Research Officer – Food Waste Reduction (Contract)

Job title:

Research Officer – Food Waste Reduction (Contract)

Company

Teagasc

Job description

Job Summary

Duration:

Temporary externally funded non Grant-in-Aid contract post, the indicative duration of which is 34 months, subject to contract. A panel may be formed from which future similar vacancies may be filled; such a panel will remain active for a maximum period of 12 months.

Basic Function:

The successful candidate will contribute reducing food waste in a number of sectors across Europe. As a member of the team on an EU funded project (called ROSETTA), they will work to improve market access to foods that do not meet marketing standards but are still safe to eat. The team will conduct applied research to understand the impacts of food marketing standards on the generation of food waste, co-design solutions with a range of stakeholders, and test and validate those solutions in practice. As part of the research, they will assess trade-offs and openly share solutions for alternative market access for suboptimal foods, using the multi-actor approach. In Ireland, pilot initiatives will be established to develop a range of products from “waste” horticultural products and to assess the feasibility of establishing a product range, involving a cluster of horticultural producers, for the Irish retail market. The appointee will join the Irish team, which will include a dedicated food technologist, and also involve collaboration with University College Cork, Bord Bia, Fingal Leader Partnership Ltd and SECAD Partnership.

This position provides an exciting opportunity to contribute to reducing food waste in Ireland, and to collaborate with others to design and evaluate solutions that may be put into widespread practice across Europe. Within ROSETTA, applied research will be undertaken to identify the impact of marketing standards on food waste in different sectors across Europe (fruit & vegetables, cereals, dairy and meat). This knowledge will be used to develop pilot use cases, involving all key actors in the food value chain (farmers, processors, manufacturers, distributors and retailers, as well as consumers, researchers, policy makers and regulators, food banks and other NGOs). Within the use case, transdisciplinary research, co-creation activities and pilot experiments will be undertaken to better identify, measure, understand and find solutions to deal with food waste generated by the use of marketing standards.

Teagasc is responsible for establishing a use case in the horticultural sector in Ireland. It is also responsible for developing an approach that will be used by all partners to analyse the current situation regarding food marketing standards and food waste. Establishing the use case in Ireland will involve collaboration with the Teagasc Horticultural Development Department and Food Industry Development Department, as well as Bord Bia, Fingal Leader Partnership Ltd and SECAD Partnership. Once a cluster of horticultural producers is engaged with the project, product development work will be undertaken within the National Prepared Consumer Foods Centre at Teagasc, Ashtown by a food technologist. These products will be tested in the market place, with the overall concept promoted to retailers.

The successful candidate will join the Department of Agrifood Business and Spatial Analysis within Teagasc’s Rural Economy and Development Programme. Basic functions for this researcher will include: literature review, qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis, dissemination, communication and stakeholder engagement.

Background:

Coordinated by Q-Plan in Greece, the €5 million Horizon Europe-funded ROSETTA project involves 17 partners, across 10 European countries. It responds to the fact that a substantial amount of food waste may arise due to marketing standards, but that there is very limited evidence on how much, why and how to address it. ROSETTA sets out to deliver reliable evidence, produced through transdisciplinary research with the engagement of use case multi-actors, that a) estimates food waste generated by the use of marketing standards along the whole value chain, b) co-defines and validates sustainable solutions for the valorisation of that waste, and c) assesses trade-offs. It is expected that this will reduce food waste due to marketing standards by 60% – 80% through alternative market access for suboptimal foods, with solutions including food processing and other strategies as well as changes in social practices. Insights will be used to develop replication guidelines and policy recommendations, targeting food businesses, marketing standards owners, policy makers and regulators, to help revise or design marketing standards and to support future policy development, in order to prevent and reduce food waste.

The successful candidate will be based in the Department of Agri-Food Business and Spatial Analysis within Teagasc’s Rural Economy and Development Programme. The Rural Economy and Development Programme is a research programme of Teagasc, the Irish Agriculture and Food Development Authority, whose primary mandate is to conduct social science research on topics related to quality of life, rural, agricultural and food issues. The Programme consists of around 104 staff and 33 PhD students, divided into the following Departments:

• Agricultural Economics and Farm Surveys

• Agri-food Business and Spatial Analysis

• Knowledge Transfer Farm Management and Rural Development

Job Objectives

Duties & Responsibilities specific to this project:

Undertake a literature review (academic and grey), to contribute to the development of an approach to estimate food waste generated by marketing standards

Undertake desk based research (literature review and expert interviews) to contribute to the identification of solutions to food waste generated by marketing standards

Contribute to the design of pilot experiments, and implement participatory methods to co-design solutions for the use case in Ireland in collaboration with other colleagues from Teagasc and collaborating organisations.

Design and implement market research methods to test market perspectives on the developed products in Ireland and to validate the proposed solutions

Interpret and publish results in international scientific journals as well as technical and popular press, and present results at conferences and stakeholder events.

Liaise with other ROSETTA project partners to ensure coordinated and timely delivery of project deliverables

Contribute to project deliverables and progress reports for the European Commission

Undertake other tasks as required within ROSETTA to fulfill Teagasc commitments to work packages including actively supporting dissemination & communication activities and coordination & management.

Liaise and build a strong dynamic relationship with key stakeholders in the agri-food industry to ensure effective dissemination of research findings to stakeholders, including those from industry and policy.

Additional Duties & Responsibilities:

To assist Teagasc in meeting the commitments of the Quality Customer Service Charter and Action Plan.

To actively participate in the annual business planning and Performance Management Development System (PMDS) processes.

Fully co-operate with the provisions made for ensuring the health, safety and welfare of themselves, fellow staff and non-Teagasc staff and co-operate with management in enabling Teagasc to comply with legal obligations. This includes full compliance with the responsibilities outlined in the Safety Statement.

Any other duties as may be assigned from time to time

• This job specification is intended as a guide to the general range of duties and is intended to be neither definitive nor restrictive. It will be reviewed from time to time with the post holder.

Skills Required

Essential

Desirable

Qualifications

Candidates must have an honours Level 8 degree in relevant discipline (e.g. agricultural science, food science, marketing, business, sociology, geography or related discipline)

A postgraduate degree and/or research experience in a relevant discipline would be a distinct advantage

Skills

Excellent stakeholder engagement skills

Experience of implementing qualitative and/or quantitative research approaches applied to social/behavioural science

Demonstrated ability to generate new ideas, unique concepts, models and solutions

Excellent analytical, report writing and data analysis skills

Excellent communication skills (oral, written, presentation) with a demonstrated ability to enable effective knowledge transfer

Experience in project management.

Ability to manage concurrent tasks, work independently, take initiative, prioritise and deliver agreed objectives

Experience in inter- and trans-disciplinary research projects.

Knowledge

General understanding of food waste issues.

A good understanding of issues and policies relating to food waste from national and international perspectives

A good understanding of marketing standards

Familiarity with EU funded projects

Behavioural Competencies

Ability to work as part of a team, including consulting, collaborating and building relationships with key stakeholders

Ability to work independently if necessary, and meet self-imposed milestones and deliverables.

Strives for high quality of work and demonstrates commitment to the project.

Ability to communicate effectively to enable knowledge and technology transfer.

Other

The candidate will need to be flexible and willing to travel occasionally, e.g. to attend EU project meetings and to meet growers, food producers etc. within Ireland.

Eligibility

This is an open public competition. Should a current serving Teagasc staff member be successful in their application through open public competition for this post, their current contract of employment with Teagasc will come to an end on taking up this post.

Note: The ‘essential’ qualifications, knowledge, skills and behavioural competencies outlined above are ‘must-have’ which will be used in the selection process.

Note: Alternative location(s) may be considered solely at the discretion of Teagasc management.

Please retain only the relevant paragraph or remove this section entirely if not a requirement for the role

Expected salary

€38558 – 74094 per year

Location

Ashtown, Dublin

Job date

Fri, 16 Feb 2024 01:14:42 GMT

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