Linda Nel

Advisory | Board Member | Non-Executive Director | Agriculture | Start-ups | Strategic Planning | Brand & Product Lifecycle

Zurich, Switzerland

About

Multilingual leader with 30+ years international experience, delivering strategy and revenue growth across agriculture, FMCG, pharma and digital technology. Business development, marketing, brand and product management expertise at regional (Europe, Middle East & Africa, North America, Latin America) and global levels. Recognised Agribusiness thought leader who bridges cultural differences, influences strategic direction, connects people and drives innovation for corporations and start-ups. Marketing skills learned at Nestlé, General Mills, and Diageo applied to online auctions (MercadoLibre), consumer electronics (Thomson), pharmaceuticals (designed & delivered executive education for Novartis) and agriculture (Syngenta + SMEs in US and Europe)  Strategic thinker and expert in scaling businesses. Brings structure, coaches executives, shapes strategy and steers implementation of transformational roadmaps to realise sustainable growth and profitability.  Instils trust and confidence. Active listener with exceptional understanding of board dynamics and proven record influencing change, building high-performing teams and providing leadership to add value at every business stage.  Impacts positive business and financial results. Recognises priorities and competing drivers, appreciates both granular detail and big picture, provides holistic viewpoints, and strikes right balance between challenge and support. AREAS OF EXPERTISE B2B and B2C Marketing • Strategy Definition • Portfolio Management • Executive Guidance & Coaching • Talent Development • Client & Stakeholder Engagement • Global Leadership • Cross-functional Innovation • Board Advisory • Branding & Product Lifecycle • Influencing • Communication • M&A Integration • Equality, Inclusion & Diversity • Designing / Delivering Marketing Training

Experience

  • Founder & CEO at Good Egg Consulting
    Jan 2018 - Present · 8 yrs 7 mos

    Good Egg Consulting provides business consulting in the areas of strategy, portfolio & product management, and marketing. With a multi-lingual approach and multi-cultural understanding to help define strategy and translate it into actionable deliverables and marketing campaigns, we run engaging workshops in person or virtually, with participants in diverse locations. Projects: * Industry expert, advised companies in the agricultural sector on European market, global seed treatment market, biologicals, and market entry strategies * Designed & led process for developing a 5-year strategy for an EMEA professional services business, including workshops and final strategy communication * Re-designed campaign process & responsibilities with marketing & sales team in Spain * Led workshops and worked with category leaders to develop global category strategies and execution plans with a multinational health, nutrition and materials company * Retained by an environmental NGO to structure and run workshops with senior leaders in an agribusiness multinational in order to develop a shared conservation vision and agenda * Directed the creation of a sustainability strategy for a European agribusiness division * Project Champion, business Gender Equality Initiative with SIX & IMD World Competitiveness Center Clients include: dsm-firmenich, Syngenta, GOED, The Nature Conservancy, Greenlight Biosciences, M2i Proud to have collaborated with: IMD World Competitiveness Center: https://www.imd.org/wcc/world-competitiveness-center/ The Context Network, Partners for Advancing Agriculture: https://contextnet.com/ PSI Consulting (Simon Chappell / retired)

  • Invaio (Basel, Switzerland)
    • SVP Portfolio Strategy and Marketing
      Feb 2023 - Dec 2023 · 11 mos

      Reported to CEO; designed and led the strategy sessions to identify investment priorities with $20M budget to advance and accelerate solutions to market, creating a risk- and delivery time- balanced portfolio of platforms and products. Drove the definition of the products and services, including goals and metrics for transparency. Set marketing strategy for all customer-facing offers (Italy, US, Brazil), and oversaw execution of marketing materials and participation in customer-oriented events.

    • Vice President Marketing & Portfolio
      Apr 2022 - Jan 2023 · 10 mos

    • Senior Director, Global Portfolio Management
      Aug 2021 - Apr 2022 · 9 mos

  • Advisor at FA Bio
    Nov 2019 - Aug 2021 · 1 yr 10 mos

    Worked with founders of FungiAlert (now FA Bio), an Imperial College spinoff, to develop business model. Connected to venture capital contacts. Advised on the business strategy and development of the company.

  • Syngenta (11 yrs 10 mos)
    • Global Seedcare Product Management Head
      Aug 2014 - Dec 2017 · 3 yrs 5 mos

      As a member of Senior Management at this leading international agribusiness company with $13B revenue, I was promoted in a time of downsizing to create this new role, combining 3 former teams. I ran the global and EAME seed treatment portfolios with a team of 7 direct reports, driving innovation to maintain our leading position in the industry and the most profitable portfolio in the company, with $1B in annual sales.

    • Global Seedcare Product Manager
      Jan 2013 - Jul 2014 · 1 yr 7 mos

    • Global Business Development Manager, Financial Solutions
      Aug 2011 - Dec 2012 · 1 yr 5 mos

  • Marketing Leadership Consultant at StratX
    Mar 2004 - Feb 2006 · 2 yrs