Researcher Food Chains

As a Researcher food chains, you will work on improving sustainable food chains. You will contribute to projects aimed at reducing food loss and associated emissions, quantitatively estimating sustainability impact, and to broader issues related to the design and sustainability of food chains. You will do this in projects in the Netherlands, but also in Europe and in low- and middle-income countries, such as Ethiopia, Indonesia and Mexico. From Wageningen, you will work together with the project team to develop solutions that make chains more sustainable, robust and efficient. Within the Supply Chain Development expertise group, you will work on analysing and assessing interventions in food chains. You combine quantitative analyses with systems thinking and translate insights into practical and feasible solutions. The impact in practice is central to this. The role is varied and often consists of a combination of literature research, analysis and reporting, contributions to workshops with (Dutch) third parties and stakeholder processes, and fieldwork. You will work in both a Dutch and international context and travel within and outside Europe several times a year.

Your duties and responsibilities include: 

• Analysing food chains and assessing interventions aimed at sustainability
• Performing quantitative and qualitative analyses, for example in the areas of cost, quality, emissions and sustainability impact
• Performing (pre-)feasibility analyses and scenario analyses
• Contributing to policy briefs and developing tools and training materials
• Contributing to workshops, stakeholder processes and implementation issues
• Contributing to data collection, fieldwork and project outputs, such as project reports, reports, presentations and other products agreed with clients
• Supporting senior and medior researchers in project execution and the practical design of projects.

You are interested in food chains and in connecting analysis to application and implementation. In time, you will develop towards an independent role in projects and analyses.

The team you will be working in

You will work within the Supply Chain Development expertise group. This group supports organizations worldwide in analyzing, designing and improving sustainable food chains through data collection, analysis and the development and assessment of interventions. Work is being done on, among other things, food loss reduction, making chains more sustainable and system innovations, including logistics optimisation, in both a Dutch and international context.

You will work here 

The ecosystems of WUR, Wageningen Campus and beyond offer numerous opportunities for collaboration on innovative developments and solutions. That is why we are looking for a team player with a focus on application and with a proactive attitude and a talent for bringing partners together. Examples of clients include industrial organizations, such as ingredient suppliers and food companies, government agencies and combinations thereof in public-private partnerships.

You are analytically strong, structured and proactive. You are good at planning, keep appointments and are interested in logistics and sustainable food chains and applied research. In addition, you enjoy carefully working out analyses, reports and other project outputs.

You also possess : 

• An MSc (or PhD) in e.g. environmental sciences, agri-food, economics, business administration, supply chain management or a similar field
• A few years of relevant work experience
• Excellent command of Dutch (C1) due to communication with external parties who don’t speak English. Additional language skills are an advantage.
• A strong foundation in quantitative analysis, combined with an interest in food chains and qualitative analysis
• Experience with modelling and/or data analysis is an advantage
• Able and willing to travel internationally (within and outside Europe, including LMICs). 

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

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;
• sabbatical leave, study leave, and partially 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 year-end bonus of 8,3%;
• 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 gross salary of between €3.399,- and €5.478,- for a full-time working week of 36 hours, in accordance with the CLA Wageningen Research (scale 10). Additionally, For this role a contract for 32 hours a week can be discussed. As for your contract, we initially offer a one-year contract that can be extended - if possible within (company) organizational circumstances - on good performance. Of course, we are happy to have a conversation with you if you have any questions about this.

Wageningen University & Research offers plenty of opportunities for growth and development, with a strong internal recruitment policy and excellent training programmes.

You will work on the greenest and most innovative campus in the Netherlands, in an international and open working environment. 

For more information about the position, please contact Mark Bouwens, Research Manager Post Harvest Technology & Supply Chain Development via 06-23207472 or email: mark.bouwens@wur.nl.
Questions about the procedure? Get in touch with Rutger Voorrips, Corporate Recruiter, via rutger.voorrips@wur.nl

Ready to apply?
Click on the application button next to the vacancy on our website. Only applications submitted through our website will be considered.

You can apply up to and including June 8th, 2026. Internal candidates are preferred to apply before May 11th, 2026.

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

Welcome, safe, and valued
Wageningen University & Research (WUR) highly values diversity and inclusion because we believe that different insights lead to innovative solutions. We create a work environment where everyone feels welcome, safe, and appreciated, regardless of background, identity, or experience. Together, we are building a culture where everyone's unique contribution adds to the success of our organization.

​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.

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