Syngenta has appointed Jeff Cecil as President, North America Crop Protection, effective October 1, 2026. Cecil succeeds Vern Hawkins, who is retiring as President of the North American Crop Protection business after a distinguished career spanning more than 40 years with Syngenta and its predecessor companies. Hawkins will continue in his role as President of the US parent company, Syngenta Corporation, to provide corporate leadership and external stakeholder engagement through 2027.

Cecil brings more than three decades of experience with Syngenta and its legacy companies to the role. Most recently, he served as Head of Marketing for U.S. Crop Protection, where he helped shape commercial strategy, portfolio priorities and customer engagement efforts across the business. In that role, he helped align marketing, portfolio and commercial priorities to support business performance and strengthen customer engagement across key crop segments.

Throughout his career, Cecil has held leadership positions across sales, marketing and product management in North America and at Syngenta’s global headquarters in Basel, Switzerland. As Global Head of Product Management for Seedcare, he led global portfolio strategy and worked across regions to advance Seedcare innovation, strengthen customer solutions and support business growth. Earlier in his career, he led U.S. sales teams and played an important role in the integration of the Seeds and Crop Protection businesses.