At Syngenta Crop Protection, we're pioneering solutions that safeguard global food security while championing sustainable agriculture. As a world market leader headquartered in Switzerland, we empower farmers with innovative crop protection technologies that defend against nature's toughest challenges. We unite advanced science with digital solutions to develop intelligent crop protection that maximizes yields while minimizing environmental impact. Join our mission of revolutionizing plant protection from seed to harvest.
The role leads the India regulatory agenda for crop protection and relevant technologies, translating science, policy and business priorities into timely, compliant and commercially viable regulatory outcomes. It is accountable for building a future-ready regulatory pathway that accelerates responsible introduction, renewal, expansion and stewardship of products in one of Syngenta’s most complex and strategically important growth markets.
The incumbent is a member of the India R&D leadership ecosystem and acts as the primary senior regulatory advisor to commercial, R&D, supply, legal, public affairs and global functions. The role combines sound judgement with constructive risk-taking: advancing defensible options early, making clear trade-offs, and escalating material risks decisively so that delivery is not delayed by avoidable uncertainty.
Regulatory strategy and market access: Own the integrated India regulatory strategy and multi-year registration pipeline, prioritising resources against growth platforms, portfolio value, launch readiness, licence renewal and risk exposure. Drive an acceleration mindset: establish critical paths, remove decision bottlenecks and secure fit-for-purpose evidence packages that enable faster, predictable time-to-market without compromising scientific integrity or compliance.
India regulatory execution: Lead high-quality submission, registration, renewal, amendment, import, label and post-registration processes with the relevant Indian authorities. Ensure robust dossier planning, data interpretation, documentation control and response management. Build proactive engagement plans for India-specific regulatory requirements, including evolving expectations under insecticides, seeds, biotechnology, environment, state-level implementation and product stewardship frameworks.
Business partnership and commercial acumen: Partner with Commercial, Marketing, Finance and Portfolio teams to convert regulatory intelligence into actionable choices on portfolio investment, launch sequencing, claims, formulation, pack and label strategy, pricing assumptions and lifecycle management. Quantify the business impact of regulatory scenarios and make transparent recommendations that balance market opportunity, cost, timing, probability of success and reputational exposure.
Leadership and talent: Lead, coach and develop a high-performing Regulatory Affairs organisation with clear accountability, technical excellence, resilience and a strong ownership culture. Set ambitious standards for delivery, encourage disciplined challenge and empower team members to take well-governed decisions at pace.
External influence and stakeholder management: Represent Syngenta credibly with regulators, industry associations, technical institutions, external experts and other stakeholders. Maintain constructive, ethical and transparent relationships. Anticipate policy direction and build trusted partnerships that position Syngenta as a science-led, responsible contributor to India’s agricultural productivity, farmer outcomes and sustainability agenda.
Risk, compliance and governance: Ensure full compliance with local legislation, licence conditions, company policies, anti-bribery requirements, data integrity expectations and product stewardship commitments. Maintain a visible regulatory risk register, define mitigation owners and triggers, and lead decisive cross-functional interventions for high-impact issues, including adverse regulatory decisions, product restrictions, data gaps and public scrutiny.
R&D and scientific integration: Connect India regulatory needs with global and regional R&D, Product Safety, Field Solutions and Development teams to ensure locally relevant trial design, data generation and technical evidence. Champion early regulatory-by-design in innovation projects so India development choices are commercially relevant, technically credible and ready for submission at the required pace.
Operational excellence: Establish disciplined regulatory portfolio governance, dashboards, key performance indicators, vendor oversight and continuous-improvement routines. Use digital tools, standardised workflows and forward-looking analytics to improve submission quality, transparency, cycle time and resource productivity.
Education: Advanced degree in agriculture, chemistry, biology, toxicology, environmental science, regulatory science or a related discipline. A postgraduate qualification and/or recognised regulatory, business or leadership education is strongly preferred.
Experience: Substantial senior-level experience in regulatory affairs, product safety, development, R&D, public policy or adjacent functions within agriculture, life sciences, chemicals or a highly regulated industry. Demonstrated leadership in the Indian market and a practical understanding of country and state-level regulatory dynamics are essential.
Technical capability: Strong understanding of registration science, dossiers, risk assessment, product stewardship and regulatory lifecycle management. Ability to interpret technical data and turn complex regulatory evidence into clear business decisions is essential.
Leadership capability: Proven ability to lead through influence across functions, geographies and external stakeholders. Evidence of leading change, developing talent, taking accountable decisions under uncertainty and delivering outcomes in demanding environments is required.
Business capability: Commercially astute, financially aware and customer-oriented. Able to link regulatory strategy to portfolio value, market differentiation, launch economics and country growth priorities.
Personal attributes: High integrity, resilience, judgement, clarity of communication and a constructive, collaborative style. Bold in ambition, pragmatic in execution and unwavering on safety, ethics and compliance.
Decision Rights and Authority
The Head Regulatory India owns country regulatory recommendations, approval strategies, regulatory risk escalation and functional resource deployment within agreed plans. The role is expected to challenge business assumptions constructively, recommend investment or withdrawal where evidence warrants it, and escalate decisions that materially affect compliance, safety, reputation or portfolio value. The incumbent must act with appropriate speed and conviction, ensuring that commercial urgency is translated into disciplined, evidence-based action rather than unmanaged regulatory exposure.
Note: Syngenta is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate in recruitment, hiring, training, promotion or any other employment practices for reasons of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital or veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected status.
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Syngenta is one of the world’s leading agriculture companies. Our ambition is to help safely feed the world while taking care of the planet. We aim to improve the sustainability, quality and safety of agriculture with world class science and innovative crop solutions. Our technologies enable millions of farmers around the world to make better use of limited agricultural resources. Syngenta is part of Syngenta Group with 53,000 people in more than 100 countries and is working to transform how crops are grown. Through partnerships, collaboration and The Good Growth Plan we are committed to accelerating innovation for farmers and nature, striving for carbon neutral agriculture, helping people stay safe and healthy and partnering for impact. To learn more visit www.syngenta.com and www.goodgrowthplan.com. Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Syngenta.
