Research engineer position (Fix-term contract) Soil Governance Design, Policy Experiments and Soil Policy Lab

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INRAE presentation

The French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food, and Environment (INRAE) is a major player in research and innovation. It is a community of 12,000 people with 272 research, experimental research, and support units located in 18 regional centres throughout France. Internationally, INRAE is among the top research organisations in the agricultural and food sciences, plant and animal sciences, as well as in ecology and environmental science. It is the world’s leading research organisation specialising in agriculture, food and the environment. INRAE’s goal is to be a key player in the transitions necessary to address major global challenges. Faced with a growing world population, climate change, resource scarcity, and declining biodiversity, the Institute has a major role to play in building solutions and supporting the necessary acceleration of agricultural, food and environmental transitions.

Work environment, missions and activities

Ranked number one agricultural institute in Europe and number two in the world, INRAE (http://www.inrae.fr/en) carries out mission-oriented research for better food and nutrition, preservation of the environment and competitive, sustainable agricultural practices with particular emphasis on sustainable development. INRAE coordinates and is involved in several European research projects and programs.

You will be employed by the INRAE Directorate for Public Policy Support. Your position can be located in Antony (Paris suburb) or Grenoble, France 

The engineer position is part of the European project PSOILICY financed under HORIZON-MISS-2025-05-SOIL-08. PSOILICY is a European Coordination and Support Action (CSA) on soil science-policy interfaces. It will start in September 2026 for 42 months. The CSA brings together a robust pan-European consortium (15 partners) from 11 countries that are committed to build a sustainable European integrated research community that builds upon state-of-the-art scientific advances in the field of soil health and functions; provides the needed expertise to work with stakeholders across multiple scales, and diverse range of land-use types, within Europe; brings the knowledge and experience to ensure the implementation of PSOILICY outcomes in policy decision-making.

Despite increasing recognition of the importance of healthy soils, over 60 % of soils in the EU remain unhealthy. The unchecked degradation of soils across the EU poses serious risks to its ecological functions and ecosystem services, in particular food security, climate resilience, and biodiversity loss. However, that trajectory is shifting. The EU Soil Strategy and the proposed EU Soil Monitoring Law (SML) are the game changers that soils need, informed by scientific evidence and with the EU Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’ (Mission Soil) to support their implementation. Building on this momentum, and in line with these frameworks, PSOILICY’s main aim is to strengthen the connection between soil sciences and policy by operationalising and upscaling soil-health science-policy interfaces, supporting the establishment of soil health national hubs (SH-NHs), and developing innovative tools that translate soil knowledge into actionable, evidence-based and context-relevant policies and practices. As a basis for action, PSOILICY will use systematic evaluation, stocktaking, strategic coordination, and capacity building to understand stakeholder needs and ensure that existing soil science-to-policy mechanisms are harmonised and strengthened.

 

Your work will contribute to 3 tasks of PSOILICY in which INRAE is strongly involved.nce-Policy Experiments

Part 1: Conducting Science-Policy Experiments

• Set up participatory assessments to improve soil health policy design and implementation using the PSOILICY-lab facilities.
• Engage policymakers, scientists, and stakeholders in interactive simulations and role-playing games based on a simplified soil nexus system model.
• Identify emerging issues and simulate future policy designs to generate real-life case studies, which will help evaluate the conditions for successful science-policy interactions.

Part 2: Designing Multi-Actor Engagement Frameworks and Tools

• Co-design a stakeholder engagement strategy and a detailed action plan that defines contact points, co-creation sessions, and an activity roadmap.
• Develop specifications for the Soil Health Knowledge Exchange Network (SH-KEN), creating a self-sustaining community for long-term dialogue and collaborative problem-solving.
• Conduct a systematic stocktaking of non-digital engagement tools (such as participatory mapping and governance assessments) and test them within the PSOILICYlabs.

Part 3: Establishing and Operating Pilot Soil Health Policy Labs

• Launch multi-stakeholder PSOILICYlabs embedded in National Hubs across four initial pilot countries (Austria, Denmark, France, and Italy) to support co-design and policy experiments.
• Train lab managers and implement a three-phase rollout: Setup, Operation (running at least four sessions), and First evaluation.
• Utilize a hybrid material-digital "Soil Policy Simulation Platform" to conduct scenario-based exercises, allowing participants to test knowledge tools and assess various policy outcomes.

You will be in charge of:

1. Designing and implementing the scientific, methodological and operational conditions for these 3 tasks
   1. Designing, implementing, evaluating, analyzing policy experiments related to soil governance and its nexus connexions with other policy domains, for various levels of participants (Europe, Member States, Sub-national)
   2. Reviewing, adapting, testing, supporting stakeholder engagement tools (digital and presential)
   3. Designing, installing, running, training on, assessing, Soil Policy Labs
2. Coordinating with internal INRAE team, other European project partners and associated stakeholders to ensure conditions of implementation
3. Delivering the related deliverables in due quality and time
4. Participating in all PSOILICY meetings and activities related to your domain

This position is for a Research Engineer. First priority is to ensure conditions for the research process and its impact, especially in this CSA. Producing scientific results and publications is a second priority.

 

How to apply

Please include the following information with your application:

• Your contact details and personal data
• Your highest degree
• Your language skills
• Contact details for 2–3 references

and, in addition, please include the following documents:

• CV – degrees and other completed courses, work experience and a list of publications
• Motivation letter describing:
  – why you are interested in the field/project described in the advertisement
  – why and how you wish to complete the project
  – what makes you suitable for the project in question

 

You are expected to (special conditions of the activity) :

• Travel through European countries and France in a regular base
• Work, write and animate sessions in English, in various European countries
• Preferably work inside INRAE in French
• Be responsible of actions and deliver results as expected
• Collaborate efficiently with all European partners.

Training and skills

• Main qualification: She or he is expected to have a scientific and operational background in some of the following domains : environmental Policy design, governance engineering, policy experiments, policy labs, policy assessment, participatory methods.
  • This background should include an action/ intervention-research practice, beyond analytical capacities.
  • Minimum 4 years professional experience post graduation
• Education : PhD or MSc in political sciences (applied), environmental sciences (with governance issues), ecological economics (with experiments), management sciences (decision science, negotiation), political anthropology, political sociology
• The applicant is expected to have excellent organisational skills including time and priority management. An ability for innovative thinking both individually and within a team are expected.
• At least one proven experience as active participant in a European research projects (structure, partnership, reporting)
• Experience and knowledge of soil science is an extra asset. Alternatively other environmental or biological science are also welcome.
• Specific knowledge of the European and some Member States institutional structure, regulatory framework and local governance practices, especially in the fields of soil, environment, agriculture, land use, water policies.
• Additional expected skills include good knowledge of the organization and management of public research and of public funding; good interpersonal skills, be able to relate to people of different backgrounds and cultures and be diplomatic, assertive and outgoing ; proactive with an ability to work both independently and as part of a team.
• Excellent skills in read, spoken and written English are required; Fluency in French would be appreciated.

Assessment criteria: We will pay special attention to organizational and procedural engineering skills.

INRAE's life quality

By joining our teams, you benefit from (depending on the type of contract and its duration):

- up to 30 days of annual leave + 15 days "Reduction of Working Time" (for a full time);
- parenting support: CESU childcare, leisure services;
- skills development systems: training, career advise;
- social support: advice and listening, social assistance and loans;
- holiday and leisure services: holiday vouchers, accommodation at preferential rates;
- sports and cultural activities;
- collective catering.

How to apply

I send my CV and my motivation letter