Scientific Program Leader Soil Fertility

at  Wageningen University Research

ARE YOU A PASSIONATE SCIENTIST IN THE FIELD OF SOILS, SOIL FERTILITY AND SOIL MANAGEMENT? ARE YOU PASSIONATE ABOUT IMPROVING SOIL MANAGEMENT IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH? DO YOU COMBINE YOUR IN-DEPTH SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE WITH LEADERSHIP QUALITIES? PERHAPS THIS POSITION AT ISRIC- WORLD SOIL INFORMATION CAN BE THE JOB FOR YOU!

To strengthen our team at ISRIC, we are hiring a Scientific Program Leader Soil Fertility. We are looking for a colleague with a solid scientific track record, combined with strong leadership qualities. Because of the increasing demand for our products and services, you will play a key role in the successful development and implementation of methods and tools to provide advice for sustainable land management based on digital soil information.
You will take a leading role in high impact projects that develop spatial information products for various countries in Africa in support of soil fertility management. You will work together with an operational project manager and a team of specialists that develops soil maps, applies soil and crop models, and serves resulting information products to a wide range of users. We expect the focus to broaden to land suitability assessment, land use planning and soil and water conservation.
Do you want to have impact? This job offers possibilities to apply scientific knowledge in development projects.

The most important tasks in this role are:

• Contribute to the development of scientifically sound approaches to develop advanced spatial information products for soil fertility management, such as nutrient gap maps at (sub) national level. Lead the integration of digital soil maps with soil and crop models to develop spatial decision support tools.
• Develop and coordinate large projects and lead project teams from content point of view. Work with specialists from partner institutions in the field of soil fertility and soil and water conservation.
• Coordinate the roll out of the developed products in Africa.
• Publish scientific publications and present in international fora and conferences.

The successful candidate will be working for the foundation ISRIC – World Soil Information, but will be employed by Wageningen University, hence all Wageningen University employment conditions apply to this position. Wageningen University & Research offers excellent terms of employment. A few highlights from our Collective Labour Agreement include:

• sabbatical leave, study leave, and partially paid parental leave;
• working hours that can be discussed and arranged so that they allow for the best possible work-life balance, including working 1 or 2 days a week remotely;
• 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 December bonus of 8.3%;
• excellent pension scheme.

In addition to these first-rate employee benefits, you will of course receive a good salary. Depending on your experience, we offer a competitive gross salary of between €5,247, and €6,737,- for a full-time working week of 38 hours, in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreements for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU) (scale 12). Additionally, a contract for 0.8 FTE can be discussed. Initially, we offer you a one-year contract, which will then be extended to an open-ended contract if there is mutual enthusiasm. Of course, we would be happy to discuss this with you if you have any questions.
Wageningen University & Research encourages internal advancement opportunities and mobility with an internal recruitment policy. There are plenty of options for personal initiative in a learning environment, and we provide excellent training opportunities. We are offering a unique position in an international environment with a pleasant and open working atmosphere.
You are going to work at the greenest and most innovative campus in Holland, and at a university that has been chosen as the “Best University” in the Netherlands for the 19th consecutive time.

• Contribute to the development of scientifically sound approaches to develop advanced spatial information products for soil fertility management, such as nutrient gap maps at (sub) national level. Lead the integration of digital soil maps with soil and crop models to develop spatial decision support tools.
• Develop and coordinate large projects and lead project teams from content point of view. Work with specialists from partner institutions in the field of soil fertility and soil and water conservation.
• Coordinate the roll out of the developed products in Africa.
• Publish scientific publications and present in international fora and conferences