Product Portfolio Manager

United Beet Seeds BV; Gomiécourt; Remote; EUR 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Company car

Phone, laptop

Health insurance

Disability insurance

Life insurance

Profit-sharing bonus

Job summary

United Beet Seeds is seeking a strategic Product Portfolio Lead. You will own and shape the UBS product portfolio, coordinating across breeding, trials, and market needs from a home-based setup with regular field visits to Belgium and France.

You will guide breeders with market intelligence, manage trials, and drive registration in key markets while collaborating with an international team of experts.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree or engineering qualification in agronomy, agricultural economics, plant sciences or a related field.
• Minimum five years in product or portfolio management within the seed industry or a related sector.
• Strong understanding of crop production; sugar beet knowledge is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Own and drive UBS portfolio products across geography, combining varieties, seed treatments and seed technologies.
• Highlight key priorities to steer breeders based on market intelligence.
• Participate in field trial visits and breeder selection meetings to learn about new hybrids.
• Follow registration trials and new hybrids (Stage 8).
• Review the portfolio to rationalize the number of hybrids (varieties and genetics).
• Set up screening trials to select adapted genetics for Official Variety Trials in mature markets.
• Lead Official Variety Trials (OVT) process and propose budgets per country/product profile.
• Drive registration in priority markets and support in non-priority markets.

Skills

Product management

Portfolio management

Stakeholder management

Market intelligence

Project coordination

Education

Master’s degree or engineering qualification in agronomy or plant sciences

Job description

Ready to take ownership of a strategic product portfolio in a pivotal, cross-functional role at the intersection of research, variety breeding and the market? Your ability to bring teams together and turn market needs into clear development priorities will directly help shape the sugar beet varieties of tomorrow.

Your key responsibilities

Strategic product ownership and being the central point of contact

• You own and drive the effort around the management of products of the UBS portfolio with defined characteristics, combining varieties, seed treatments, and seed technologies for a specific geography.

Supporting the development of new hybrids and streamlining the portfolio

• You own the product profiles and highlight the key priorities to steer breeders, based on business and market intelligence.
• You participate in field trial visits and key selection meetings with breeders to get knowledge on new potential hybrids.
• You follow registration trials and new hybrids (Stage 8).
• You review the product portfolio to rationalize the number of hybrids (variety and genetics).
• You set up “screening” trials to select adapted genetics in Official Variety Trials in maturing markets.

Leading the Official Variety Trials (OVT) process

• You select new genetics for 1st year in OVT in maturing and non-technical markets.
• You propose the OVT budget per country/product profile for new and existing entries.
• You review the product portfolio to rationalize the number of varieties and genetics.
• You drive the registration process in priority markets and support in non-priority markets (driven locally by Technical Crop Service for each brand).

Your profile

• You hold a Master’s degree or engineering qualification in agronomy, agricultural economics, plant sciences ora relevant field.
• You have at least five years of experience in product management, portfolio management, the seed industry ora comparable role.
• You have a solid understanding of crop production. Experience in the sugar beet sector would be a strongadvantage.
• You are fluent in both French and English, spoken and written, and comfortable working in an internationalenvironment.
• You are a confident communicator with strong interpersonal skills, able to build trusted relationships with a wide range of stakeholders.
• A good listener and natural team player, you understand different perspectives and can translate scientific data into clear business implications.
• Your analytical mindset and structured approach allow you to process large amounts of information efficiently and switch seamlessly between topics, from reporting and product launches to variety registration.
• With a strong understanding of the market, you can anticipate its needs and guide teams towards the right decisions.
• You are also an accomplished project coordinator, comfortable managing multiple stakeholders and complex timelines.

Our offer

Joining United Beet Seeds means becoming part of a leading player in the sugar beet industry, recognised for itstechnical expertise and innovative approach. You will take on a high-impact role, directly influencing the variety choicesthat will shape tomorrow’s market. This permanent position comes with an attractive package tailored to your profileand experience, including a company car, phone, laptop, health insurance, disability and life insurance cover, and aprofit-sharing bonus. You will enjoy a stimulating environment, a high degree of autonomy and the opportunity to workalongside a close-knit team of passionate experts.

Location: Home-based, with occasional visits to the Tienen site (BE) and the Gomiécourt site (FR), as well as regular field visits, particularly during the growing season.