FOR OUR LEGAL AFFAIRS AND CONTRACT MANAGEMENT TEAM, WE ARE LOOKING FOR A LEGAL COUNSEL (32–36 HOURS PER WEEK).

You ensure that researchers are able to develop knowledge within research projects based on clear legal agreements, with a focus on drafting contracts and safeguarding legal quality. This includes:

• Providing advice to senior management, research groups, and business development on contractual arrangements with research partners;
• Drafting and reviewing contracts between Wageningen University & Research (WUR) and national or international research partners concerning intellectual property, subsidies, confidentiality, liability, etc. These include various types of research contracts, such as large and complex consortia between WUR and multinational companies in the food sector. The department’s scope includes the full contractual process with national and international (market) parties and is highly diverse, ranging from substantial subsidy projects to applied research for SMEs and multinationals;
• Contributing to the development and maintenance of WUR-wide legal templates such as general terms and conditions and model agreements;
• Together with the manager and fellow legal counsels, contributing to the development of legal policy within WUR through specific working groups and participating in WUR-wide legal meetings on operational and substantive matters as well as relevant developments.

WUR consists of five divisions. You will be working within the Agrotechnology and Food Sciences Group (AFSG). In addition to providing education to students, we also operate as a research institute. We conduct research on all aspects of food that influence human health. For example, we explore how certain nutritional values can be improved by changing raw materials in animal feed at the beginning of the food chain. We cannot do this research alone, which is why we collaborate with partners. To secure income distribution and establish clear agreements on ownership of knowledge, we aim to expand our legal team.

The team consists of 12 colleagues: 5 legal counsels and 4 contract managers/paralegals who provide (administrative) support to the legal counsels, a privacy officer, a subsidy advisor, and a manager. The atmosphere in the team is informal and collegial. In addition to working with your direct team members, you will frequently interact with other departments within WUR, as well as with companies we conduct research for or collaborate with. 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 €3.868,- and €6.008,- for a full-time working week of 36 hours, in accordance with the CLA Wageningen Research (scale 11). Additionally, a contract for 32 hours 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 20 consecutive years, we have been voted the “best university” in the Netherlands! A place to be proud of.

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. If you come with a partner, we offer a Dual Career group program organized by our Welcome Center. This program helps your partner to get familiar with the Dutch culture, labour market and assists your partner to find a job.
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 coming to Wageningen. Furthermore, our Welcome Center can assist you with any additional advice and information about for example housing, opening a bank account 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. 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. We are looking for a legal professional who is interested in research, understands the interests of different partners in collaborative projects, and has a solution-oriented, pragmatic mindset.

In addition, you:

• Have a completed degree in Dutch Law and at least 3 years of experience in a legal role;
• Have excellent command of both Dutch and English, spoken and written. Because of the knowledge of dutch law and the legal documents you work with it is not useful to apply if you are not fluent in Dutch.
• Possess strong communication skills;
• Are accurate, able to perform under pressure, and meet deadlines;
• Preferably have experience as a legal counsel within a knowledge organization or a company with R&D activities;
• Have solid knowledge of contract law, with a focus on intellectual property, subsidies, state aid, and liability.

In our international working environment there is an increasing amount of communication in English. For this position it is about language level C1 . For more information about the position, please contact Mirte van der Wiel, Legal Counsel, via email: mirte.vanderwiel@wur.nl
Questions about the procedure? Get in touch with Rutger Voorrips, Corporate Recruiter, via e-mail; rutger.voorrips@wur.nl.

Please refer the Job description for details