Lely, founded in 1948, is committed to creating a sustainable, profitable, and enjoyable future in agriculture. Driven by the challenges farmers face and the needs of cows, we develop high-quality robots and data systems that improve animal welfare, flexibility, and productivity on dairy farms. Our mission is to support sustainable food production.

For more than 30 years, we have been a global leader in the sales and service of automated systems for successive generations of dairy farmers. Every day, we inspire our colleagues to provide customers with innovative solutions and to be a reliable partner for long-term advice and support. With our state-of-the-art Lely Campus in Maassluis and a worldwide network of dedicated Lely Centers offering tailored sales and service, Lely operates in more than fifty countries.

As a Lead Data & AI for Data Science and AI you are responsible for generating value with predictive modelling and AI by using data from 30,000 active robots and systems in the field all integrated in the cloud? Now that’s interesting data!  
 
In this position, you will guide the Data Science & AI team in our mission to create the automated and sustainable farm of the future. Being a family-owned company, Lely always works on long term goals and ambitions. With only 3% of worldwide dairy farms robotized, the opportunities are limitless. We help making the life of the dairy farmers more enjoyable, sustainable and enjoyable as one of the most innovative Dutch international companies. Check our latest ‘yellow revolutions’ in Dairy Farming here Latest innovations | Dairy Automation | Data Management | Lely. Truly a (dairy) world changing mission!  

In Lely you will face a big variety of meaningful challenges. You can think of following challenges:  

• Can we predict and optimize the influence of certain types of nutrition on milk quality?  
• What type of advice can we generate for the farmer to run their farm more efficiently? 
• How can we run AI experiments to learn fast? 
• What is the best way to support the competency development of our data scientists and AI experts? 
• How can we drive and scale our AI solutions towards the Field and within Lely? 
• Where should Lely invest in AI next, and which development in the field should we actively follow? 

It is your task to develop the best performing team possible. To make this happen: you lead by example, but also coach, inspire and develop your team members! Your team is part of the Data & AI competence (>70 fte) and works across all 5 different Business Teams within Lely. For example, within Digital Farming we aim to help the farmer and other advisors to make the best data driven decisions every day in farm management. And for BT Milking, develop intelligent features that become part of the Milking robot.  

The team consists of 8 internal data scientists and more than 10 external. They all work on several projects together with other disciplines. 

Responsibilities 

• Lead, grow and develop the Data Science & AI team within Data&AI 
• Give direction and provide input for the integrated product roadmap by collaborating with the other Data & AI leads and the Business Teams 
• Take multi-disciplinary responsibility as part of the Product Development Leadership team and the Data & AI MT 
• Build strong relationships with our stakeholders and our data science partner company 
• Bring the technical and soft skills of the Data Science & AI team to a higher level and increase the impact and adoption of these areas in the Business Teams 
• Set the direction for evolving our Data & AI infrastructure (together with Data Engineering) 
• Drive the growth of AI knowledge and development within and outside the Data & AI Competence 
• Shape the Data Science & AI strategy: where to invest, which technologies and AI developments to adopt or deliberately follow, and what is feasible and meaningful to build and what to procure. 
   

How can agentic AI change our products – and the way we build them? 

You have proven experience as a Data Science & AI lead and you know what is out there. You would like to make a real difference and build on a shared dream in a strong innovative and family culture company. If you want to really make a change, this is for you. Want to know more?  

• A quantitative background with a Master’s degree in fields such as: Physics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Econometrics or Informatics; 
• Proven leadership experience in leading people and HR responsibility; 
• Clear focus on personal development of your team members; 
• Analytical thinking and results-oriented way of working; 
• 5+ years of experience with Data Science & AI and machine learning in business or industry;  
• Hands on experience with Data Science & AI tools and architecture (Python, Databricks); 
• Strong grasp of the Data Science & AI technology landscape: ability to judge feasibility, challenge technical choices and spot the field’s development that matters.Able to switch between long term strategic thinking and short-term result focus; 
• Good communication and strong coaching skills; 
• No distaster for cows 😊 

and it would be great if you have... 

• Experience with Azure, Databricks; 
• Experience in running genAI / agentic AI applications in Production at scale (e.g. Assistants) 

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

• An international work environment that values collaboration, initiative, and diverse perspectives.
• A culture that encourages learning, experimentation, and ownership of ideas.
• Excellent employment conditions, including up to 8 weeks of vacation per year and a strong pension scheme.
• A salary range of €6,600 – €9,400 gross per month, with clear opportunities for growth within the scale.
• Full ownership of your own development, with access to a wide range of courses through the Lely Academy.
• Daily access to outstanding sports facilities at the Lely Campus: 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 your colleagues during an active break.
• Fresh coffee and tea from our own barista (with milk from our own farm) and a healthy, affordable company restaurant.

Work-life balance

• A healthy work-life balance thanks to our hybrid working policy: you work at least three days a week on Campus, with flexible hours and plenty of opportunity to spend additional time onsite (between 06:00 and 20:00).
• A free shuttle bus that takes you to and from the metro station in Maassluis, ensuring your workday starts and ends smoothly.
• And of course: we love to celebrate! Whether it’s an anniversary or the annual Christmas party. At Lely, we know how to do it. For an impression of our events, take a look at this video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WA3e0WHbxE

We are also proud that our vision and efforts have been recognized with the Rotterdam Entrepreneurs Award 2025.

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

We appreciate the interest, but we recruit all our candidates directly. We understand that as intermediaries, you want to present candidates for our great positions and contribute to our ambitions, but this is not how we have set up our recruitment process. This means that all unsolicited profiles offered on Lely vacancies will be treated as direct applications.