Sustainability Project Specialist

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Lely seeks a Sustainability Project Specialist to drive ESG culture at Maassluis. This on-site role advises, trains, and coordinates teams on circularity, waste, mobility, and energy to convert ESG priorities into practical actions and embed sustainable habits. You’ll build an ESG community and steer cross-functional projects with coaching. Requirements: a bachelor’s or master’s degree, 3+ years in sustainability project management, proven stakeholder management and manufacturing circularity experience, fluent English, Dutch a plus, and residence in the Netherlands. For best results, tailor your CV to show measurable outcomes, highlight collaboration, and demonstrate how you translate strategy into action plus your readiness for hybrid work and passion for sustainable food production.

Company Description

Founded in 1948, Lely is dedicated to creating a sustainable, profitable, and enjoyable future for the agricultural sector. With farmers' challenges and cows' needs at the heart of everything we do, we develop high-quality robots and data-driven solutions that improve animal welfare, flexibility, and productivity on dairy farms, supporting sustainable food production.For decades, we have been a global leader in the sales and service of automated systems for dairy farmers. Every day, we inspire our colleagues to deliver innovative solutions to customers and to be trusted partners for long-term advice and support. With our state-of-the-art Lely Campus in Maassluis and a global network of dedicated Lely Centers providing tailored sales and service, Lely is active in more than fifty countries.

Job Description

Contribute to a sustainable, profitable, and enjoyable future for dairy farming. At Lely, our hearts beat faster for this mission. We contribute to a better life for farmers, cows, and the planet, and strive to provide safe and healthy food for everyone.

Lely plays an active role in the sustainability dialogue and ensures that valuable insights and developments are brought into the organization. In addition, we support our colleagues in taking ownership of their sustainability goals, so that together we can contribute to a more sustainable future.

We aim not only to make dairy farming more sustainable, but also our own operations. Your knowledge and experience can make a crucial difference in reducing emissions from our business, products, and services. Are you a natural connector with experience coordinating and initiating sustainability projects? Do you have experience with circularity, mobility, and waste management? Then read on!

What will you do as a Sustainability Project Specialist?

In this role, you will work on a broad range of sustainability topics across Lely. You will advise and support colleagues and departments in integrating sustainability into their daily activities and projects, based on the sustainability programme. This may include procurement initiatives, change projects, policy development, and operational improvements. Themes range from sustainable procurement and waste management to circularity, mobility, energy, and product quality.

You will translate strategic ambitions into practical actions, helping teams deliver long-term sustainable impact. The primary objective of this role is to embed sustainability into the tasks, roles, and responsibilities of employees across Lely. You will do this by providing advice, guidance, and hands-on support for sustainability initiatives and projects.

What are your key responsibilities?

ESG Culture & Community Building

• Build and maintain an internal ESG community, connecting ambassadors and sustainability-minded colleagues across departments.
• Facilitate knowledge-sharing sessions, peer learning, best-practice exchanges, and cross-functional collaboration on ESG topics.
• Stimulate bottom-up initiatives and empower employees to take ownership of their sustainability goals.

Training, Education & Capability Building

• Develop and coordinate ESG training programmes in collaboration with HR and the Lely Academy.
• Deliver tailored sustainability workshops for teams such as Procurement, Operations, R&D, and Commercial.
• Support managers in embedding ESG expectations into team routines, objectives, and performance cycles.

Communication, Events & Employee Engagement

• Coordinate communication on sustainability progress, challenges, and successes through newsletters, intranet updates, and dashboards.
• Organize ESG-related events such as Sustainability Week, impact sessions, guest speaker events, and site visits.
• Ensure alignment with Corporate Communications to maintain consistent messaging and strong employee engagement.

Sustainability Projects & Advisory Support

• Bring external ESG developments into the organization and translate them into actionable improvements.
• Lead and support sustainability projects across various domains, including circularity, mobility, waste, energy, and sustainable procurement.
• Translate strategic ESG priorities into actionable work plans for teams.
• Provide coaching and hands-on project support to help teams achieve meaningful results.
• Monitor progress, identify barriers, and ensure effective follow-through.
• You report to the Head of Sustainability & Public Affairs and work closely with the Sustainability Data Specialist, the Sustainable Farm Model Specialist, and the Manager Public Affairs.

Qualifications

You are a sustainability-minded connector with a clear understanding of what is required to drive sustainable change within an organization. As a trusted partner to both the business and supporting departments, you listen carefully to colleagues' needs and ideas and know how to connect them to relevant sustainability frameworks and objectives.

You are familiar with sustainability standards, frameworks, and legislation, and possess strong communication skills. Thanks to your coordinating and proactive approach, you can manage multiple projects simultaneously while maintaining focus and oversight.

• A relevant bachelor's or master's degree.
• A strong drive to contribute to a more sustainable world.
• Strong stakeholder management and collaboration skills.
• At least 3 years of experience in sustainability project management and advisory roles.
• Experience with circularity in manufacturing environments.
• Strong communication skills in English; proficiency in Dutch is considered a plus.
• The ability to quickly develop expertise in new sustainability topics.
• A proactive, results-oriented, and analytically strong mindset.
• Please note that candidates must currently reside in the Netherlands

Additional Information

A job with impact at an international family-owned company driven by innovation and a passion to make the lives and businesses of dairy farmers more enjoyable, profitable, and sustainable.

In addition...

• you will work in an enthusiastic and ambitious team;
• you will be active in an international environment at one of the most innovative companies in the Netherlands;
• you will work at the Lely Campus, where our office and production facilities have been built according to the highest European sustainability standards;
• you will have a great deal of freedom to organize your own work;
• you will receive 27 vacation days and 13 additional leave (ADV) days;
• you will have the opportunity to sell up to 6 additional leave days per year;
• you will enjoy flexibility in working hours and location (hybrid working);
• you will receive a contribution towards various insurance premiums;
• you will have access to the Lely Academy, offering a wide range of training and development opportunities that you can follow without any obligations;
• and you can enjoy a rich and healthy selection in our company restaurant, as well as the best coffee at our famous espresso bar with its own barista.

To help address the global food challenge of 2050, it is essential that we continue to act responsibly towards people, animals, and the environment. For us, this means being a reliable long-term partner for our customers. It also means passing on a better world to future generations through the sustainable development of our products. You can contribute to making this ambition a reality.

Recruitment, consultancy, or staffing agency?

We appreciate your interest, but we source all candidates directly. We understand that, as an intermediary, you may wish to introduce candidates to our exciting opportunities and contribute to our ambitions. However, this is not how we have structured our recruitment process. Therefore, any unsolicited candidate profiles submitted for Lely vacancies will be treated as direct applications.