Postdoc researcher TITAN

Your job

Do you want to contribute to a more transparent and sustainable food sector in Europe? Do you want to further your academic career in business science?We offer a Postdoc vacancy for an ambitious and high-potential academic who seeks to understand how (agrifood-) supply chain networks can achieve greater transparency via digital innovations, enhancing the world’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Business Management & Organisation (BMO) group of Wageningen University & Research (WUR) is excited to kick-off a new Horizon Europe project called TITAN comprising 27 partners, in which WUR  serves as consortium partner. We contribute to several workpackages.

The objective of TITAN is to provide an extensive platform for the development of a wide range of innovations that aid transparency and address key challenges identified in the European Green Deal.
The TITAN project has a strong multidisciplinary character. The 4-year project comprises a mix of technology providers and research centres linked to agri-food actors and businesses through an interactive co-creation approach. Participants are from the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, France, Belgium, Germany, UK, Greece, Portugal, Norway, Finland, Poland and Switzerland. The TITAN innovations will deliver transparency solutions in the areas of food safety and authenticity, traceability, health and sustainability and improving information to the consumer.

Within TITAN, Wageningen University & Research is responsible for Work Package 2 (WP2), dealing with the management of stakeholders’ digital transparency interests in EU food supply chain networks.

You will carry out a share of the WP2 work. More specifically, your work includes the following tasks:

1. finish the collection of qualitative data via focus group discussions;
2. analyse existing qualitative data to evaluate stakeholders, and conceptualize abductively a typology of stakeholders with transparency claims and corresponding norm strategies;
3. conceptualize deductively an innovative quantitative supply chain network organization framework to uncover the optimal fit between organizational structures and different digital information systems in selected EU food supply chain networks.
4. develop a quantitative research design for the empirical implementation of the supply chain network organization framework;
5. collect empirical data using quantitative survey methods, chose and obtain complementary secondary data
6. analyse the data using advanced modelling techniques;
7. contribute to deliverables and scientific articles
8. support the WP2 leader in project management, communication and dissemination activities (e.g. organize and participate in meetings and workshops, contribute to the technical reporting, communicate with project partners and stakeholders, contribute to dissemination material)

You will work here
For this position you will be located at Wageningen, within the Business Management & Organisation Group, led by prof.dr. WA (Wilfred) Dolfsma. The BMO project team is led by Verena Otter.

Your qualities

You have:

• keen interest in organisation, (food) supply chain networks, digital innovation, transparency, collaboration, stakeholder management and relationships;
• relevant PhD degree in (agricultural or food) economics, business studies, organisation studies or food management;
• knowledge of and experience with quantitative research methods, particularly including agent-based-modelling;
• knowledge of and experience with qualitative research;
• knowledge of and experience with research on the agri-food sector;
• experienced in working in international and multidisciplinary projects is an advantage;
• familiarity with engaged scholarship is an advantage;
• proven track record of (potential) publications in agri-food economics and/or management, innovation, management and/or organisation studies journals;
• strong oral and written communication skills in English.

In our international working environment there is an increasing amount of communication in English. For this position it is about language level C1.

We offer you

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

• sabbatical leave, study leave, and partially paid parental leave;
• working hours that can be discussed and arranged so that they allow for the best possible work-life balance;
• the option to accrue additional compensation / holiday hours by working more,  per week;
• 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 8.3%;
• excellent pension scheme.

In addition to these first-rate employee benefits, you will of course receive a good salary. Depending on your experience, we offer a competitive gross salary of between € 3.226 and € 5.090 for a full-time working week of 38 hours, in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreements for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU) (scale 10). We will offer you a contract till the end of the project (31st of August 2026).
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 unique position in an international environment with a pleasant and open working atmosphere.

You are going to work at the greenest and most innovative campus in Holland, and at a university that has been chosen as the “Best University” in the Netherlands for the 19^th consecutive time.

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.

Because we expect you to work and live in the Netherlands 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 for example helping your partner to find a job, housing, or schooling. Finally, certain categories of international staff may be eligible for a tax exemption on a part of their salary during the first five years in the Netherlands.

Do you want more information?

For more information about this position  you can contact Dr. Verena Otter, BMO Group, project leader, by email: verena.otter@wur.nl.

For more information about the procedure, please contact Noorien Abbas, Corporate Recruiter, by email: recruitment.ssg@wur.nl.

Do you want to apply?
This can be done directly via the application button at the vacancy on our website so that we can process your personal data with your permission.

This vacancy is open up to and including 12 August 2024. We want to plan the first job interviews in second week of August 2024. A possible second interview will take place in August 2024.

We have the intention to start with this position at the 1^st of October, 2024.

Procedure
As part of our selection process, an assessment may be incorporated within the procedure.

Equal opportunities
Wageningen University & Research (WUR) employs a large number of people with very different backgrounds and qualities, who inspire and motivate each other. We want every talent to feel at home in our organisation and be offered the same career opportunities. We therefore especially welcome applications from people who are underrepresented at WUR. A good example of how WUR deals with inclusiveness can be read on the page working at WUR with a functional impairment.

We are

The mission of Wageningen University & 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, 7,600 employees (6,700 fte) and 13,100 students and over 150,000 participants to WUR’s Life Long Learning, Wageningen University & Research is one of the leading organisations in its domain. The unique Wageningen approach lies in its integrated approach to issues and the collaboration between different disciplines.

Read the 5 reasons why your future colleagues enjoy working at WUR and watch the video below 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.