Head of Lely Academy

At Lely, we believe in creating a sustainable, profitable and enjoyable future for dairy farmers by bringing together robotics, engineering and a deep understanding of farming. It all began in 1948 with the dream of two brothers in the Netherlands. Since then, we have grown into an innovative market leader in automated solutions for dairy farmers around the world. Today, more than 2,800 professionals work together to develop groundbreaking solutions that help shape the future of farming.

Shape how Lely learns, develops and builds the capabilities of tomorrow

How do we today develop the knowledge and capabilities that Lely will need tomorrow? As Head of Academy, you set the direction. You will further develop our Lely approach to learning and development and translate our organisation’s ambitions into a clear vision, choices and concrete development initiatives.

Our Academy is a strong brand within Lely which delivers competence-driven curricula for a broad range of disciplines. The positioning and further development of Learning & Development are evolving rapidly and we are ready to take the next step. This means this is not a role in which the entire route has already been mapped out. Together with your L&D and HR colleagues, you will play a key role in taking leadership, culture, performance, talent management, onboarding and professional development to the next level, in line with our strategic ambitions and our Lely People Plan. That is precisely why we are looking for someone who is energised by building: someone who sees opportunities, creates direction and works with others to develop an approach that fits Lely.

You will work for our people at the Lely Campus in Maassluis and for colleagues across our international organisation. You will report directly to the HR Director and be part of the HR Management Team. From this position, you will be a strong sparring partner for senior management and give capability development a clear place in Lely’s future.

You will lead the Lely Academy team which consists of L&D Experts and Specialists. Together, you will deliver a coherent, future-focused approach to learning, leadership and professional development. You will create focus, encourage collaboration and foster an environment in which people take ownership, experiment and continue to develop.

Your main responsibilities are:

• Together with senior management and HR, develop a future-focused vision and multi-year approach to learning, development and capability building within Lely.
• Translate the strategy and future organizational needs into clear priorities, development programmes and measurable results.
• Lead and develop the Lely Academy team by providing clear direction and helping team members further increase their professional expertise and impact.
• Build strong relationships with senior leaders, HR colleagues and subject-matter experts, and bring their different perspectives together. In this way, you ensure that decisions are well prepared and workable in practice.
• Further develop the governance, ways of working and infrastructure for Learning & Development, including quality standards, budgeting, systems, reporting and collaboration with external partners.
• The Learning Management System (LMS) and the smart use of the latest learning technologies and tools, including AI, to make learning more accessible, personalised and effective.
• Together with your HR colleagues, contribute to the HR People Plan and its translation into one coherent approach.

• You are an experienced leader who can connect vision with execution. You are comfortable engaging with senior management, ask incisive questions and help decision-makers reduce complex development issues to clear choices. You are persuasive and remain a calm, stable presence, even when the pressure rises.
• You do not need to wait until every aspect of the assignment has been fully defined. You explore what the organisation needs, bring scenarios into the discussion and build an effective approach step by step. In doing so, you combine ambition with attention to people, collaboration and achievable results. You have a caring yet daring personality: you genuinely invest in people and relationships, and at the same time you dare to challenge, make bold choices and have the difficult conversation when it matters.

In addition, you bring:

• Extensive experience in senior-level stakeholder management within a complex, international organisation.
• Practical experience in Learning & Development and a clear vision of learning, leadership and capability development.
• Extensive experience in leading and developing a professional team.
• Demonstrable experience in building, transforming or further professionalising L&D or HR.
• The ability to translate a strategic vision into concrete priorities, governance, programmes and results.
• Academic-level working and thinking ability.
• Excellent command of English, both spoken and written.

• Working at Lely means contributing to sustainable progress within one of the most innovative organisations in the Netherlands. You will help make the agricultural sector fit for the future, and we will ensure that you have the space, resources and support to do so.
• An international working environment with room for initiative and entrepreneurship.
• Excellent employment conditions, including 7 to 8 weeks of holiday per year and a good pension scheme.
• A gross monthly salary of €7,500 to €10,000, reflecting the experience and expertise you bring, with plenty of room to grow beyond your starting point.
• Excellent development opportunities: you take ownership of your development and can choose from a range of training courses through our Lely Academy, from personal development to specialist professional programmes.
• Our modern Lely Campus provides daily access to extensive sports facilities: an indoor gym, outdoor padel courts, an outdoor basketball and volleyball court, table tennis and table football. You can join Hyrox workouts or sign up for personal training,and challenge your colleagues during an active break.
• Enjoy fresh coffee and tea from our own barista, with milk sourced directly from our farm, as well as a healthy and affordable company restaurant.
• A healthy work-life balance through our hybrid working policy: you work on Campus at three to four days a week, with flexible working hours and plenty of scope to spend additional time on site between 06:00 and 20:00.
• The opportunity to participate in a preventive medical examination.
• A free shuttle bus takes you to and from the metro station in Maassluis, helping your working day start and end smoothly.
• Success deserves to be celebrated: from anniversaries to Christmas parties, at Lely we know how to do it!

Recruitment and selection agencies, consultancies and/or temporary employment agencies?

We appreciate your interest, but we recruit all candidates directly. We understand that, as an intermediary, you may wish to submit candidates for our 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.