Flexpool – sr. HR Business Partner

Are you an experienced and flexible HR Business Partner who wants to be available on short notice across WUR’s various organizational units? This is a great opportunity to get an inside look at different departments and gain new experiences.

For HR, this is the first time we’re working with a flexible pool in this way. The reason for this is the ongoing demand for (temporary) HRBP capacity due to illness, peak workloads, bridging vacancies, or projects. We expect this to bring many benefits, such as better availability of interim HRBP capacity, rapid deployment (due to familiarity with the WUR organization), and knowledge-building within the organization. In addition, we will more quickly achieve uniformity across the various units, and this will contribute to knowledge sharing and collaboration within the HR function. Are you that pioneer, and would you like to help make this initiative a success as a Senior HR Business Partner?

As a Senior HR Business Partner within the Flexpool, your role is equivalent to that of a “regular” HR Business Partner.

• You serve as a sparring partner and advisor to managers in the business unit on tactical and strategic HR and organizational issues, and you provide support and guidance on (complex) individual and team cases.
• You can initiate, design, and oversee complex organizational change processes or projects.
• You will temporarily be part of an HR team, and together you will be responsible for providing appropriate and high-quality HR services.

Your team
You will be assigned from the HRBP team within the Corporate Staff to work for one or more business units, each time for a period of two to six months (with the option to extend twice for three months each). During your assignment, you will be a full member of the local HR team, and they will be your colleagues. A request for the deployment of the “flying keeper” is always discussed and approved by the HR Management Team; naturally, we also take your own wishes regarding your development and interests into account.

Postdoc on Synthetic Microbial Communities for Plant-Based Cheese

Do you want to design microbial communities for novel foods? Are you intrigued by the possibilities of using communities and spatial structure to control flavour and nutrition in plant-based cheese? Then this postdoctoral research position could be what you’re looking for!

As a postdoctoral researcher, you will explore over the next 3 years how we can control the flavour and nutritional value of plant-based Camembert through spatiotemporal organization of synthetic microbial communities (SynComs). Fermentation of protein-rich plant-based substrates could yield cheeses that are both healthy and sustainable. However, optimizing the nutritional value and flavour of such cheese products remains an open challenge.

This project tests the fundamental hypothesis that bottom-up designed SynComs could provide better nutrition and flavour than pure starter cultures, while offering more reproducible products compared to complex starter cultures. Specific attention will be paid to the role of spatial organization of key community members and the role of physicochemical gradients during fermentation.

Your duties and responsibilities:

• use solid-state food fermentation techniques with diverse (i.e., pure, SynCom, and complex) starter cultures and evaluate flavour and nutrition composition;
• evaluate the spatiotemporal patterns of microbial community assembly and composition using metagenomic sequencing and microscopic techniques;
• develop mathematical models of spatiotemporal organization of SynCom-fermented plant-based cheeses to enable further control;
• work with highly interdisciplinary colleagues in a collaborative environment;
• develop and lead novel research questions, design experiments, analyze and synthesize results, and communicate outcomes at (inter)national conferences as well as publish these outcomes in peer-reviewed journals.

Your team
You will work as a joint post-doc between the Systems & Synthetic Biology (SSB) chair group, led by Prof. Maria Suarez-Diez, and Food Microbiology (FHM), led by Prof. Marcel Zwietering. Your primary supervisors will be dr. Pieter Candry (SSB) & dr. Oscar van Mastrigt (FHM), both assistant professors at WUR.

You will work here
This position is funded by the VLAG Graduate School, focused on generating collaborative projects between chair groups part of VLAG. This position is part of the Academic Career Framework (ACF) at Wageningen University & Research.

Postdoc: Developing a Planetary Health Impact Assessment in policy practice

How can knowledge about the health of people and the planet be translated into effective policy? If this question interests you, this position may be a strong fit. As a driving force within the CINPHIA consortium, you will integrate methods for knowledge development, policymaking, and public participation into a Planetary Health Impact Assessment compass, with the aim of strengthening the impact of policy.

Earth provides us with air, water, food, and space for rest and recovery. At the same time, heat, pollution, and declining biodiversity—on land, in oceans, and in the atmosphere—are contributing to increased illness and mortality in the Netherlands and worldwide. Existing knowledge, targeted policies, and citizen initiatives have so far proven insufficient to adequately protect and restore the health of people and planet. Planetary health is a solutions-oriented, transdisciplinary field and social movement focused on analyzing and addressing the impacts of destabilized natural systems on human health and all life on Earth (The Rockefeller Foundation–Lancet Commission on Planetary Health, 2015).

About CINPHIA
Supported by funding from the Dutch National Science Agenda (NWO/ZonMw) CINPHIA is a consortium of academic, policy, and societal partners that will work on ‘the Co-creation and Integration of Planetary Health Impact Assessment in policy practice.’ The Planetary Health Impact Assessment compass will serve as a tool to assess the health impacts of policy plans and to support decision-making by policymakers at national government level as well as municipal, provincial and water authority levels. In this way CINPHIA contributes to decision-making ‘for policies that protect and restore the health of both people and the planet. CINPHIA includes researchers from WUR, the University of Amsterdam (UvA), RIVM, Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR), Erasmus MC (EMC), Inholland University of Applied Sciences, KWR Water Research Institute, and Waag Futurelab, as well as policymakers from local, provincial, and national governments, citizen initiatives, and societal stakeholders.

Tasks and Responsibilities
You will be responsible for:

• Designing and facilitating workshops with citizens and stakeholders, in collaboration with Waag Futurelab, for the development of a Community Compass (a toolbox for participatory design and action on local planetary health, based on existing methods, indicators, and knowledge);
• Coordinating the development of a prototype Planetary Health Impact Assessment across all work packages, integrating initial versions of the Knowledge Compass, Policy Compass, and Community Compass into a roadmap for user evaluations by policymakers;
• Testing underlying assumptions regarding data, collaboration, and political support for integrated policymaking on planetary health through periodic reflexive evaluations;
• Publishing findings in scientific journals and through public communication channels;
• Actively participating in and contributing to the CINPHIA Planetary Health Talent Programme, including training, coaching, and peer-to-peer learning with CINPHIA PhD candidates, in support of your personal and academic development.

You will work here

Health & Society (HSO) Group

The Health and Society group is embedded in widening circles of engagement with the major challenges facing human and planetary health today. HSO studies the domain of people, places, policies, or the planet more broadly, engaging with these domains with the aim to improve health and society. The chair group HSO focuses on the sociological study of public health, health promotion and health protection, in both resource poor and research rich contexts, with emphasis on (1) the social, natural and built environment, and (2) the role of actors and social institutions in advancing health and wellbeing.

You will be appointed to the Chair Group Health and Society (Dr. Marleen Bekker, project leader CINPHIA), working also with Prof. Robbert Biesbroek (Public Administration and Policy group). In addition, you will collaborate with researchers from Waag FutureLab. You will also work with PhD candidates and researchers from other knowledge institutions in CINPHIA to integrate their contributions into the Planetary Health Impact Assessment. Finally, you will be part of the CINPHIA Consortium and collaborate with societal and policy partners on implementation and impact. You will have access to a vibrant interdisciplinary research community and opportunities for professional development through workshops, conferences, and collaborations.

Flexpool – sr. HR Business Partner, ‘Vliegende keep’

Ben jij de ervaren en flexibele HR Business Partner die als vliegende keep inzetbaar wil zijn binnen de verschillende organisatie-onderdelen van WUR? Dit is een mooie kans om binnen verschillende onderdelen in de keuken te kunnen kijken en nieuwe ervaringen op te doen.

Voor HR is dit de eerste keer dat we op deze manier gaan werken met een flexibele pool. Aanleiding is de aanhoudende vraag naar (tijdelijke) HRBP-capaciteit als gevolg van ziekte, piekdrukte, overbrugging van vacatures of projecten. We verwachten dat dit veel voordelen met zich meebrengt, zoals betere beschikbaarheid van interim HRBP-capaciteit, snelle inzetbaarheid (i.v.m. bekendheid WUR-organisatie) en kennisopbouw binnen de organisatie. Daarnaast creëren we sneller uniformiteit tussen de verschillende onderdelen en draagt dit bij kennisverspreiding en samenwerking binnen de HR-kolom. Ben jij die pionier en wil jij als sr. HR Business Partner dit initiatief helpen tot een succes te maken?

Als sr. HR Business Partner binnen de Flexpool is de inhoud van je functie gelijk aan dat van een ‘reguliere’ HR Business Partner.

• Je bent sparringpartner en adviseur voor leidinggevenden in het organisatieonderdeel op tactische en strategische HR- en organisatievraagstukken en ondersteunt en adviseert op (complexe) individuele en team casuïstiek.
• Je kan complexe organisatie-verandertrajecten of projecten initiëren, ontwerpen en begeleiden.
• Je bent tijdelijk onderdeel van een HR-team en samen zijn jullie verantwoordelijk voor passende en kwalitatief goede HR-dienstverlening.

Jouw team
Je komt vanuit het HRBP-team Concernstaf te werken voor één of meerdere organisatieonderdelen, telkens voor de duur van twee tot zes maanden (met maximaal twee keer drie maanden te verlengen). Gedurende jouw opdracht ben je volwaardig lid van het lokale HR-team en zijn dat jouw collega's. Een aanvraag voor de inzet van de vliegende keep wordt altijd in het MT HR besproken en toegekend, uiteraard houden we daarbij ook rekening met jouw eigen wensen ten aanzien van jouw ontwikkeling en interesses.

Public and Constitutional Law specialist for Nature and Environment

Are you a public and constitutional law specialist who would like to contribute, as a researcher, to the development of knowledge around urgent societal challenges for nature and the environment? Do you have a completed academic degree in Dutch law? And do you have an affinity with political–policy and administrative law processes in relation to ecological issues? Then read on and apply soon!

We are looking for a public and constitutional law specialist with a passion for nature and landscapes, who wants to contribute as a researcher to a nature-positive society. You will acquire applied legal–ecological research projects, carry them out in a project-based manner, and provide legal–ecological advice and support to colleagues without a legal background. You are an interdisciplinary systems thinker who can analyse complex issues in a structured way. Affinity with themes such as nature restoration, nature-inclusive agriculture, environmental policy, and political–administrative processes is an asset.

As a researcher in public and constitutional law, you will analyse relevant European and national nature and environmental legislation related to nature and biodiversity, the related case law, and ongoing discussions in policy and politics. This includes, for example, the Birds and Habitats Directives, the Nature Restoration Regulation, the Water Framework Directive, the EU Common Agricultural Policy, and the Environment and Planning Act.

Your team
You will work together with other disciplines (particularly ecology and economics), other institutes within Wageningen University & Research such as the Law Group of Wageningen University, and legal scholars from other research institutions.

Where you will work
As a researcher at the Biodiversity and Policy Team of Wageningen Environmental Research (WENR), you will have a unique opportunity to develop yourself, contribute to solutions for the most urgent challenges of our time, and work at one of the world’s leading institutes in this field.