Nice, sure variety of occupation (8)
I believe the answer is:
sinecure
'occupation' is the definition.
(sinecure is a kind of occupation)
'nice sure variety' is the wordplay.
'variety' indicates anagramming the letters.
'nice'+'sure'='nicesure'
'nicesure' is an anagram of 'SINECURE'.
'of' is the link.
(Other definitions for sinecure that I've seen before include "Paid job requiring little work" , "Soft job, may be insecure" , "Official job with little or no work" , "Paid job involving little or no work" , "Very lucrative post" .)