Description
As Product and Genome Design Lead, you are at the heart of Bayer's Vegetable Seeds R&D organisation.
You lead a globally distributed team of design breeders, geneticists, genomics scientists, and specialists, together building the foundational capabilities that drive tomorrow's seed innovations.
Your key responsibilities:
- Lead resource planning, prioritisation, and talent management for your team, including recruiting, hiring, coaching, and developing people at every level
- Drive the development and application of foundational genomics and quantitative genetics technology across key vegetable crops, enabling genome-wide analysis, predictive breeding, and strategic trait integration
- Own the strategic identification and development of molecular capabilities, including SNP and sequencing technology, genome editing, and quantitative genetics methods, fully aligned with Product Development targets
- Deploy molecular and predictive breeding capabilities in prioritised pipelines to enable allele tracking and genetic prediction modelling
- Partner with Product and Technical Unit Leads to co-design and test new breeding technologies, integrating them into enterprise data analytics and product advancement pipelines
- Coach, mentor, and influence technical teams to align on strategic vision in line with Vegetable Seeds and Veg R&D long-term goals, while driving DSO ways of working for career development and dynamic resource flow
- Contribute to identifying and developing research partnerships with service providers and academic collaborators
- Communicate and educate stakeholders on new genetics and genomics breeding technologies together with your technical experts
- Shape organisational and operational vision as an active member of the Vegetables R&D Leadership Community
Who are you?
- You hold a university degree in Breeding, Genetics, Genomics, or a relevant field, with one of the following experience profiles: Bachelor's + 12 years | Master's + 10 years | PhD | PhD + 6 years
- You have proven people management experience in complex, international research environments
- You combine deep technical expertise in genomics and quantitative genetics with a strategic mindset, you can zoom in on the science and zoom out on the bigger picture
- You are a natural connector: you build bridges across teams, influence without authority, and know how to align diverse stakeholders around a shared direction
- You thrive in a globally matrixed organisation and are comfortable navigating ambiguity
What does Bayer offer you?
A role with real impact, where your decisions shape product pipelines and breeding strategies across multiple vegetable crops on a global scale.
You will work in a diverse, high-calibre R&D community with access to cutting-edge technology and meaningful cross-functional partnerships.
Bayer offers a competitive package, flexible working arrangements, and the opportunity to grow both technically and as a leader.