Manager Agroalimentaire

If you are passionate about the agri-food sector, and you want to seize the new professional opportunities generated by the increase in global needs in this market and make a career out of it, you should look into becoming an agri-food manager. Here is a summary sheet introducing the main elements making up this occupation, to guide you in your orientation.

Managers in the agri-food industry can officiate in a great variety of domains such as business development, marketing, counseling, finance, purchasing and supply chain, production and distribution, quality, health and safety, or yet again in research and development, or innovation.

In most cases, they will hold strategic positions in companies, be it in a pharmaceutical laboratory, a leading store or an agri-business.

Agri-food managers will deploy their professional competences and sharpen their expertise with the various jobs they will hold, depending on the specific sectors they will be working in. Regardless of their preferred field, agri-food managers will need to provide the following competences:

• Proficiency in standards and regulations of their activity sector;
• Comprehensive understanding of their company’s issues;
• Implementation of effective strategies and performance assessment;
• Taking on responsibilities and risk management;
• Leadership, team management and promotion of human resources.

You can start a career as an agri-food manager after graduating from a Mastère Spécialisé en Management des Entreprises du Vivant et de l’Agroalimentaire. This degree is open to students with a Master’s level (Baccalaureate +5 years) and to some students with a degree equivalent to a Baccalaureate +4 years with an exemption, and will provide career opportunities in the agri-food industry.

Salaries for agri-food managers will obviously depend on the level of expertise and experience they have, on the reputation of the school they are graduating from, and on the importance of the company they will work in. Average salaries are estimated as per the following:

• Junior: €46.000 a year;
• Confirmed: €60.000 a year;
• Senior: €72.500 a year.

Agri-food managers can evolve in the companies they are working in or change companies to obtain a more interesting job with better remuneration. Depending on their opportunities and ambitions, they can become sales directors or human resources managers in major groups for instance.

On the whole, agri-food managers are key elements of business development in laboratories, bio-pharmaceutical companies and agri-food industries. These professionals address the growing needs of companies in this sector, those wanting to conciliate globalization, sustainable development and scientific innovations.

By choosing emlyon business school and its Mastère Spécialisé program to get the required background to become an agri-food manager, you are capitalizing on a triple partnership of excellence with the prestigious business school Institut Agro, and VetAgro Sup, for a high-standard academic support.