Call for Agrinatura Director and Secretary General

Following the steps to establish the Agrinatura Association in Belgium in the coming months, two positions are now open:

Agrinatura Director – Description of Role and Requirements.

AGRINATURA (The European Alliance on Agricultural Knowledge for Development) is a network of European life-science universities and research centres supporting agricultural research and development (ARD). Agrinatura is now seeking a Director who will be based in Brussels and will be responsible for management and strategic duties aiming to achieve the objectives set by Agrinatura Strategy 2030 and beyond with the direct support of and in consultation with Agrinatura’s President, Vice-President, General Secretary and the Board.

The position is foreseen for 2 years with the possibility to extend subject to the availability of necessary resources.

The main duties include:

1) Management and coordination

– Managing Agrinatura’s Business: prepare and deliver the annual strategy and rolling three-year business plan prior to the Members Assembly Meetings in connection with Agrinatura’s General Assembly delegating activities to the Project Portfolio Finance Officer and General Secretary (Agrinatura Administrator) where appropriate to do so; additionally, managing the activities of the previously mentioned Agrinatura staff.

– Leading the Agrinatura Working Groups: to set up, co-ordinate, and have oversight Agrinatura’s working groups and the follow-up activities (e.g. webinars or workshops) delegating implementation to Agrinatura’s General Secretary.

– Human resources: managing the activities of the Agrinatura staff with the support of the President and the Vice-President of Agrinatura.

– Advocacy: to implement the Agrinatura advocacy strategy.

2) Project management

– Project Coordination: having a coordination role for the smooth implementation of Agrinatura projects to achieve the objectives of Agrinatura with specific emphasis onto assuring coherence with the Agrinatura strategy, responsible for being the Agrinatura contact point with the funders (follow-ups etc) and with projects’ leading investigators.

– Leverage the network: Mobilise resources and capacities from Agrinatura members to participate in Agrinatura-lead projects; support Agrinatura lead-organisations managing projects on behalf of Agrinatura delegating activities to the Project Portfolio Finance Officer (Agrinatura Administrator) where appropriate to do so for hands-on support.

– Synergies and Linkages between Projects: responsible for knowledge co-creation produced by the Agrinatura projects, and initiate and implement common activities in collaboration with Project managers.

3) Prospective

– Strategic dialogue: responsible for the high-level contact with funders, policy spheres; Agrinatura partners; and Agrinatura members, having direct support from the President and Vice-President, delegating to the General Secretary where appropriate.

– Creating opportunities for innovative vehicles and media towards science-policy dialogue, and the high-level promotion and dissemination of projects’ outcomes and Agrinatura value added, in coordination with funders and policy circles;

– Creating Opportunities and New Project Development: to initiate processes for new funding opportunities based on the strengths and common interests of Agrinatura members and on the funder needs identified in the strategic dialogues with them.

– Recruitment of new Agrinatura members: to support the President and Vice-President in Agrinatura’s efforts to lead the work in attracting new members in Agrinatura

Requirements:

• Proven experience from a senior position of leading day-to-day activities in a busy consultancy, university, or research institute
• Knowledge and/or experience with projects in the Global South
• Ability to focus on important issues in complex situations, identify what needs to be done, and meet deadlines
• Ability to interact with colleagues at all levels inside and outside Agrinatura and build good working relations
• Ability to interact in multi-actor, multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural dialogues
• Good communication, writing, and interpersonal skills
• Ability to work in both English and French
• Willingness to travel in Europe and overseas to attend meetings and conferences

Personal Attribute:

• Commitment to Agrinatura’s mission and values
• Integrity, transparency, and accountability in all actions
• Adaptability and resilience in a dynamic and challenging environment

Location: Brussels, Belgium.

Salary scale (gross income): 90,000 – 110,000 Euros per year.

Application Process: Interested candidates should submit a cover letter, resume, and contact information for three references to secretariat@agrinatura-eu.eu, S.Onakuse@ucc.ie and ioannis.dimitriou@slu.se no later than 9 August 2024.

Agrinatura is an equal opportunity employer and encourages applications from qualified individuals regardless of race, gender, disability, or other personal characteristics.

Agrinatura General Secretary – Description of Role and Requirements.

AGRINATURA (The European Alliance on Agricultural Knowledge for Development) is a network of European life-science universities and research centres supporting agricultural research and development (ARD). Agrinatura is now seeking a General Secretary who will be based in Brussels and will work in close collaboration with the Agrinatura Director, President and Vice-President to support every Agrinatura activity required to succeed in the strategic aims set by Agrinatura Strategy 2030 and beyond in consultation and close collaboration with Agrinatura’s Board.

The position is foreseen for 2 years with the possibility to extend subject to the availability of necessary resources.

The main duties include:

• Internal and external communication of Agrinatura’s activities and achievements generally to the public and specifically to the targeted audience (e.g. Newsletter, website updates, internal webpages, etc).
• Promotion and dissemination of projects’ outcomes.
• Facilitation of dialogue with external partners (organisations of workshops, webinars) in close collaboration with the Director, the Board, and other Agrinatura members (if requested).
• Facilitation of internal meetings and events (e.g. General Assembly), e.g. call for the meetings, minutes, follow-up on action points.
• Facilitation of Agrinatura’s working groups.
• Creation and update of expert lists from the Agrinatura Members in collaboration with the members’ contact points and the Agrinatura projects.
• Attendance of relevant events (Agrinatura representation) when required by the Director and Agrinatura officials.
• Management of Agrinatura websites, content development, social media, preparation of the promotion materials, and information updates.
• Direct support and collaboration with the Project Manager of the CEA-FIRST – StEPPFoS projects on activities relevant to communication, organisation of workshops, and other relevant activities.
• Direct support to the Agrinatura Director for any issues required.

Requirements:

• Proven experience in co-ordinating day-to-day activities in a busy consultancy, university or research institute.
• Ability to focus on important issues in complex situations, identify what needs to be done and meet deadlines.
• Ability to interact with colleagues at all levels inside and outside Agrinatura and build good relations.
• Good communication and interpersonal skills.
• Good ability to work with updating Agrinatura’s webpage, social media, and other computational skills.
• Experience in reporting, financial follow-up, and monitoring of progress of projects.
• Ability to work in both English and French.

Location: Brussels, Belgium.

Salary scale (gross income): 65,000 – 90,000 Euros per year.

Application Process: Interested candidates should submit a cover letter, resume, and contact information for three references to secretariat@agrinatura-eu.eu, S.Onakuse@ucc.ie and ioannis.dimitriou@slu.se no later than 9 August 2024.

Agrinatura is an equal opportunity employer and encourages applications from qualified individuals regardless of race, gender, disability, or other personal characteristics.