Mechatronics Verification Engineer - Astronaut

At Lely, you work on technology that helps dairy farmers run their farms more efficiently and sustainably. Within the Astronaut product family, you work on large-scale automated milking systems in which multiple robots and technical subsystems work together as one integrated solution.

What is your role?

As a Mechatronics Verification Engineer, you help determine whether these systems perform as intended under realistic conditions. Your work focuses on testing and verifying subsystems, both in our workshop and on farms. You investigate how systems behave, challenge design choices and use test results and data to identify risks and support well-founded technical decisions.

Because the Astronaut is a large, installation-based system, your work has a strong connection with process engineering. You will encounter piping, fluid flows, cleaning processes and chemical dosing systems, as well as the interaction between different technical subsystems. You do not need to be a chemical expert; what matters is that you enjoy understanding how these processes work together and are curious about what happens within the system.

You will have the opportunity to work hands-on, design your own tests and experiments, and translate what you learn into clear conclusions and recommendations for the development teams.

Your main responsibilities include:

• Reviewing requirements and translating them into risk-based verification strategies and practical test cases.
• Designing and performing exploratory tests and experiments, including Design of Experiments (DOE), to investigate system behaviour and substantiate design decisions.
• Verifying components and subsystems in our workshop and on farms, under both controlled and realistic operating conditions.
• Designing and building test setups for cleaning systems, fluid flows and chemical dosing, and using these setups to investigate and improve system performance.
• Analysing test data, identifying risks and drawing clear, evidence-based conclusions that support product development and release decisions.
• Documenting test methods, results and recommendations and communicating your findings clearly to engineers and other internal stakeholders.

What is your experience?

You are a curious and analytical engineer who enjoys finding out how things work in practice. You like combining hands-on testing with structured analysis and are motivated by designing experiments yourself, investigating unexpected behaviour and turning data into meaningful conclusions.

You don't need to be an expert in every part of the system. What matters is that you have a solid technical foundation, enjoy working across disciplines and are interested in understanding complete systems, including the processes and flows within them.

In addition, you bring:

• A Bachelor's or Master's degree in Mechatronics, Mechanical Engineering, Process Engineering, Food Engineering or a similar technical discipline.
• 2-4 years of experience in a technical testing, verification or engineering environment.
• An understanding of process engineering, preferably in a food-related environment, with an interest in fluid flows, piping, cleaning processes or similar systems.
• An analytical and investigative mindset, with an interest in designing experiments, processing data and using evidence to understand system behaviour.
• A practical, hands-on approach and the willingness to work both in the workshop and on dairy farms.
• Good communication skills in English. Dutch is an advantage.

If you don't meet every requirement but recognize yourself in the role and are excited about understanding complex systems through testing and experimentation, we encourage you to apply.

What you can expect from us

Working at Lely means contributing to sustainable progress within one of the most innovative organizations in the Netherlands. You help make the agricultural sector more futureproof, and we ensure you have the space, resources, and support to do so.

• An international work environment that values collaboration, initiative, and diverse perspectives.
• A culture that encourages learning, experimentation, and ownership of ideas.
• Excellent employment conditions, including up to 8 weeks of vacation per year and a strong pension scheme.
• Full ownership of your own development, with access to a wide range of courses through the Lely Academy.
• Daily access to outstanding sports facilities at the Lely Campus: an indoor gym, outdoor padel courts, basketball and volleyball courts, table tennis, and table football. You can join Hyrox workouts or sign up for personal training and challenge your colleagues during an active break.
• Fresh coffee and tea from our own barista (with milk from our own farm) and a healthy, affordable company restaurant.
• A healthy work-life balance thanks to our hybrid working policy: you work at least three days a week on Campus, with flexible hours and plenty of opportunity to spend additional time onsite (between 06:00 and 20:00).
• A free shuttle bus that takes you to and from the metro station in Maassluis, ensuring your workday starts and ends smoothly.
• And of course: we love to celebrate! Whether it’s an anniversary or the annual Christmas party. At Lely, we know how to do it.