Salam Kisan is India's agri-tech platform bringing drone-based crop spraying, farm advisory, and precision-agriculture services directly to farmers. Our drones and pilots have covered nearly 5 lakh acres and served more than 2.5 lakh farmers. We're scaling that mission through a larger group — PRYM Aerospace (drone manufacturing and OEM partnerships) and PRYM Drone School of Excellence, a DGCA-approved drone training school.

In Andhra Pradesh, we run a drone-as-a-service programme with the Government of Andhra Pradesh, supported by the Gates Foundation, and we have active operations in Telangana and Kerala. We're now hiring a General Manager / Deputy General Manager to turn this footprint into a large, profitable regional business.

This is a senior business leadership role, not a pure operations role. You will build the business — win customers, partners and government programmes, and grow revenue — while making sure ~50 drone pilots and 5-6 Cluster Managers deliver every spray job safely and on time. You'll run the region like your own company, reporting directly to the Chief Business Officer.

Location: Hyderabad or Vijayawada (preferred) — extensive field travel across Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Kerala, with planned expansion into Karnataka and Tamil Nadu

Team: 5-6 Cluster Managers and ~50 drone pilots, plus regional support staff

Experience: 8-10+ years, with at least 4 years leading large field teams

Languages: Telugu (essential), Malayalam (highly preferred)

Reports to: Chief Business Officer

Compensation: Competitive, commensurate with experience, plus performance-linked incentives

WHAT YOU'LL DO

Business Development, Sales and Revenue

- Own the regional P&L; and annual targets for revenue, acreage sprayed, farmers served and repeat bookings
- Build and close a sales pipeline across three channels: farmers (B2C); agri-input companies, seed companies, sugar mills, plantations and contract-farming firms (B2B); and state agriculture and horticulture departments, Rythu Seva Kendras, Krishi Bhavans and KVKs (B2G)
- Sign revenue partnerships with FPOs, cooperatives, SHGs, dealers and input retailers to create steady, repeat order flow
- Identify and win government schemes, tenders and subsidy programmes for drone spraying in each state, and prepare proposals with the central team
- Drive drone-unit and drone-as-a-service (DaaS) sales, including enterprise packages for FPOs and rural entrepreneurs
- Convert programme-led demand in Andhra Pradesh into paid, repeat commercial business
- Plan crop- and season-wise demand (kharif, rabi and plantation cycles) and set acreage targets by district and cluster
- Own pricing discipline, collections and margins
- Lead entry into new states and districts — market assessment, first partners and first pilots on the ground

Pilot Network: Hiring,



Training and Retention

- Hire, deploy and retain a network of ~50 drone pilots, and grow it ahead of each spray season
- Recruit pilots from rural youth, agriculture graduates, women entrepreneurs and FPO members; coordinate DGCA certification with PRYM Drone School of Excellence
- Run the training calendar — onboarding, refresher and safety training, crop SOPs, chemical handling, farmer communication and app usage
- Set pilot performance metrics and incentives linked to acres sprayed, quality and safety, and keep attrition low through fair pay, timely payments and clear growth paths

Field Operations and Service Delivery

- Run daily operations end to end: job allocation, pilot routing, drone and battery availability, chemical logistics and on-time service
- Track operating KPIs — acres per drone per day, drone utilisation, job completion, turnaround time, farmer satisfaction and complaint closure
- Ensure every spray follows Salam Kisan crop SOPs (dosage, water volume, flight parameters) and is recorded on our operator app with GPS-tagged records
- Plan fleet deployment, maintenance, spares and battery cycles with the technical team to keep downtime low
- Resolve escalations fast, including crop-damage claims, farmer disputes and field incidents
- Own safety and regulatory compliance: DGCA rules, pilot certification, drone registration (UIN), insurance and flying permissions

Team Leadership

- Lead, coach and review 5-6 Cluster Managers, each responsible for a cluster of districts
- Set monthly and seasonal targets for every cluster and run weekly performance reviews
- Build second-line leadership so the region keeps growing without depending on one person
- Establish a clear operating rhythm — daily/weekly reporting, resource allocation and escalation handling — so the region runs without daily firefighting

Government, Stakeholders and Events

- Build strong relationships with state agriculture departments, district administrations, KVKs, agricultural universities and programme partners
- Represent Salam Kisan at government reviews, programme meetings, farmer melas, dealer meets and industry events
- Own execution of farmer demonstrations and regional events that generate bookings
- Report to the CBO on revenue, pipeline, acreage, fleet status, pilot productivity and risks, and deliver accurate reporting for government and donor-funded programmes

LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS





You will work every day with farmers, pilots, FPOs and government officials in their own language, so this is non-negotiable.

- Telugu — essential: fluent spoken and valuable written Telugu to run Andhra Pradesh and Telangana
- Malayalam — highly preferred: working knowledge to lead operations and partnerships in Kerala
- Kannada or Tamil — an advantage: for planned expansion into Karnataka and Tamil Nadu
- English and Hindi — working proficiency: for reporting, central teams and corporate partners

YOU SHOULD HAVE

- 8-10+ years in agriculture, agri-inputs (crop protection, seeds, fertilisers), agritech, farm mechanisation or rural field operations — hands-on, not purely corporate/HO
- A strong agriculture background: a degree in Agriculture (B.Sc./M.Sc.), Horticulture or Agricultural Engineering is strongly preferred
- A proven business development and sales record — revenue you grew, partners you signed and territories you built, with numbers to show for it
- At least 4 years managing a multi-layer field team of 30+ people — i.e., managed managers, not just individual field staff
- Experience hiring, training and retaining a large, distributed field workforce
- Sound knowledge of crops, pests, diseases and spray practices in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Kerala — paddy, cotton, chilli, maize, sugarcane, banana and plantation crops
- Good understanding of agri-drones and precision agriculture, or a strong ability to learn the technology quickly
- Experience operating in tier 2/tier 3 markets at district and block level
- Willingness to travel extensively and be present in the field, especially during peak spray seasons

GOOD TO HAVE

- Prior experience in drone sales or drone-as-a-service (agri spraying, mapping or survey); DGCA pilot certification is a strong plus
- Experience at crop-protection, seed or fertiliser companies, or last-mile agri-tech companies operating in the region
- Experience with government programmes, tenders or donor-funded agriculture projects
- An existing network among FPOs, agri-input companies, dealers and sugar mills in the region
- MBA/PGDM in Agri-business or Rural Management

WHY JOIN US

- Build and own a regional business at an early stage, backed by a model proven at scale
- Direct access to the founders and leadership team — fast decisions, no layers
- Performance-linked incentives tied to revenue and acreage
- Real impact on farmer incomes, input use and rural jobs

HOW TO APPLY

- Email your resume to [email protected], copying [email protected] — subject line: "Your Name_GM/DGM Southern Region"
- In your email, please mention: the largest field team you have led, the revenue you grew in your last two roles, and the languages you speak, read and write

& hit Easy Apply below

📌 General Manager / Deputy General Manager – Southern Region, Business Development & Operations (AP, Telangana, Kerala) (Mumbai)
🏢 Salam Kisan
📍 Mumbai