About this role
Head of Breeding Tomato This is why you want to be a Head of Breeding at Enza Zaden
• Lead the global direction and performance of Mid-Tech breeding programs for Tomato.
• Shape long‑term breeding strategy and innovation in a highly complex, international environment.
• Drive sustainable value creation by connecting science, market needs.
• Lead large, globally distributed teams and build future‑proof breeding capabilities.
Make a difference as Head of Breeding Mid-Tech Reporting to the VP Breeding Solanums, as Head of Breeding you are responsible for leading the breeding strategy and performance of a crop group on a global scale. You operate at the highest strategic level, ensuring strong alignment between business strategy, crop direction, and breeding excellence.
You work in close partnership with the Breeding Principal and cross functional teams to translate long‑term ambitions into focused breeding programs, while enabling teams and leaders to deliver consistent, high‑quality results. You will:
• Lead and develop large, global breeding organizations, ensuring strong leadership, capability building, and succession across multiple layers and regions.
• Define and drive breeding strategy for complex crop groups, translating market needs and crop goals into clear direction, priorities, and measurable outcomes.
• Own strategic planning and execution of Tomato Mid-Tech, ensuring alignment with company strategy and delivering against multi‑year and annual objectives.
• Steer high‑impact breeding programs and project portfolios, ensuring the right focus, resources, and execution discipline to achieve strategic priorities.
• Drive innovation adoption and capability development, working closely with the Breeding Principal and R&D functions to embed new technologies at scale.
• Operate as a senior stakeholder leader, aligning across crop groups and functions to maximize performance and efficiency.
• Represent breeding internally and externally, strengthening Enza Zaden’s position in the industry and ensuring alignment with key customers and partners.
This role is highly strategic, focused on direction-setting, leadership, and enabling performance across complex global breeding systems. What you bring as a future colleague
• A Master’s degree in Plant Science or related field, with 12–15+ years of relevant international experience in breeding and R&D leadership.
• Proven strategic leadership capabilities, with experience managing large, complex organizations across regions and cultures.
• Strong ability to operate at the intersection of science, business strategy, and market needs.
• Demonstrated experience leading highly complex breeding programs with significant scale and technical depth.
• Strong financial and business acumen, including experience aligning resources with strategic priorities.
• Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills, operating effectively at senior leadership level and proven ability in navigating within a matrix organisation.
• A strong track record in leading transformation, innovation adoption, and capability building.
• Fluency in English and willingness to travel internationally.
• You are a strategic leader who thrives in complexity and knows how to translate vision into results through people and systems.
Enza Zaden as your employer With more than 3,000 passionate team members across the world, we're on a daily mission to develop the finest vegetable varieties. Our goal? To deliver seeds with that special something: vegetables with better taste, better yields, and better resistance. On our mission to feed the world, we challenge ourselves to gain deeper insights and find the next breakthrough. We grow and innovate together, and everyone’s contribution is valued. Throughout our 86 years, our family values, passion, independence and or focus on innovation have truly set us apart. Over 480 million people are eating our vegetables every day, something we are very proud of! Our passion isn't just a trademark; it's our driving force, propelling our rapid growth. If you're ready to explore your potential and thrive in a supportive environment, we welcome you to develop your talents with us. The combination of entrepreneurship, initiative and a healthy dose of determination has made Enza Zaden great and brought us where we are today. Enza Zaden is and always will be in motion: in the past, present and future. What can you expect from us
• As a family-owned company, we support you to thrive in all areas of life, so that you can be successful inside and outside of work. We offer:
• Flexible work arrangements; with Spain as primary location
• Pension plan and private health insurance to support your long-term wellbeing and peace of mind
• Ongoing learning and development opportunities, with access to training programs and support for your professional growth
• A laptop and smartphone for professional use
This role is positioned in job scale level 15.
We aspire to be a good employer that cares for our employees, both during and after their careers at Enza Zaden. Our most important benefits include:
• Active partnership in your professional development (personal growth);
• Tailor made leadership development programs and global e-learning platform;
• Employer sponsored retirement benefits
Let’s connect
Looking for a career that grows with you? You will receive an automatic confirmation within a few minutes. We will let you know the next step within 20 business days.
An assessment is part of the application process. This role cannot be filled on an interim basis. A security screening is also part of our recruitment process.
Do you have questions about the role or the application process? Please feel free to contact Rosabel Barroso, HR Business Partner at r.barroso@enzazaden.es
Enza Zaden is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate based on background, identity, or personal characteristics.
Want to learn more about Enza Zaden? Visit our website.