Head of Research and Development - Business Line Agriculture

Are you an experienced and business-oriented R&D leader who wants to shape the future of agricultural technology? Do you thrive in an international environment where innovation, customer value, and operational excellence go hand in hand? As Head of R&D Business Line Agriculture, you will play a key role in driving technology development and product development excellence for the future of farming.

About the Role

As Head of Research and Development - Business Line Agriculture, you will have overall responsibility for the R&D organization within JOST’s Business Line Agriculture. You will lead and develop the R&D function with a clear focus on innovation, product development, quality, efficiency, and long-term competitiveness. The Agriculture R&D function covers 2 brands and 7 sites across 4 continents. In close collaboration with business management, product management, operations, sales, and other stakeholders, you will ensure that our R&D activities support the strategic direction of the business line and meet current and future customer and regulatory needs.

You will be part of the Business Line Agriculture management team and report to Head of Business Line Agriculture and VP of Product Development JOST. The role is located in Umeå, Brännland, Sweden.

Your Responsibilities

• Lead, develop, and set the direction for the R&D organization within Business Line Agriculture, including building leadership capability, collaboration, and engagement.

• Secure delivery of the product roadmap in cooperation with Product Management, with clear R&D execution and technology contribution.

• Drive innovation, product development, and continuous improvement across the full product lifecycle.

• Ensure efficient R&D processes, methods and tools together with effective use of engineering resources across sites.

• Secure high standards in quality, compliance, validation, documentation, and product safety.

• Collaborate closely with other functions, business lines, and global stakeholders to create scalable and competitive solutions.

• Manage budgets, priorities, and resources to ensure delivery on strategic and operational objectives.

Your Profile

We are seeking a strategic, inclusive, and highly impactful leader who excels at inspiring and developing high-performing engineering teams, aligning technical capabilities with business objectives, and driving sustainable growth through the creation of innovative, high-margin solutions.

You are confident in leading others, creating direction, and driving change in a complex and international environment. You communicate clearly, build trust, and enjoy working closely with both teams and stakeholders.

We believe you have

• University degree in Engineering or another relevant technical field.

• Solid leadership experience in engineering or R&D, preferably in agriculture, mobile machinery, automotive, or a similar technical industry.

• Experience in leading managers, specialists, or cross-functional engineering teams.

• Strong understanding of product development processes, project portfolio management, and technology roadmaps.

• A proven ability to drive change, build structure, and improve ways of working in an international organization.

• Fluency in English is required, and Swedish is meriting.

What can we offer? At JOST Umeå you get to work in an international environment for a world-leading company. Our employees describe the atmosphere with us as familiar between colleagues, both within and between departments. In terms of work, there is great freedom under responsibility, short decision paths and great opportunities to develop.

Working with us means being part of a team with strong forward thinking, drive and ambition – always with the customer's best interests in focus. We work for our customers to be met by high quality products and it is important for us to be innovative in the industry. Through technological development at the forefront, we contribute to the agriculture of the future.

As employee benefits, we offer flexible working hours as we think that it is important for our employees to be able to adapt the work to what suits each individual's life situation. We also offer wellness grants and massage at our workplaces. We also offer the possibility of a benefit bike and private health insurance.  

As we want to increase our diversity, we especially welcome applicants with different genders and backgrounds.

To ensure a safe and secure work environment, we conduct background checks in connection with recruitment and apply random drug tests at our workplace.