
- Annual Sales and Marketing Budgeting
- Annual Company budgeting in the month of October for the following year.
- Allocation of budgets to the Sales force.
- Allocation of the regional budget to the Regional Distributors.
- Developing of marketing calendar.
- Identification of the advertising media.
- COMPANY REPRESENTATION
- Representing the company in meetings for the industry, trade or otherwise where her presence is needed.
- Maintaining cordial working relationship, teamwork with stakeholders (industry associations, strategic partnerships, etc)
Field Sales Co-ordinator
HIGHCHEM MARKETING LTD
01.2014 - 12.2015
- Reporting to the Head of Sales
- Key Job Tasks and Responsibilities:
- Co-ordination of the field sales team in Marketing
- Marketing of C.R.I Genetics through training of organized farmers, Artificial Insemination providers groups about the benefits accrued thereof.
- Daily reporting of the sales performance from the regions.
- Developing of an elaborate calendar of marketing activities for the regions.
- Liaison with the Head of sales to ensure that the sales force achieve their budgets.
- Ensuring that the Company distributors achieve their budget by creating enough market demand.
- Identifying new business opportunities, laying elaborate penetration strategy and communicating the same to the Head of Sales.
- Debt Management-Closely working with the Distributors in a bid to ensure prompt payment hence continuous business generation.
- Market Scanning-Continuous monitoring of emerging trends, for instance new products, competitor and advising the management of counter measures.
Area Sales Manager Mid –Rift Region
HIGHCHEM MARKETING LTD
06.2006 - 12.2013
- Reporting to the Head of Sales
- Key Job Tasks and Responsibilities:
- Overseeing the overall function of the Mid-Rift region.
- Responsible for leading and motivating the regional team, ensuring effective area controls are established and strictly observed.
- Marketing of C.R.I Genetics through training of organized farmers, Artificial Insemination -providers groups about the benefits accrued thereof.
- Coordinating of all sales activities in the region and evaluating the performance of all the respective team members in the region
- Providing regular reports as required by senior management on marketing and sales performance including promotional activities, demand forecasts, market intelligence and trends.
- Monitoring, developing and implementing strategies for overcoming competition and its resultant impacts on debt management.
Technical Assistant, Animal Health
TWIGA CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES
08.2005 - 05.2006
- Reporting to the Area Sales Manager
- Key Job Tasks and Responsibilities:
- Coordination of all sales activities within the business territory
- Increase product demand creation through Farmers trainings and product demonstration to not only ensure the budget attainment of the existing customers but also give way to new customers.
- Interlinking the Distributors and stockists so that there is smooth flow of products all the way to the end user level.
- Monitoring, developing and implementing strategies for overcoming competition.
- Assisting the Area Sales Manager in mobilization of Agrovets stockists for training of the company products.
- Identification of the competitor activities and provision of possible counter attack strategies.
Livestock consultant
AMERICAN BREEDERS SOCIETY (A.B.S) / HEIFER INTERNATIONAL
06.2004 - 07.2005
- Key Job Tasks and Responsibilities:
- Worked with Wakulima, Mweiga and Nyala Dairy Co-operative Dairy Societies and training on:
- Advantages of Artificial Insemination over Natural mating aimed at encouraging the use of the former as opposed to the later.
- Bull Catalogue interpretation
- Bull selection as a tool to address the various Dairy Farmer’s breeding challenges.
- Demystifying A.I as a belief held in some local communities.
- Factors affecting fertility especially in Dairy Animals.
- Training farmers on how to run Dairy farming as a business enterprise
Resident Veterinarian
Private Veterinary Assistant Practitioner
01.1995 - 05.2004
- Reporting to the General Manager
- Key Job Tasks and Responsibilities:
- Diagnosis and treatment of Animals in the field.
- Carrying out of post-mortem of animals
- Simple surgical operations of sick animals.
- Extension services on the best method of livestock rearing.
- Carrying out of Artificial Insemination (A.I) services.
- Training farmers on the best aspects of Livestock breeding.
Veterinarian Assistant
NAKURU VETERINARY CENTRE
01.1993 - 12.1994
- Key Job Tasks and Responsibilities:
- Assisting the Resident Veterinarian in running of the day to day operations of the outlet.
- Diagnosis and treatment of the various diseases of the animals brought in by the customers.
- Ensuring that all the drugs within the outlet were kept under the right temperatures as per the specific drugs requirement.
- Compliance of the facility as per the Kenya Veterinary Board requirements for it to be licenced to practice.
- Management of the other staff.
- Acting as the Manager in the absence of the Resident Veterinarian.
Untrained Technical Teacher
MATHENGE TECHNICAL TRAINING INSTITUTE
06.1990 - 12.1992
- Key Job Tasks and Responsibilities:
- Training of the students undertaking Agriculture course in both Theory and Practical lessons.
- Ensuring high level standards of cleanliness were maintained in the Dairy units to reduce diseases.
- Advising of institution on the best animal husbandry practices to increase production of the animals.
- Diagnosis and treatment of sick animals
Education
Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) - Strategic Management Option
Management University of Africa
12-2023
Bachelors - Management and Leadership
Management University of Africa
11-2018
Diploma - Marketing
Kenya Institute of Management
12-2008
Advanced Certificate - Business Management
Kenya Institute of Management
12-2008
Certificate - Business Management
Kenya Institute of Management
06-2007
Certificate - Artificial Insemination (A.I)
Animal Health and Industry Training Institute
05-2002
Diploma - Livestock Production
Assiniboine Community College
Manitoba, Canada12-1992
Credit Certificate - Animal Health
Animal Health and Industry Training Institute
Ndomba04-1990
Kenya Certificate of Education (K.C.E) Certificate - undefined
Githiga High School
11-1985
Certificate of Primary Education (C.P.E) - undefined
Munyu Primary School
11-1981
Skills
- Excellent sales and negotiation skills
- Good business sense and a professional manner
- Strong communication and presentation skills
- An excellent understanding of the local consumer market matched by a well-developed network
- Good 'people skills'
- Ability to work well independently and
- Confidence, motivation and determination
- Possess a high-energy level and competitive nature
- Good organizational and time management skills
- The ability to develop in-depth knowledge about your products and markets
Accomplishments
- Revenue Generation.
- Account Development
- Market Penetration
- Effective Marketing
Affiliations
- Kenya Veterinary Board
- Kenya Veterinary Paraprofessionals Association
- Marketing Society of Kenya
- Kenya Institute of Management
Interests
Age: 58 years, Religion: Christian, Sex: Male, Nationality: Kenyan, Hobbies: Travelling, Socializing, Music, Reading
OTHER COURSES
- Customer care and Managing Customer’s Expectations
- Debt Management
Timeline
Head of Sales
HIGHCHEM MARKETING LTD, Essentials Division
01.2016 - 01.2024
Field Sales Co-ordinator
HIGHCHEM MARKETING LTD
01.2014 - 12.2015
Area Sales Manager Mid –Rift Region
HIGHCHEM MARKETING LTD
06.2006 - 12.2013
Technical Assistant, Animal Health
TWIGA CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES
08.2005 - 05.2006
Livestock consultant
AMERICAN BREEDERS SOCIETY (A.B.S) / HEIFER INTERNATIONAL
06.2004 - 07.2005
Resident Veterinarian
Private Veterinary Assistant Practitioner
01.1995 - 05.2004
Veterinarian Assistant
NAKURU VETERINARY CENTRE
01.1993 - 12.1994
Untrained Technical Teacher
MATHENGE TECHNICAL TRAINING INSTITUTE
06.1990 - 12.1992
Certificate of Primary Education (C.P.E) - undefined
Munyu Primary School
Kenya Certificate of Education (K.C.E) Certificate - undefined
Githiga High School
Credit Certificate - Animal Health
Animal Health and Industry Training Institute
Diploma - Livestock Production
Assiniboine Community College
Certificate - Artificial Insemination (A.I)
Animal Health and Industry Training Institute
Certificate - Business Management
Kenya Institute of Management
Advanced Certificate - Business Management
Kenya Institute of Management
Diploma - Marketing
Kenya Institute of Management
Bachelors - Management and Leadership
Management University of Africa
Head of Business-Veterinary & Agriculture
HIGHCHEM GROUP OF COMPANIES
Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) - Strategic Management Option
Management University of Africa