Senior Legal Counsel IP

Oudecampsweg 35C, 2678 NN De Lier, Netherlands

At Dümmen Orange, every role contributes to our mission of creating sustainable value in ornamental horticulture. As a Senior Legal Counsel IP, you play a key role in managing all the group’s IP rights worldwide. Your work directly supports R&D, sales, marketing and management and helps us deliver innovation, quality, and value to our customers and partners worldwide.

Why this role matters

This role is critical to the success of Dümmen Orange as a leading innovator in its industry. Your expertise and skills will help Dümmen Orange stay ahead in a competitive global market, while also reinforcing our commitment to excellence, sustainability, and innovation. 

Your tasks and/or responsibilities include:

• Manage the group’s IP; including registration and renewal (plant breeders’ rights, trademarks, patents), supported by external lawyers, agents and notaries;

• Manage IP disputes (incl. litigation) worldwide, both internal (colleagues, management) as well as external (working with local lawyers);

• Draft and review various agreements such as license-, trial-, and R&D agreements, IP transfer- and co-existence agreements and negotiating its terms with third parties (such as customers, service providers, universities);

• Provide legal support and advice on IP queries from colleagues worldwide;

• Implement new IP policies (such as licensing or trademark policy); and provide necessary (awareness) training;

• Develop and implement the group’s IP enforcement strategy and connecting with relevant industry organizations if needed;

• Ensure proper records of all IP, IP agreements and related compliance through various IT-systems.

Your profile

You are a flexible and solution-oriented professional who thrives in a fast-paced, global environment. You combine a strong analytical mindset with excellent organizational skills, allowing you to manage multiple projects independently while maintaining a high level of accuracy and attention to detail. With your clear and confident communication style, you can translate complex legal matters into practical advice for non-lawyers and effectively influence and drive change across the organization. You take ownership of your work, show perseverance, and bring a positive attitude — and a good sense of humor — to every challenge.

Furthermore you:

• have a master’s degree in IP law;

• have 5-10 years of post-qualification experience with IP, preferably as Dutch qualified IP lawyer and/or with a multinational corporation. Experience and/or an interest in the agricultural/flower breeding industry is considered a big plus;

• are fluent in English and Dutch, both written and verbal and are able to understand, negotiate and draft complex legal documents in Dutch and English autonomously.

What we offer

Passion for the craft, teamwork and transparency define our ways-of-working. With a flat organizational structure and comprehensive support tools – such as the Dümmen Orange Academy and our Performance Management Program – we offer a rich environment for a purposeful and rewarding job, as well as for your development and growth as an individual, expert, or leader, no matter what stage of your career you’re in.

In addition, we offer:

• A competitive salary based on your knowledge and experience;

• Full-time position (32–38 hours per week);

• 25.5 vacation days, based on a full-time contract;

• Hybrid working (including allowances for working from home and for the home workplace);

• Flexibility in working hours, to be determined in consultation;

• A personal development plan focused on continuous learning and our core values: commitment, focus, passion, and responsibility;

• Working close to the business in an international working environment, within a fun, open, collaborative and ambitious legal team;

• Employment conditions based on the Dutch Collective Labor Agreement for Greenhouse Horticulture, including generous leave arrangements and a solid pension scheme (BPL Pension). We invest in your future by covering two-thirds of your pension premium;

• Participation in our bonus scheme, a laptop and telephone. 

Who we are and what we do

Dümmen Orange is a leading global breeder and propagator of flowers and plants, offering an extensive portfolio of crops and varieties to growers, wholesalers, and retailers worldwide.

We develop stronger, healthier flowers and plants, enhancing their beauty and performance. Our breeders, backed by cutting-edge research, focus on improving key traits such as color, fragrance, and shape, as well as vital characteristics like disease resistance, yield capacity, and growth habits.

Our Breeding Technology Centre in the Netherlands is the largest horticultural breeding laboratory in the world. It’s a high-tech home for pioneering international scientists, breeders, and specialists to set new standards in flower and plant genetics and breeding excellence.

Across our production locations in Europe, Africa, and the Americas, we have over 260 hectares of  production space. We use these facilities to cultivate mother stock plants and produce starting material, e.g. by cuttings or tissue culture.

Dare to bloom

Headquartered in De Lier, the Netherlands, we employ 5,300 people globally. 

Joining Dümmen Orange means becoming part of a leading company driven by purpose and ambition. Our international playground is anything but ordinary. If you’re wired for curiosity, challenge, and real impact, you’ll feel right at home.

With a legacy spanning more than a century, leading positions in global floriculture markets, a world-class R&D team, and a diversified network of owned propagation sites supported by a global supply chain, Dümmen Orange is a source of industry expertise and innovation—and the place to be if you want to make a lasting impact in floriculture.

Click on the button below to apply for this job.

For more information you can contact Carolien Luijt, Head of Legal, via c.luijt@dummenorange.com.  

Acquisition with reference to this advertisement will not be appreciated.