Product Owner online core team

Does online technology and strategy make your heart beat faster? Are you customer-oriented and proactive, and do you enjoy collaborating with colleagues from many different departments? Then we are looking for you as a Product Owner in WUR’s online core team.

Within Corporate Communications and Marketing, we work together with IT on a modern online environment for employees and external target groups. In multidisciplinary teams, we work on themes such as CRM, marketing automation, digitalization, self-service, security, and data management.

We are looking for a Product Owner for our online core team. This team manages and develops the online channels that support our external communications, with the corporate website wur.nl as the primary platform. The website runs on Drupal.

In this role, you will collaborate with colleagues from across the entire organization, including marketing, communications, data, and security. This will give you a good overview of the various areas of work within WUR as well as the target groups we serve.

This is what you will do

You set the online course
You translate WUR’s online ambitions into a clear product vision, roadmap, and priorities. Together with the core team and the channel owners, you ensure that online channels, platforms, and digital customer journeys align well.

You manage the backlog
You gather requests from the organization and translate them into epics, features, and user stories. Based on data, user insights, and organizational goals, you determine the priorities. You guide improvements and new functionalities from development to release.

You connect and prioritize
You bring various interests together and make clear choices. Additionally, you advise colleagues on online developments and digital possibilities. You ensure clear communication regarding priorities, progress, and changes.

You maintain control
You manage suppliers and technical partners and monitor the coherence between the CMS, online tools, and digital standards. In doing so, you keep an eye on accessibility, privacy, security, and developments such as AI.

You continuously improve
You analyze user behavior, feedback, and platform performance in collaboration with the team. Based on this, you initiate improvements in usability, content structure, performance, and online service delivery. You promote an agile way of working, in which development and improvement are continuous.

Executive secretary, central employee and student participation

Would you like to work part-time as an executive secretary advising and supporting the WUR Council? The executive secretariat is a permanent point of contact for WUR Council members and an indispensable link in ensuring a well-functioning system of employee and student participation. You will carry out this work together with your colleague executive secretary and work closely with the Daily Board of the WUR Council.

This is where you will be working
The Central Works Council (COR) and the Student Staff Council (SSC) are central employee and student participatory councils of Wageningen University & Research (WUR). The COR and SSC work together as the WUR Council. The WUR Council, a group of approximately 28 members (staff and students), represents 7,700 employees, 2,500 PhD candidates and over 13,000 students, and is an important partner for the Executive Board in the development of policy. The working language of the WUR Council is English. Documents are in most cases drawn up in both Dutch and English.

You will form a team with your fellow executive secretary, jointly responsible for a range of tasks, including:

• organising, preparing and taking minutes of internal WUR Council meetings, consultation meetings with the Executive Board, and meetings of the Daily Board of the WUR Council;
• monitoring processes, (statutory) procedures and deadlines, keeping up to date with relevant developments in legislation and regulations, and safeguarding relationships and working arrangements within the WUR Council and with the Executive Board; in this role, you advise and coach the WUR Council and its members and contribute to updating the regulations of the WUR Council, the COR and the SSC;
• handling correspondence and organising information provision, including as the proactively management of the WUR Council’s SharePoint, and coordinating and co-drafting the annual report;
• co-organising the annual PhD elections and the triennial general employee participation elections; supporting the onboarding of new WUR Council members; initiating and organising training for WUR Council members; and managing the budget of the COR and the SSC.

You will work closely with your fellow executive secretary. There is a clear division of responsibilities, with your focus on administrative processes. In this role, you support both the WUR Council and your colleague. Your fellow executive secretary focusses primarily on coaching and advising WUR Council members and on keeping track of relevant legislation and regulations.

Additionally, you will have regular contact with the executive secretary of the Student Council. Together, you form a team of three executive secretaries who facilitate WUR’s central participatory councils.

Paralegal

Are you an energetic and well-organized Paralegal who enjoys working in an international environment where scientific research, research funding, and data-related matters come together? If so, we may be looking for you!

Our researchers independently acquire research projects funded by organizations such as the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature (LVVN), the European Union, and private-sector clients. These projects focus on themes such as sustainability, food safety, and the relationship between people and their environment.

As a Paralegal, you will support our organization and legal team in the preparation and management of a wide variety of agreements and legal documents. You will also contribute to addressing day-to-day legal questions and requests. While working partly independently and managing your own portfolio of tasks, you will act as the connecting link between internal stakeholders and the legal team, navigating a complex organization with ease.

Your responsibilities

• Drafting, reviewing, and processing legal standard/template agreements, where necessary in consultation with the legal team;
• Advising on general terms and conditions;
• Managing correspondence with various internal clients and stakeholders;
• Handling legal files and dossiers, both from a substantive and administrative perspective;
• Maintaining contact with project leaders and project management support staff;
• Contributing to the translation of organizational developments into practical procedures, working agreements, and contract templates.

Your team
You will become part of the Liaison Office team within Wageningen Social & Economic Research, one of the research institutes of the Social Sciences Group at Wageningen University & Research (WUR). The team is close-knit, collaborative, and known for its careful yet pragmatic approach.

Management Office Assistant

Do you enjoy supporting colleagues with a wide range of practical matters and helping to ensure they can focus on their core responsibilities? Are you independent, service-oriented, and comfortable working with people? Do you enjoy organizing, coordinating, and managing multiple tasks while being able to switch quickly between priorities? Then we may be looking for you as our new Management Office Assistant.

As an enthusiastic and self-reliant all-round Management Office Assistant, you will provide administrative and secretarial support to two staff departments within the Social Sciences Group of Wageningen University & Research: the Liaison Office (LO), which among other things provides legal support, and the Finance & Control (F&C) department.

As an all-round Management Office Assistant, you will:

• Schedule internal and external appointments for the staff departments and manage calendars in Outlook;
• Provide support with document management and data entry in HR and financial systems;
• Support research acquisition processes. In consultation with contract managers and grant advisors, this includes:
  
  • Registering new acquisition opportunities in the acquisition management system;
  • Coordinating the signing of contracts;
  • Processing and archiving legal documentation and files;
  • Managing correspondence with various internal stakeholders;
• Organize and take minutes during meetings, reserve meeting rooms, arrange catering, and coordinate other facilities as required;
• Manage orders and purchase order numbers for invoices;
• Coordinate practical aspects of recruitment and selection procedures and support new staff members during onboarding;
• Assist with internal communications through various internal communication channels.

About the organization
The Social Sciences Group is one of the five knowledge units of Wageningen University & Research. It consists of Wageningen Social & Economic Research (WSER) and the Department of Social Sciences, which includes 21 chair groups. These units are supported by four staff departments, employing approximately 90 staff members in total: Liaison Office (LO), Finance & Control (F&C), Marketing & Communication (M&C), and Human Resources (HR).

Junior Researcher in Regional Transitions

Are you a young professional with a passion for regional transitions and spatial planning?
We are looking for a junior researcher who is versatile and has a relevant social science and/or socio-spatial background. Are you interested in issues related to governance, policy, and society, and do you want to contribute to solutions for complex challenges such as climate adaptation and sustainable land use? Then we warmly invite you to apply.

As a junior researcher within the Regional Development and Spatial Planning team, you will work on spatial, societal, and policy-related issues to enable various regional transitions. These transitions are accompanied by complex spatial and social challenges.

You have have an interest in governance, policy, and integrated regional processes and a degree in -for example- geography, landscape architecture, land-use planning, public administration, or a combination of natural sciences and social sciences (Bachelor’s/Master’s). A fresh, integrative perspective is something that you will bring in. With your knowledge and commitment, you are able to contribute to solutions and pathways for both the short and long term.

We are looking for a flexible, hands-on colleague with affinity, sufficient knowledge, and some experience in applied and/or academic research. You have strong communication and creative skills, and preferably experience with visualization and facilitation, for example using (online) tools such as Miro. You have a good command of both Dutch and English.

Your team
You will be part of an interdisciplinary team of researchers dedicated to support regions, cities, and rural areas in regional transitions, with a focus on climate adaptation, agriculture, circular economy, and a healthy living environment. Together with partners, we develop new knowledge, insights, and innovative methods to make these changes possible. You will work in teams on a transformative and systemic approach, playing an active role in connecting and translating physical-spatial and socio-economic issues into practical solutions and methods.

Within the team, you will work on both Dutch and European research projects. These range from projects within the EU Mission on Climate Change Adaptation to policy-supporting research in for instance the agricultural and energy transition. The work is diverse and directly contributes to mission-driven innovation and policy.