Manager Plant Phenotyping & Diagnostics ; PPDA)

PPDA plays a key role within our global breeding programs. The department supports breeders and Seed Operations with disease and stress phenotyping, routine diagnostics and monitoring, and is continuously evolving towards high-throughput, automated, and data-driven workflows. As Manager PPDA, you will lead an international organization with teams in the Netherlands, Spain, and the United States, playing a key role in the further digitalization, automation, and professionalization of our services.

Make a difference as Manager PPDA.

As Manager PPDA, you will lead Process Supervisors and Team Leads and be responsible for a team of approximately 20 to 30 specialists across multiple locations. In Spain and the United States, you will provide functional leadership to the PPDA teams in close collaboration with local managers. You will ensure a stable day-to-day operation while also creating a clear, shared direction, regardless of location or reporting line.

Together with your team, you will help shape the future of PPDA, where global diagnostics will become an increasingly important pillar alongside digital phenotyping for biotic and abiotic testing.

• Lead daily operations and drive continuous process improvement across multiple locations
• Safeguard the scientific quality and relevance of disease screening and diagnostic activities in close collaboration with Breeding and Biotechnology
• Drive automation and digitalization initiatives in close cooperation with the Implementation Expert
• Ensure consistent ways of working and quality standards across the Netherlands, Spain, and the United States
• Initiate and lead improvement and innovation projects focused on efficiency, scalability, quality, and data integration
• Represent PPDA within the organization and collaborate with stakeholders at different levels and across locations

You are a people-oriented manager with a strong affinity for processes, technology, and international collaboration. You know how to effectively connect and lead teams, including in a remote setting, while bringing structure, clarity, and trust to an international environment. You recognize and develop talent, encourage collaboration across departments and locations, and contribute to an open, transparent, and inclusive team culture.

• Extensive experience leading teams within a scientific or high-throughput environment
• Experience managing remote teams and working within an international organization
• A background in Plant Science, Plant Pathology, Phenotyping, Diagnostics, or a related field
• Experience with laboratory or process automation and digitalization
• Affinity with LIMS, data flows, and process monitoring is considered an advantage
• Excellent command of both Dutch and English

Enza Zaden is an international family-owned company that has been developing innovative vegetable varieties since 1938. Together with more than 3,300 colleagues worldwide, we work on vegetable seeds with better flavor, higher yields and strong resistances. We do this from our mission: “Breeding to feed the world.” Every day, more than 480 million people eat vegetables grown from our seeds, and that is something we are very proud of.

We are passionate about our work and care about one another. Good ideas are given room to grow and together we keep moving forward. This is how we continue to grow and innovate, both as a company and as colleagues.

Great Place To Grow - Breeding to feed the world, creating value for sustainable life and living

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