Economic Researcher in Sustainable Value Chain Performance

We are looking for

Are you a promising economic researcher who wants to contribute to sustainable agri-food value chain performance through applied research? Do you have a strong affinity with applied scientific research? Do you have a market- and client-oriented attitude? Then you might be the one we are looking for and you may be looking for us!

We are looking for a talented colleague with a strong affinity for applied scientific research and a market- and client-oriented attitude. As a junior researcher, you will apply and expand your knowledge of economic and sustainable value chain performance in agri-food. For example, you could work on projects on price forming and differentiation, true and fair pricing, value chain actor behaviour, market development, policy evaluations, value chain performance, and sustainability in Dutch, European, and international agri-food value chains. You can translate customer issues into research questions, perform quantitative and qualitative desk and field research activities and analyses in order to translate them into valuable customer solutions. You can work on different topics or you can specialise in your field of interest within our main themes.

We have seven expertise groups at Wageningen Economic Research. You will be working in the Sustainable Value Chain team within the expertise group Consumer and Chain (45 people). The Sustainable Value Chain team has approximately 20 enthusiastic professionals working in research projects relating to agri-food value chains and healthy and sustainable transitions in the food system. It has an extensive work portfolio and wants to further increase the knowledge and improve quantitative research methods to improve policy advice to governments, NGOs as well as companies. As a result, we’d like to expand our team with a junior researcher to enable further consolidation and expansion. You will work together on multidisciplinary research projects in project teams varying in size from a few colleagues from within the organisation to larger teams of researchers from various national and international organisations (including universities and research institutes)

We are specifically interested in people who:

• have a solid knowledge and expertise in economics or business economics and who are familiar with, and have an interest in agri-food, including themes such as
  • societal impacts of food production and true pricing (price differentiation);
  • behaviour of actors in agri-food value chains; including industrial organization, behavioural economics and application in decision support models (e.g., optimisation, simulation, agent based models);    
  • prices and margins along the chain and the effects of structure and behaviour on economic performance of actors, and ‘Fair pricing’;
  • value chain analysis; including structure of the chain and contextual factors, behaviour of actors, and performance of value chains and functioning of markets;
• And who also
  • Enjoy contributing to acquiring new research projects in a pro-active way and who want to better their skills in business development and/or
  • who can plan and organise well, and who want to grow into project management in future

We ask

You have:

• a recent MSc degree in (quantitative) Economics or Business Economics, preferably in the agri-food domain: knowledge about for example (societal) cost benefit analysis, institutional economics, or behavioural economics is a pre;
• a strong interest for the dynamics in the agri-food sector;
• well-developed analytical skills and knowledge of quantitative research methods and analysis;
• preferably also has knowledge of the latest trends and developments relevant to the field, such as sustainable economic development, true costing or pricing, or distribution of margins along value chains;
• some years of relevant work experience in the same field or holding a similar position is a pre.

In addition, you:

• are a team player;
• are a committed personality who enjoys working in an interdisciplinary team, has good presentation skills and can perform under pressure;
• have a client-oriented attitude with a good sense for acquiring new research projects and building up a network, also internationally, within the business community;
• have some experience with working in projects and are interested in developing project management skills;
• have excellent communication skills in Dutch and English, both oral and written;
• You will be located in either The Hague or Wageningen, with the willingness to travel to the other location on a regular basis;
• For this position your command of the English language is expected to be at C1 level . More information about this level can be found in the document Language level .  

We offer

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 4%;
• 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 salary of between €2.836,- and €4.624,- for a full-time working week of 36 hours, in accordance with the

CLA Wageningen Research

(scale 10). A contract for 0,8 FTE is possible.

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.

More information

Do you want more information?
For more information about this position, please contact Titia Leutscher (Head of Consumer & Chain) via 070 3358 298 of [email protected] .

For more information about the procedure, please contact Jeanine van 't Veer, Corporate recruiter via [email protected] .

Do you want to apply?
You can apply directly using the apply button on the vacancy page on our website which will allow us to process your personal information with your approval.

This vacancy will be listed up to and including the 14th of June 2022. In the meantime, we will review your application and possibly schedule a first meeting with you. 

Do you already want to get an impression of working at Wageningen Economic Research? Then view these two short video's of your potential new colleague Saeed Moghayer PhD  and Ireen Raaijmakers Msc .

Equal opportunities
WUR is an equal opportunity employer . We are keen to receive applications from all sufficiently qualified people, regardless of their ethnicity, gender, functional impairment , religion/life philosophy, sexual orientation, or age.

We are

Wageningen Economic Research is an independent, internationally leading, social-economic research institute and part of Wageningen University & Research. Wageningen Economic Research's economic and social insights and integrated advice support governments and businesses in innovative policy and decision-making. For over 75 years, we have been experts in the fields of sustainable agriculture and nutrition, healthy food, lifestyle and the living environment and we are known as a knowledge institute that provides insight into the capacity of our planet on the one hand and human activity on the other. To this end, we use and develop, among other things, policy analyses, future studies, chain and consumer research, evaluations and monitoring systems, based on our data and models.

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, 6.800 employees and 12.900 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.

Read the 5 reasons why your future colleagues enjoy working at WUR and watch this video to get an idea of our green campus!

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