Product Life Cycle Manager

Overview

FieldBee
It is a Dutch company that develops innovative automation products for farmers worldwide. Our mission is to help farmers increase their productivity and have an easier life while assisting in their transition to a more sustainable agriculture. We achieve that by making tractor automation accessible to all farmers.

The company designs and manufactures tractor guidance systems: precise navigation and automated steering. Our products are developed using the latest technologies, making them more affordable for small and mid-sized farmers, while maintaining the highest quality and reliability. FieldBee is gradually increasing its product offering towards the full automation of various agricultural machines.

FieldBee Product Development Team is seeking a talented and motivated Product Life Cycle Manager to join our dynamic team. We are looking for an experienced professional who can drive excellence in product lifecycle management, ensuring our innovative agricultural and mechatronic solutions deliver exceptional value to customers throughout their entire journey.

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Engineering, Systems Engineering, Product Management, or related discipline.


• 5+ years of experience in product development, preferably in complex systems or mechatronic products.


• Proven track record managing full product life cycles from concept to retirement.

Responsibilities

• Lead and coordinate the product lifecycle after the development stage, including the delivery stage, support, and retirement stage, ensuring alignment with business objectives and stakeholder requirements.


• Develop and maintain comprehensive product lifecycle plans, including milestone schedules, resource allocation, and risk mitigation strategies.


• Facilitate cross-functional collaboration between engineering, marketing, sales, manufacturing, quality, and support teams throughout all lifecycle stages.


• Manage requirements engineering processes, including stakeholder needs analysis, requirements elicitation, validation, and traceability management.


• Conduct and lead technical reviews (SRR, PDR, CDR, TRR, PRR) to ensure product readiness at each lifecycle stage.


• Oversee configuration management activities, including change control processes, version management, and documentation control.


• Monitor and report on product performance metrics, quality indicators, and lifecycle status to senior management and stakeholders.


• Coordinate product transitions between lifecycle stages, ensuring smooth handoffs and maintaining quality standards.


• Manage product retirement planning, including end-of-life strategies, customer communication, and transition to next-generation products.


• Establish and maintain product lifecycle governance frameworks, policies, and procedures in accordance with industry standards.


• Lead continuous improvement initiatives to optimize product lifecycle processes and enhance team efficiency.


• Provide technical guidance and mentorship to team members on lifecycle management best practices and methodologies.


• Prepare and develop comprehensive training materials for product handling, operation, and maintenance to ensure proper product usage and customer satisfaction.


• Manage product experience initiatives, including user feedback collection, experience optimization, and continuous improvement based on customer interactions and usage data.

Knowledge & Competence

• Strong understanding of Systems Engineering processes according to ISO/IEC 15288:
  
  
  
  • Concept Stage – stakeholder needs analysis, feasibility studies, business case definition.
  
  
  • Development Stage – requirements management, architecture design, integration planning.
  
  
  • Final Development Stage – participation in final product development, testing, and validation activities.
  
  
  • Production Stage – manufacturing readiness, quality assurance, supply chain alignment.
  
  
  • Market Delivery Stage - Leading the entire process of bringing the product to market, including documentation, product release, pricing strategies, and available options.
  
  
  • Utilization Stage – product deployment, support, maintenance, performance monitoring.
  
  
  • Retirement Stage – decommissioning planning, transition to next-generation products.
  
  
  
  


• Experience in requirements management and requirements rewriting after the conceptualization stage.


• Proven ability to communicate and coordinate with the commercial team, support team, and customers for successful product release.


• Familiarity with INCOSE SE Handbook and Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) principles.


• Domain expertise in agriculture technologies, farming equipment, and agricultural automation systems.


• Experience in requirements management.


• Ability to manage traceability from stakeholder requirements to validation and verification.


• Understanding of configuration management and change control processes (CMII/ISO 10007).


• Knowledge of risk management methodologies (ISO 31000, FMEA, FTA).


• Proficiency in product data management (PDM) and product lifecycle management (PLM) systems.


• Technical competence in mechatronics integration, including mechanical, electrical, and control systems coordination.


• Specialized knowledge of electric subsystems, power distribution, motor control, and electrical safety standards in industrial applications.

Skills

• Ability to coordinate multidisciplinary teams (hardware, software, UX, manufacturing, quality).


• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with a structured approach to decision-making.


• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.


• Experience with agile and stage-gate product development models.


• Capability to prepare and present lifecycle status reviews (SRR, PDR, CDR, TRR, PRR).


• Solid documentation skills for system architecture, requirements, and interface control.

Tools & Technology

• Experience with Jira/Confluence or similar project collaboration tools.


• Proficiency in MS Project or equivalent project planning tools.


• Understanding of version control systems (Git, SVN) for engineering documentation.

Additional Preferred

• Experience in INCOSE ASEP/CSEP/ESEP certification or equivalent.


• Experience in ISO 9001 or ISO/TS 16949 quality environments.


• Exposure to safety-critical systems standards (e.g., ISO 26262, IEC 61508).