You will work within a team on nitrogen policy, focusing on the agricultural sector and nature restoration in protected natural areas. This includes coordinating, developing, and implementing policy for permit issuance under the Nature Conservation Act and taking measures to reduce nitrogen emissions. A provincial program for the rural area serves as the starting point. Since a ruling by a high court in 2019, which declared a previous policy framework unlawful, permit issuance has largely stalled.
Nature restoration measures must be secured before new permits can be granted. This requires cooperation between government levels to offer perspective to stakeholders. You will seek practical solutions to make progress in this complex dossier.
What you will do.
- You will lead the policy process around the nitrogen issue and coordinate closely with colleagues.
- You will have a coordinating role in managing the interdisciplinary nitrogen team.
- You will translate current knowledge and new insights (e.g., on objective-based management, the transition from deposition to emission policy, and the possible introduction of a calculated lower limit) into robust and practical policy and clear assignments for implementation.
- You will be the responsible client for the development of environmental information about the rural area, a data foundation that includes, among other things, permit information for agricultural businesses. In your role within the organization, you will act as project leader and client and ensure the management of the final product.
- You will develop and refine nitrogen policy in and around protected natural areas, where vulnerable nitrogen-sensitive habitats require protection.
- You will develop and coordinate the establishment of permit policy, with specific attention to the legalization task and the withdrawal policy for outdated permits where permit space remains unused.
- Together with colleagues, you will ensure coherence in the policy and implementation of the broader approach for stakeholders, in cooperation with the national government. You will also contribute to regional pilots to demonstrate additionality, which is essential for the issuance of new permits.
Profile
- You have a broad, strategic view on nitrogen policy and look beyond the organizational frameworks.
- You follow developments in instruments and regulations initiated by the national government and other regional authorities and use this knowledge to strengthen your own policy choices.
- It is important to you that the measures taken to reduce nitrogen deposition are legally sound, especially in protected natural areas.
- With a keen eye on potential challenges, you ensure good monitoring of progress and analyze alternative, area-specific approaches, even in times of political and administrative uncertainty.
- You have a clear affinity with complex issues within nitrogen policy, such as additionality and the risks surrounding state aid.
- Your strength lies in translating these issues into clear, administrative advice that holds up in a dynamic political environment.
- With thorough knowledge of nitrogen, strategic developments, and relevant jurisprudence, you know how to formulate policy that is not only pragmatic and feasible but also legally robust.
- As a connector, you work both independently and in a team, knowing well when and how to involve the right expertise from different disciplines such as permit issuance, nature management, agriculture, and environmental services.
- You are a strong communicator and work closely with colleagues and partners.
- You do not shy away from complex or ad-hoc issues. You are stress-resistant and know how to bring direction, structure, and calm to this sometimes hectic dossier.
- You smoothly incorporate questions from the regions, administrative advice on enforcement requests, or objection procedures regarding permits into your approach and translate them into a future-proof policy and a clear approach for permits and legalization.
- You have successfully completed a relevant university education and possess at least five years of demonstrable experience in working with strategic policy within a complex political-administrative environment and extensive knowledge and experience in the nitrogen dossier.
- Ideally, you also have experience as a policy officer within a government organization and knowledge of landscape ecology, modeling, permit issuance, supervision, and enforcement.
- You are proficient in project and program management and have extensive experience in coordinating complex processes, both within the organization and with external partners.
- In your role, you are a communicative, analytical, and politically aware senior policymaker who, with decisiveness, flexibility, and a results-oriented attitude, contributes to sustainable solutions for nitrogen policy.
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