Competence Manager Service Tooling

A sustainable, profitable, and enjoyable future for dairy farmers by combining robotics, engineering, and agricultural expertise. That is what we believe in.

It all started in 1948 with the dream of two brothers in Maassluis. Since then, we have grown into an innovative leader in automated systems for dairy farmers worldwide. With more than 2,800 specialized professionals, we continuously work on new agricultural revolutions. We still do this from our Campus in Maassluis, the building with the highest achievable sustainability performance in the Netherlands, while operating globally. All with one goal: to make dairy farming attractive for the next generation as well.

Digital tooling plays a key role in enabling service technicians to perform at their best across the globe. At Lely, you shape how technology directly improves daily work in the field and contribute to how service is organized worldwide. 

As Competence Manager within Technical Service Support, you are part of a team each responsible for a specific domain. In this role, you take ownership of the Tooling domain and focus on the systems and applications that support our global service organization. 

You define what tooling is needed, set priorities, and translate strategy into clear roadmaps and concrete improvements. You make clear choices on what to build, improve, or phase out, ensuring that solutions are not only developed but also adopted in practice by technicians. 

You work closely with Business Teams, clusters, IT, as well as senior management. In this position, you influence priorities and direction within your domain while maintaining a strong connection to the needs from the field. This combination of strategic influence and practical impact makes the role central within Lely’s service organization. 

You collaborate closely with the Product Owner Service Tooling and with other competence managers to ensure that tooling fits seamlessly with efforts in their respective domains. Together, you ensure that systems, processes and ways of working reinforce each other, creating a consistent service approach that supports more than 2600 technicians worldwide. 

You join an engaged and knowledgeable team with a strong sense of ownership, collaboration, and energy. The team combines deep expertise with a pragmatic mindset, creating an environment where ideas are quickly translated into tangible results. 

This is not a role with direct reports. You lead a network of colleagues across the Lely Campus in Maassluis and our regional offices. Your impact comes from making decisions, setting direction, and achieving results together with the organization.  

Key responsibilities include: 

• You define and drive the vision and roadmap for your competence area, with a strong focus on digital service tooling. 
• You initiate and lead improvement projects from idea to implementation, ensuring adoption in the field. 
• You translate technical possibilities into practical solutions that improve daily work for technicians. 
• You maintain overview across multiple initiatives and ensure alignment between stakeholders. 
• You actively engage stakeholders across Business Teams, clusters, and senior management to build ownership and momentum. 
• You monitor performance and continuously improve based on data-driven insights. 

You enjoy working at the intersection of technology, people, and change. You understand systems and tooling, and you are able to translate this into clear direction and practical improvements. At the same time, you are someone who naturally connects people and creates momentum, also without formal authority. 

Additionally, you bring the following: 

• Master’s degree working and thinking level. 
• Around 5 years of experience in a similar role within a technical, IT, or service environment. 
• Experience with digital tooling, systems, or IT-driven improvements. 
• Strong project and stakeholder management skills. 
• Ability to develop and drive strategic roadmaps. 
• Strong communication skills and the ability to bring people along in change. 

We realize that not everyone fits every requirement exactly. If this role excites you and you recognize yourself in most of the points above, we encourage you to apply. 

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

• An international working environment with room for initiative and entrepreneurship.
• Excellent employment conditions, including up to 8 weeks of vacation per year and a strong pension plan.
• A salary within the range of € 5800,- to € 7500,- gross per month, with growth potential from your starting salary toward the future.
• Lely is closed for two weeks during the Christmas holiday period, allowing you to spend time with family or friends.
• Strong career development opportunities: you are in control of your growth and can choose from various training programs through our Lely Academy, ranging from personal development to role-specific courses.
• Our modern Lely Campus offers extensive daily access to sports facilities: an indoor gym, outdoor padel courts, basketball and volleyball courts, table tennis, and table football. You can join Hyrox workouts or sign up for personal training, and challenge colleagues during an active break.
• Enjoy fresh coffee and tea from our in-house barista, with milk straight from our farm, as well as a healthy and affordable company restaurant.
• A healthy work-life balance thanks to our hybrid working policy: you work at least three days per week on campus, with flexible hours and plenty of opportunity to spend additional time on-site (between 06:00 and 20:00).
• You have the opportunity to participate in a preventative medical check-up.
• A free shuttle bus takes you to and from the metro in Maassluis, ensuring your workday starts and ends smoothly.
• Success should be celebrated: from anniversaries to holiday parties, at Lely we know how to do it.

Recruitment and selection agency, consultancy, and/or staffing agency?

We appreciate your interest, but we recruit all our candidates directly. We understand that as an intermediary you would like to introduce candidates for our great vacancies and contribute to our ambitions, but this is not how our recruitment process is structured. This means that all unsolicited profiles submitted for Lely vacancies will be treated as direct applications.