Head of Digital Product Office in R&D (all genders)

Field of Work: IT

Location:

Einbeck, Lower Saxony, DE

Legal Entity: KWS SAAT SE & Co. KGaA

Contract Type: Regular

Is Full Time?: Yes

Onsite/ Remote: Onsite

Job ID: 16409

Internal title: Senior Group Lead R&D Digital Product Office (all genders)

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Why this role now?
KWS is evolving its R&D Digital Solutions setup, moving from a former PMO-oriented structure towards a strengthened Product Organization . With increased focus on digital transformation across the organization and the board, this role plays a key part in shaping how digital products are governed, delivered, and scaled.
This is a unique opportunity to break down silos , establish strong and consistent product ownership practices , and create lasting impact across a diverse digital product portfolio in an innovative-driven environment.

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Role Overview
As Head (all genders) of Digital Product Office within R&D at KWS SAAT SE & Co. KGaA , you own and shape the digital execution across a portfolio of products. You are accountable for delivery service excellence in development and maintenance of digital products, and value realization , while building and developing a high-performing Product Ownership culture.
The role operates at portfolio and organizational level and is designed for an experienced leader who is comfortable influencing senior stakeholders and steering outcomes across business, technology, and users in a complex, matrix-driven environment. This role is based in our headquarter in Einbeck, Germany .

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Key Responsibilities

• Own and lead the Digital Product Office , including strategic execution, performance, and succession planning for teams of Digital Product Owners and Training & Support .
• Define, establish, and scale product ownership standards across teams (e.g. discovery, prioritization, backlog quality, metrics, and value management).
• Ensure effective translation of product and domain strategy into execution , creating alignment between domain leadership, delivery teams, and key stakeholders.
• Drive prioritization at execution level and decision-making , balancing new initiatives, enhancements, and maintenance to maximize long-term value.
• Elevate service level in training & support of digital tools.
• Act as a senior counterpart to engineering and architecture , shaping cross-product technical direction, quality standards, integrations, and risk management.
• Take accountability for adoption and value realization , ensuring products deliver measurable outcomes beyond launch.
• Provide leadership in a matrix organization , steering capacity, managing dependencies, and resolving cross-team escalations.
• Establish execution transparency , defining KPIs and communicating progress, outcomes, and trade-offs to senior stakeholders.

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What will enable you to succeed in this role

• Senior experience leading digital product organizations , with responsibility across the full product lifecycle from strategy to value realization.
• Several years of people leadership experience , including developing and empowering senior product professionals and leading leaders.
• Experience in establishing and scaling product ownership practices across multiple teams or domains.
• A strong track record of strengthening team and organizational performance through coaching, enablement, and capability building.
• Confidence in prioritization and decision-making within complex, cross-functional, and matrix environments.
• The ability to influence, align, and communicate effectively with senior stakeholders across business and technology.
• Fluent English , German language skills are a plus.

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Additional experience that will strengthen your impact

• Experience in R&D-driven or innovation-focused environments, such as life sciences, plant breeding, or comparable fields.
• Broader experience leading digital product delivery or product organizations, including direct leadership of Product Owners or similar roles.
• Comfort operating at the intersection of strategy, users, and technology, including exposure to APIs, integrations, and modern product delivery approaches.
• A leadership style that combines strategic perspective with hands-on engagement, paired with a strong coaching mindset.

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We encourage applications from experienced leaders with diverse backgrounds and perspectives — even if your experience does not match every single requirement listed.
If you are interested in shaping the future of digital product management at KWS, we invite you to apply and share your perspective with us.

About KWS

KWS is one of the world’s leading plant breeding companies. Nearly 5,000 employees in more than 70 countries generated net sales of around €1.68 billion in the fiscal year 2023/2024. A company with a tradition of family ownership, KWS has operated independently for almost 170 years. It focuses on plant breeding and the production and sale of seed for sugarbeet, corn, cereals, vegetables, oilseed rape and sunflower. KWS uses leading-edge plant breeding methods to continuously improve yield for farmers and plants’ resistance to diseases, pests and abiotic stress. To that end, the company invested more than €300 million last fiscal year in research and development. For more information: www.kws.com/career . Follow us on LinkedIn® at https://linkedin.com/company/kwsgroup/ .
Our data privacy policy for candidates is available on www.kws.com/dataprotection . Please select the country where the job you applied for is posted in and, if applicable, the specific business unit.

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