Head of Farm Management Support

Bedrijfsomschrijving

A sustainable, profitable, and enjoyable future for dairy farmers by combining robotics, engineering, and farming expertise — that’s what we believe in.

It all started in 1948 with a dream shared by two brothers in Maassluis. Since then, we have become an innovative leader in automated systems for dairy farmers around the world. With 2,500 dedicated professionals, we continuously work on new agricultural revolutions. We do this from our Campus in Maassluis — the most sustainable building in the Netherlands — as well as from various international locations. Together, our goal is to make dairy farming attractive (also) for the next generation.

Vacatureomschrijving

Would you like to contribute to the future of dairy farming and play a key role in the further professionalization of Farm Management Support (FMS) within Lely? As Head of Farm Management Support, you will lead an international team and be responsible for developing and rolling out processes, tools, and methodologies that support dairy farmers worldwide in managing their operations.

Farm Management Support is a core competence within Lely. Our goal is to help farmers succeed in their business by enabling them to make the best possible use of our solutions.
While the execution of FMS takes place at our Lely Centers, your role is to provide strategic direction, structure, and foster collaboration — both for our International team and our country organizations (clusters). You will have hierarchical responsibility for several teams, each led by their own manager, and you will guide them on both content and HR-related matters.

You are also the strategic mind behind the global tools, monitoring systems, and ‘ways of working’ for FMS. Your focus is on the strategic development of the domain — not its day-to-day execution.

Key responsibilities:

• Define the strategy for the FMS competence and translate this into a structured plan covering organizational setup, processes, ways of working, and tooling.
• Lead teams and manage the managers within them.
• Manage international stakeholders across various departments.
• Oversee the development, deployment, and quality of FMS tools and monitoring systems.
• Further strengthen collaboration with country organizations to ensure proper support for the Lely Centers.

Functie-eisen

You have an agricultural background, preferably in dairy farming, and are able to combine this experience with strong leadership and process management skills. You are capable of structuring complex processes and translating them into concrete tools and guidelines.

You also bring:

• A completed university-level degree (or equivalent working and thinking level), preferably in an agricultural field (such as animal sciences, agribusiness, or similar).
• Proven experience in leading (international) teams and managing managers.
• Extensive experience in process management and in developing standards and methodologies.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills — you know how to engage and align stakeholders.
• Affinity with dairy farming is essential.
• Excellent command of English; Dutch is a plus.

Aanvullende informatie

Working at Lely means contributing to sustainable progress within one of the most innovative organizations in the Netherlands. You help future-proof the agricultural sector — and we ensure you have the space, resources, and support to do so.

• An international working environment with room for personal initiative and entrepreneurship
• Excellent employment conditions, including up to 7 weeks of holiday per year and a solid pension scheme
• A salary range between €7,000 and €9,000 gross per month, with room for growth beyond the starting salary
• Strong development opportunities: you’re in control of your growth, with access to a wide range of training through our Lely Academy — from personal development to job-specific education
• Daily access to top-notch sports facilities on our modern Lely Campus: an indoor gym, outdoor padel courts, basketball and volleyball courts, table tennis, and foosball. Join Hyrox workouts or sign up for personal training — and challenge your colleagues during an active break
• Enjoy freshly brewed coffee and tea from our in-house barista, made with milk straight from our farm, and a healthy, affordable company restaurant
• A healthy work-life balance through our hybrid work policy: you’ll work on Campus at least three days a week, with flexible hours and the option to spend extra time on site (anytime between 06:00 and 20:00)
• A free shuttle service takes you to and from the metro station in Maassluis, ensuring a smooth start and end to your day
• We celebrate success — from work anniversaries to Christmas parties, at Lely we know how to mark the moment!

Recruitment & selection agencies, consultancies, and temp agencies:
We appreciate your interest, but we recruit all our candidates directly. While we understand your desire to contribute to our ambitions by submitting candidates for our great opportunities, this is not how we’ve set up our recruitment process. As such, any unsolicited profiles submitted for Lely vacancies will be treated as direct applications.