Junior Consultant Water and Space

0.8-1.0 fte | Utrecht | Hybrid | € 3,170-€4,786 | Energy and Living Environment | Wed

Every two seconds, a new chemical substance is discovered. Drinking water companies are sounding the alarm regarding security of supply, and peak rainfall alternates with extreme drought. Water is no longer a mere technical side issue, but a determining factor for where we can build, work, and live.
Do you want to contribute directly to leading projects that shape the course of the Netherlands at the start of your career? In a growing team of advisors in the field of water and space, you will get the chance to develop yourself while simultaneously making a direct societal impact. And the best part is: you choose for yourself which entry route best aligns with your ambitions.

As a junior consultant, you are the engine of our projects. Together with experienced advisors, you will work on societal dossiers for ministries, provinces, water boards, and drinking water companies. Your tasks:

• Supporting strategic projects: think of WFD governance (preventing a water quality crisis), the Delta Programme on Spatial Adaptation (DPRA), or the Greater North Sea Basin Initiative.

• Preparing and facilitating work sessions: you will structure meetings with administrators, policymakers, and scientists and develop the outcomes into clear syntheses.

• Analyzing and writing: you will conduct interviews, analyze policy documents, and contribute to advisory reports and proposals.

• Taking initiative: you will contribute to substantive knowledge sessions and networking events to put Berenschot's water cluster on the map.

Your landing: starting immediately and the Startschot Program

As a starting consultant, you will participate fully in projects within our team from day one. Have you just graduated or are you starting with little advisory experience? Then we offer you an extra solid landing via the Startschot:

• Six months of intensive onboarding: you will flow in flexibly and join a fixed group of starters in September or February.

• Learning and connecting together: every other week on Friday, you will have a joint day start with training in advisory skills, supplemented by intervision sessions under the guidance of permanent Startschot supervisors.

• Personal bedding: from your team, you will be intensively coached by a team lead, buddy, and mentor.

Berenschot is an independent Dutch organizational consultancy firm in Utrecht, where more than 500 driven colleagues work on sustainable solutions for the challenges of our clients. We contribute to progress in organizations and society with our advice and solutions. Our organization has a flat structure without partners, which gives you influence over the projects you carry out.

You will be part of the Sustainable Living Environment team; a group of 22 passionate advisors with specializations in spatial planning, urban planning, and public administration. This team is part of the Energy and Living Environment advisory group, in which seventy advisors work together on various issues in the physical living environment. You will work in varying project teams to staff every assignment optimally, whereby we include governance, organizational design, change challenges, and regional cooperation in our advice alongside the substantive issue.

In addition to hard work, there is plenty of room for personal growth; the space to develop yourself substantively and professionally is great. We offer a wide range of internal and external training courses and challenge you to work on your own ambitions. If you are not yet at home in the advisory sector, we are happy to help you so that you can quickly participate fully. Of course, you can always fall back on your colleagues. Furthermore, there is plenty of room for relaxation. Think of joint drinks, team outings, an annual cabaret performance, lunch lectures, and other activities.

At Berenschot, we look at who you are, your curiosity, and your intrinsic motivation:

• Academic working and thinking level, for example through a completed education in water management, public administration, urban planning, environmental science, social geography, or political science.

• 0 to 3 years of work or internship experience (for example within the government, consultancy, a water board, or a societal organization).

• A strong affinity with issues surrounding climate adaptation, water quality, and spatial design.

• A structured way of working, a fluent pen, and excellent communication skills in Dutch (C2 level).

• A proactive, inquisitive attitude: you like to ask the 'What if?' question and dare to think outside the box.

At Berenschot, we offer a unique commercial environment without shareholders or partners. This gives us a lot of space and freedom to take initiative and the opportunity to commit ourselves to important social themes. Our informal culture is characteristic. Berenschot is a flat organization with short communication lines where you are truly listened to. There are plenty of opportunities for personal and professional growth, where your initiative is embraced and facilitated. You have the freedom to take initiative here. Our diverse and inclusive personnel policy embraces diversity and offers everyone equal opportunities.

Naturally, we also have excellent employment conditions and great development opportunities:

• a one-year contract, with the absolute intention to offer you a permanent contract after one year

• an attractive salary between € 3,170– and € 4,647–, tailored to your knowledge and experience

• a regular collective profit-sharing scheme (depending on the results of the company)

• an attractive pension scheme

• 27 vacation days, with the possibility to purchase a maximum of 20 additional vacation days in the case of full-time employment

• flexible holidays. We offer the possibility to shift official holidays to days that are meaningful to you.

• a mobility scheme of your choice

• a laptop and phone

• the freedom to determine where and when you work, in consultation with your colleagues

• plenty of room for development through internal and external training

Do you want to become a proud Berenschotter? Don't wait any longer and apply!

The closing date for this vacancy is Wednesday, October 14th.

Please contact Vicky Schats via email v.schats@berenschot.nl or telephone 06 25 72 26 12. Do you have substantive questions about this vacancy? Colleague Rens Baltus would be happy to answer these via 06 21 51 82 87.

Have you applied? Then you will receive a response within one working week. Is it positive? Then we would like to invite you for an introduction. Are we both enthusiastic after this conversation? Then a conversation with fellow advisors and your future manager will follow. That is the moment to ask your final questions. Do those conversations go well? Then we will ask you to complete our assessment. Does it turn out that you are a true Berenschotter? Then we will quickly proceed to a concrete offer. After this, you are a true Berenschotter and we would like to welcome you to our team.