​​​The Agriculture Department at the Embassy of The Kingdom of The Netherlands in London is looking for an enthusiastic policy support officer (Agricultural Officer), full time, 1 year, 38 hours/week, as maternity cover. 

The maternity cover contract will run from from 16 march 2026 until 22 march 2027, with a probation period of 1 month.

Candidates are required to submit a motivation letter and resume in either Dutch or English to LON@minbuza.nl for the attention of Philip de Jong  by 28 January 2026, close of business. ​​​​​​​ 

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General Features of the Role

The Agricultural Department is part of the Netherlands Agricultural Network (NAN) and it represents the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature (LVVN) in the UK and Ireland. The department is also part of the economic cluster of the embassy. The team is led by the Agricultural Counsellor and includes an Agricultural Adviser in London as well as one at our embassy in Dublin. 

The Netherlands Agricultural Network focusses on the international implementation of the Netherlands (LVVN) strategy towards a more sustainable and circular agriculture and fisheries whilst also improving biodiversity. The NAN network promotes trade and investments, provides services to the Dutch agrifood business sector and other stakeholders, works on (SPS) market access for Dutch agrifood products and stimulates bilateral and multilateral cooperation at governmental level, business level and knowledge institutions.

The Netherlands Agricultural Network adopts a proactive approach, seeking out opportunities for Dutch agribusiness and establishing direct contact with the relevant players via newsletters, www.agroberichtenbuitenland.nl, social media and the website of the embassy (ZMA).

The Agricultural Officer (AO) is tasked with providing policy support to the NAN-team London and is capable of working autonomously on activities within a specified framework. The AO sets up processes in such a way that the work of the NAN-team can be performed as efficiently as possible. He/she/they is eager to learn, is open to change, is a team player and has a ‘can-do’ attitude. Customer-focus, planning and organising are crucial competencies for this role. The right candidate will be interested in various facets of agriculture, fisheries, food security and nature. He/she/they is characterised by having excellent communication and interpersonal skills and is able to work together constructively both within and outside of their own department. The policy officer is expected to be able to work independently, but consults with colleagues if and when necessary. 

 

Duties

• Provides support for official visits, trade missions, seminars, workshops, exhibition activities, network meetings and all other NAN activities
• Establishes and maintains relevant contacts for the duties mentioned above and makes relevant arrangements independently 
• Collects data and checks that it is accurate, useable, timely, correct and complete identifies and reports on developments relating to the policy area
• Collects relevant market-information for the Dutch agri-food sector and shares this with stakeholders in the Netherlands
• Maintains contact with ministries, authorities, sector organisations and NGOs on an operational level
• Deals with trade questions from Dutch agri-food businesses and informs them about opportunities in the UK
• Advises and supports Dutch Agri-food businesses with market access
• Provides support with speeches and presentations and compiles information dossiers
• Makes active use of network contacts and independently extends this network
• Independently draws up monthly reports, and processes, analyses and interprets financial data;
• Supervises and coordinates the financial administration, is responsible for financial management, progress reporting and annual accountability of the NAN and is responsible for the financial part of the 'working budget plan' of the NAN, all in accordance with the guidelines set out by NAN-HQ and the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality frameworks;
• Draws up contracts for contractors for major events and/or development cooperation projects;
• Coordinates the use of CRM system Achilles within the NAN team;
• Coordinates the communication of the NAN team, drawing up articles/posts for www.agroberichtenbuitenland.nl and social media channels of the NAN and the Embassy.
• Designs, manages and coordinates the NAN part of the digital ‘cooperation space’ for the archive and shared documents.

 

Knowledge, skills and areas of experience

• 3-4 years of relevant work experience, preferably in an international environment
• Bachelor degree, combined with an evident interest in agriculture, food and nature/biodiversity 
• General understanding of the agriculture/nature landscape of the UK (government structures, agrifood business, research)
• Fluent in English and Dutch (reading, writing and verbal) is a plus
• Excellent communication skills verbally and in writing
• Networking skills
• Experience in project management is a plus 
• Basic financial administration knowledge and experience with financial reporting
• Excellent computer skills (general office software)
• Experience with HTML 

 

Competencies

• Pro-active, flexible attitude to varying tasks and workloads
• Ability to think analytically
• Client oriented
• Result oriented
• Good situational and organisational awareness 
• Planning and organizing
• Capable to work in a team as well as independently 
• Positive work attitude, pleasant and cooperative behaviour
• Integrity and an ability to exercise discretion is a must

Salary and Employment conditions

The successful candidate will be offered a temporary maternity cover contract running from 16 march 2026 until 22 march 2027, with a probation period of 1 month. 

The candidate should be in possession of the right visa to work in the UK.

We offer a competitive salary in the range of GBP 4.344 (gross) and GBP 4.923 (gross) per month (pay scale 7). The exact salary will depend on the number of years of relevant work experience. 

 

Application and Selection 

If you would like more information regarding this position, please contact Agricultural Counsellor, Philip de Jong, via the contact form.

Candidates are required to submit a motivation letter and resume in either Dutch or English to LON@minbuza.nl​​​​​​​ for the attention of Philip de Jong by 28 January 2026, close of business. ​​​​​​​ ​​​​​​​

Candidates whose letter and resume are considered to match the formal requirements will be invited for an interview. A second interview may become part of the selection process.