Are you an experienced food and nutrition security advisor with an interest in multi-stakeholder platforms? Are you interested in supporting food systems to support more healthy and sustainable diets?

We are looking for a new colleague to join the food and nutrition security cluster at Wageningen Centre for Development Innovation. Our work portfolio contains short-term and longer-term agri-food sector development assignments, focusing on translating research into action. The food and nutrition security cluster focuses on a range of projects, from a short course on nutrition sensitive agriculture, to action research projects to understand the impacts of promoting milk in Ugandan schools, to supporting the development of nutrition behaviour change campaigns with supermarkets. For a better understanding of our work, please see our website.

'The mandate of our organisation is 'Knowledge in Action', and through our four services capacity development, project design and implementation, action research and (policy) advisory services, you will have the opportunity to become involved in a variety of projects. You can be counted upon to build and guide effective partnerships between knowledge institutes, government organizations, civil society organizations, and private companies. You will facilitate trainings and workshops and develop training related materials, tools and methodologies. Next to project implementation, you will contribute to further developing our international profile and portfolio of work in the area of food system stakeholder engagement, and you bring a professional network that enables you to do so.

It is currently envisioned that in the first year, a considerable part of the work will focus on the Drivers of Food Choice Project. Over the past four years, we have been working on conceptualising and mapping existing multi-stakeholder platforms (MSPs) as part of the Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) program. We have been working on identifying Multi-stakeholder Processes (MSPs) that could support countries to transition away from narratives focused on the elimination of malnutrition, towards a greater focus on healthier diets, conceptualized more broadly. Building on this work, a new project will use these platforms to contextualize and pilot new interventions around how people make choices about food consumption.

You will be working with existing MSP platforms in the field of Food and Nutrition Security in Nigeria, Ethiopia, Ghana and Bangladesh. You will be required to work closely with in-country partners in the 4 focus countries to co-create a plan for piloting new research which will support citizens to make healthier food choices. You should have hands-on experience working on multi-stakeholder partnership design and facilitation and will join our team working on sustainable and healthy food systems. You will work closely with other colleagues at Wageningen University, CGIAR, and in-country partners. You will be involved in all aspects of project implementation and will need to be adaptable and flexible to new and changing realities. You will also work on other projects and training trajectories as well as support with fund raising.

At Wageningen Centre for Development Innovation, project implementation and capacity strengthening are closely intertwined and mutually reinforce each other, we expect you to work at both. Projects primarily take place in and require travel to Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, the MENA region and Latin America, although most of our work is currently done remotely. We have a number of projects in Francophone West Africa and would ideally like someone fluent in French.

• an MSc degree or PhD in Social Sciences; Public health and nutrition, International Development or related fields;
• a minimum of five years of relevant work experience, with at least two years of work experience in Africa, Asia or Latin America (preferably experience of working in one or more of the following countries: Nigeria, Ethiopia, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Bangladesh, Zambia), including advisory work and knowledge development;
• a good understanding of the transformation of agri-food sectors, in particular the nutrition and food security sector;
• experience in designing, planning and facilitating multi-stakeholder partnerships (face to face and online);
• strong communication skills including the ability to communicate effectively with people from a variety of disciplinary and cultural backgrounds;
• experience with capacity strengthening and facilitation of trainings (face to face and online);
• affinity with an entrepreneurial and dynamic working environment;
• your English proficiency is excellent (a minimum of CEFR C1 level). For more information about this proficiency level, please visit our special language page. Proficiency in French is highly desirable;
• willingness to travel and adaptability (moving from in-person to online formats as necessary). Travel will be part of the project when government regulations allow.

Wageningen University & Research offers excellent terms of employment. A few highlights from our Collective Labour Agreement include:

• working hours that can be discussed and arranged so that they allow for the best possible work-life balance;
• the option to accrue additional holiday hours by working more, up to 40 hours per week;
• sabbatical leave, study leave, and paid parental leave;
• there is a strong focus on vitality and you can make use of the sports facilities available on campus for a small fee;
• a fixed December bonus of 3%;
• excellent pension scheme.

In addition to these first-rate employee benefits, you will of course receive a good salary. We offer, depending on your experience, a competitive gross salary of between €2.790,- and €5.183,- for a full-time working week of 36 hours, in accordance with the CLA Wageningen Research (scale 10-11). Additionally, a contract for 32 hours can be discussed.

Wageningen University & Research encourages internal advancement opportunities and mobility with an internal recruitment policy. There are plenty of options for personal initiative in a learning environment, and we provide excellent training opportunities. We are offering a multi-faceted position in an international environment with a pleasant and open working atmosphere.

Coming from abroad
Wageningen University & Research is the university and research centre for life sciences. The themes we deal with are relevant to everyone around the world and Wageningen, therefore, has a large international community and a lot to offer to international employees. Applicants from abroad moving to the Netherlands may qualify for a special tax relief, known as the 30% ruling. Our team of advisors on Dutch immigration procedures will help you with the visa application procedures for yourself and, if applicable, for your family.
Feeling welcome also has everything to do with being well informed. Wageningen University & Research's International Community page contains practical information about what we can do to support international employees and students coming to Wageningen. Furthermore, we can assist you with any additional advice and information about helping your partner to find a job, housing, schooling, and other issues.

Wageningen University & Research

Wageningen University & Research
The mission of Wageningen University and Research is "To explore the potential of nature to improve the quality of life". Under the banner Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen University and the specialised research institutes of the Wageningen Research Foundation have joined forces in contributing to finding solutions to important questions in the domain of healthy food and living environment.

With its roughly 30 branches, 6.500 employees and 12.500 students, Wageningen University & Research is one of the leading organisations in its domain. An integrated approach to problems and the cooperation between various disciplines are at the heart of Wageningen's unique approach. WUR has been named Best Employer in the Education category for 2019-2020.

These are the points our employees list as good reasons to come work at WUR: read the 5 reasons to come work at WUR.

We will recruit for the vacancy ourselves, so no employment agencies please. However, sharing in your network is appreciated.