WELCOME TO BASF

Agriculture plays a fundamental role in fulfilling many of humanity’s basic needs: food, feed, energy. To support growers and those who take care of our environment, BASF develops innovative solutions for farming, pest-, disease- and weed control so that we can effectively contribute to improving people’s lives and business’ demands. Come join us on our journey to create solutions for sustainable agriculture.

In our organization, we value individuals who take ownership of their work and are accountable for their actions. We foster an entrepreneurial mindset, where seizing opportunities is encouraged to drive growth and success. Join our team and be part of an environment that values and rewards creative thinking, collaboration, and a can-do attitude.

Within BASF Seed and Traits R&D, Trait Research conducts research projects in a prioritized portfolio to discover and validate genetic sources from plants and microbiomes, resulting in gene-based solutions for crops.

As part of Trait Research activities, trait validation (phase 1) refers to the engineering and characterization of the trait, through construct design, production and molecular characterization of engineered plants, followed by delivery of seeds with validated traits, through plant cultivation, phenotypic characterization of trait performance and seed production.

To support digital product development for our trait validation activities, we are seeking a Product Manager at our R&D Innovation Center in Ghent, Belgium. This role will be accountable to define product vision and roadmap in line with business strategy, including continuous improvements meeting end user needs.

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT

• In this role, you will consolidate business requirements and priorities for digitalization of Phase 1 trait validation pipeline processes, with main focus on the current Trait Operations product.
• You will, together with the digital Product Owner co-lead the product team to drive the digital product roadmap and manage the product life-cycle (planning, deliverables, budget and resources).
• You will interact closely with other product managers to ensure a cohesive product landscape to enable and enhance our business capabilities.
• You will identify and coordinate (super) key users within the end user community (in and beyond Trait Research) for validating outcome of delivered products according to business requirements.
• You will facilitate change management, promote user adoption, and measure product success in relation to business outcomes.
• You will coordinate and plan the roll-out of trainings and supervise the building of training materials for end users.
• You will be highly involved in digital solution design teams to provide expertise on possibilities within current digital landscape or to incorporate needs into product roadmaps.
• You are a recognized role model in understanding and complying with company standards (QMS, Health, Safety, Biosafety, Stewardship, …).
• You will act as a role model with respect to the BASF CORE values (Creative – Open- Responsible – Entrepreneurial) and culture.

WHAT YOU OFFER

• You have a master’s degree in Plant Biology, Biotechnology, Life Sciences or equivalent through experience.
• You minimally have 5 years of experience as a Product Manager or in a similar role within the field of plant research activities, particularly within an agile environment. Experience in project management is highly regarded.
• You excel at engaging internal and external stakeholders, effectively managing communication and change within a complex, matrix organization.
• You possess excellent digital skills and have a strong passion for leveraging digital tools and data to drive innovation in R&D.
• In your field of expertise, you are able to keep abreast of new developments, and convert these into innovation plans.
• You have experience in coaching and lateral leadership.
• Experience in usage of Atlassian tools such as JIRA, Confluence and M365 are considered a plus.
• You are fluent in English.

WHAT WE OFFER

• A permanent contract within an attractive working environment in a professional and motivated team.
• A role with challenging assignments and responsibilities.
• An attractive base salary in relation to your diploma and competencies, an annual bonus and extra-legal benefits.
• A good work-life balance where occasional working from home is possible.

HOW TO REACH US

If you need more Information about the process or the vacancy, please reach out to Patrick at Talent-Acquisition-Bene@basf.com

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