Facility (Location) Manager

Do you want to make impact in a complex organisation?
Do you get energy from taking the lead, balancing different interests and continuously improving services? Are you ready for the next step in your career, where you can influence facility policy and service levels? Then this role at the Facilities Department of Wageningen University & Research might be just right for you.

What will you do?
As a Facility Manager, you are responsible for directing and coordinating facility services within one or more large and dynamic buildings, some of which include research laboratories. You ensure that staff, researchers and students can rely on a well-functioning, professional and future-proof working and/or study environment.

You act as the connecting link between users, internal specialists and external suppliers. You manage quality, costs and agreements from a functional perspective, maintain oversight and ensure continuous improvement of services.

Your role in practice

• You act as a sparring partner and advisor for the client at your location.
• You manage the performance of suppliers and internal parties based on SLAs and agreed arrangements.
• You translate requests and developments into clear assignments and improvement initiatives.
• You monitor budgets and progress and report accordingly.
• You coordinate collaboration in housing and technical changes, working within a multidisciplinary network of facility colleagues, technical building managers, project managers, real estate management and external suppliers.
• You identify trends and translate them into future-oriented facility solutions.
• You are responsible for stakeholder management at your location (including the Director of Operations, professors, business unit managers and lab managers).

Assistant Professor Economic Modelling of Farms and Firms in Food Supply Chains

Do you want to support economic decision making and sustainable transitions in food supply chains? Do you have a passion for teaching empirical modelling of farms and firms in food supply chains? Then this may be the perfect opportunity for you!

The Business Economics Group at Wageningen University aims to support economic decision making and sustainable transitions in food supply chains. We are looking for a highly qualified person for an Assistant Professor position in the domain of quantitative economic analysis of farms and firms in food supply chains. Responsibilities for this position include teaching courses on business economics and quantitative methods; the exact portfolio of courses depends on the needs of the chair group and the specific experience and skills of the candidate. The candidate is also expected to develop an internationally recognised research program in the domain, and to generate external financial support for research projects. The position offers exciting opportunities to contribute to cutting-edge research and work alongside leading experts in the field.

This position is part of the Academic Career Framework (ACF) at Wageningen University & Research, which has replaced the traditional Tenure Track. This new career framework for all academic staff at Wageningen University started on 9 March 2025. One of the 3 career paths is the Professor Career Path. The aim of this ACF is to achieve a new balance in recognising and valuing academics where both team collaboration and the unique talent of individual scientists are seen, by creating more differentiation in career paths, putting the emphasis on the quality of work and less on quantitative results, doing justice to the individual qualities and ambitions of academics as much as to team performance, promoting all aspects of open science and encouraging high-quality leadership in the academy.

In this challenging career trajectory:

• you acquire, lead and implement innovative and creative(inter-) national research projects in the Business Economics Group;
• you collaborate with colleagues and supervise PhD students, BSc and MSc theses and you develop and teach courses;
• you contribute to the further development of the Business Economics Group.

PhD: Unravelling the anaerobic electroactive physiology and ecology of yeast

We are seeking a highly motivated PhD candidate to join a cutting-edge research project starting in April 2026 to investigate the anaerobic electroactive physiology, and related ecological interactions, in yeast. This project is part of a Dutch research council (NWO) funded M1 project, and will be conducted at the Laboratory of Microbiology at Wageningen University.

Extracellular electron transfer is a trait well-established in anaerobic metal-reducing bacteria, enabling them to respire anoxically with metals, grow in bio-electrochemical systems, and playing a role in microbial community interactions. Several microbial eukaryotes have shown electroactive traits as well, but their physiological function and underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Insight in anaerobic eukaryotic electroactive metabolism can fundamentally transform our understanding of their physiological capabilities, their ecological role, and unveil their potential applications.

Aim and approach
The core aim of this project is to gain mechanistic insight into the electroactive metabolism of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae under anaerobic conditions. By combining bio-electrochemical experiments, with omics and genetic engineering approaches, you will unravel the mechanisms that underly extracellular electron transfer in yeast, and assess its physiological impact. Subsequently, you will establish yeast in synthetic co-cultures with anaerobic bacteria, assessing the role of electroactive metabolism in cross feeding, and gaining insight in currently poorly explored anaerobic eukaryote-prokaryote interactions. You will work at the exciting interface of Microbial Physiology, Systems Biology, and Biotechnology, pushing the boundaries of our understanding of how fundamental biological processes shape natural ecosystems, and enable novel biotechnological applications.

Key responsibilities:

• Perform bio-electrochemical cultivations with yeast (S. cerevisiae) to study its electroactive physiology in various conditions.
• Design and conduct syntheticco-culture experiments with yeast and anaerobic prokaryotes, and study their (cross feeding) interactions.
• Apply omics-based and genetic engineering approaches to investigate mechanisms underlying bio electrochemical growth, and explore interactions in the established co-cultures.
• Disseminate research findings through publications, conference presentations, and research meetings.
• Contribute to teaching and supervision of students.

You will work here
The research is embedded within the chair Microbiology, where you will join the Microbial Physiology team under supervision of Assistant professor, Dr. Martijn Diender and co-supervision of Prof. Dr. Diana. Z. Sousa.

Management Office Assistant Communication & Marketing and HR

Do you have secretarial training and/or experience, and are you able to keep a cool head in sometimes dynamic circumstances? Are you organizationally sensitive, enterprising, a true team player, and a proactive administrative all-rounder? Are you service-oriented, able to work independently, and capable of managing your attention effectively? And would you like to start the new year working for a growing organization with global impact, located on a beautiful green campus? Then we are looking for you!

We are seeking a colleague to support the two staff departments Communication & Marketing and HR within the Environmental Sciences Group. As a Management Assistant, you will have a varied range of tasks within a complex organization where a certain level of hustle and bustle is part of daily work. You will work closely with communication and marketing advisors as well as HR professionals. The role involves many peak periods, and you are the one who maintains oversight, with an eye for detail and sensitivity to issues that may arise, for example in the media, with clients, or within the HR domain.

In your role, you will maintain good working relationships with fellow team assistants from other staff departments such as Finance & Control and Legal Affairs/Risk & Compliance. You will support and cover for one another when necessary, for example during periods of high workload or holiday leave. In the coming years, you will increasingly align your activities with one another, and you will also proactively contribute improvement suggestions yourself.

You ensure that you stay up to date with the latest developments in administrative processes within the organization—not only for the Communication & Marketing and HR departments, but also more broadly within ESG and WUR. You know how to make effective use of tools such as AI in your work, you are not afraid of the organizational tasks surrounding events, and as a true team player you are happy to roll up your sleeves when needed. You create and maintain overview in complex information flows. You enjoy dotting the i’s, and customer focus and proactiveness come naturally to you! You are flexible and do not mind occasionally adjusting your working hours, for example in connection with an event.

Your tasks will include, among others:

• Managing calendars; handling mail and correspondence; processing telephone and email traffic;
• Supporting various administrative processes within the Communication & Marketing and HR departments, such as placing orders and processing invoices;
• Supporting events, including booking rooms and catering, registering and welcoming participants and speakers, keeping schedules up to date, internal communications, and follow-up with participants and speakers;
• Booking travel, supporting expense claims, ordering office supplies, and organizing “care and concern” moments (e.g. cards or gifts) for team members;
• Supporting the posting of job vacancies and the administrative aspects of recruitment.

Management Office Assistent Communicatie & Marketing en HR

Heb jij secretariële opleiding/ ervaring en houd je het hoofd koel in soms dynamische omstandigheden? Ben je organisatiesensitief, ondernemend, een echte teamspeler en proactieve administratieve duizendpoot? Ben je dienstverlenend ingesteld, kan je zelfstandig werken, en kun je jouw aandacht goed verdelen? En wil je in het nieuwe jaar gaan werken bij een groeiende organisatie met wereldwijde impact en op een prachtige groene campus? Dan zijn we op zoek naar jou!

Wij zoeken een collega die de twee stafafdelingen Communicatie & Marketing en HR bij de Environmental Sciences Group komt ondersteunen. Als managementassistent heb je een gevarieerd takenpakket binnen een complexe organisatie die de nodige hectiek kent. Je werkt nauw samen met communicatie- en marketingadviseurs en met HR-professionals. De werkzaamheden kennen veel piekmomenten en jij bent degene die het overzicht houdt, met oog voor detail en gevoeligheden die kunnen spelen in bijvoorbeeld de media, bij opdrachtgevers en op het gebied van HR.

In je functie onderhoud je een goede werkrelatie met collega teamassistenten van de andere stafafdelingen: Finance & Control, Juridische zaken/Risk&Compliance. Jullie ondersteunen en vervangen elkaar wanneer nodig, bijvoorbeeld bij grote werkdruk of tijdens vakantieperiodes. De komende jaren stemmen jullie je werkzaamheden steeds beter op elkaar af, waarbij jij zelf ook met verbetervoorstellen komt.

Je zorgt dat je op de hoogte blijft van de laatste stand van zaken rond administratieve processen in de organisatie, niet alleen van de afdelingen Communicatie & Marketing en HR maar ook in algemeen van ESG en WUR. Je weet hoe je gebruik kunt maken van bijvoorbeeld AI in je werk, je draait je hand niet om voor het regelwerk rondom evenementen, en als echte teamspeler steek je graag je handen uit de mouwen wanneer dat nodig is. Je creëert en behoudt overzicht in complexe informatiestromen. Je houdt ervan de puntjes op de "i" te zetten en klantgerichtheid en proactief zijn hoort bij jou! Je bent flexibel en vindt het niet erg om een keer te schuiven met werktijden, bijvoorbeeld vanwege een evenement.

Je taken bestaan onder meer uit:

• Agendabeheer; afhandelen van en correspondentie; verwerken van telefoon- en e-mailverkeer;
• Ondersteunen bij diverse administratieve processen bij de afdelingen C&M en de afdeling HR zoals bestellingen plaatsen en verwerken van facturen,
• Ondersteunen bij evenementen zoals het boeken van zalen en catering, registreren en ontvangst van deelnemers en sprekers, actueel houden van draaiboeken, interne berichtgeving, nazorg aan deelnemers en sprekers;
• Boeken van reizen, ondersteunen bij onkostendeclaratie, bestellen van kantoorartikelen en ‘lief en leed’ voor de overige teamleden;
• Ondersteunen bij het openstellen van vacatures en de administratie van de werving van personeel.