Do you have a strong affinity with science in a facilitating co-creating capacity? We are looking for a technical consultant/engineer (adviser) with both technical and good communication skills to help explore and develop innovative solutions that will facilitate research in the Netherlands.

What does this position entail?

This position is divided into two parts. About 80% of your time is spent developing, driving and contributing to projects within the SURF Open Innovation Lab, but you will also work with colleagues in the scalable analytics team to provide data analytics and cloud services to the Dutch academic community.

Within the SURF Open Innovation Lab (SOIL) a number of innovation projects are continuously being defined and run. These range from assessment of technologies like serverless computing and other new cloud technologies, to building and experimenting with distributed big data platforms and Internet of Things. Together with colleagues, technology providers and interested user communities you will actively contribute to the results of these projects and work on prototypes and proof-of-concepts.

SURF Open Innovation Lab

Innovation is of crucial importance to SURF and our members in order to face major challenges in research, education and society. The SURF Open Innovation Lab brings together all activities and experiments in the field of early innovation and open collaboration. We do this together with institutions and industry.

All projects within the SURF Open Innovation Lab are in the 'early phase' of innovation, i.e. leading up to and including the proof-of-concept phase. The overall objective is to gain more knowledge about technologies and applications. This could lead to services for SURF institutions in the medium to long term (2 to 5 years). The projects can be driven by our wish to investigate a promising technology or application, or by a scientific, social or educational demand.

What will you do?

You will work with knowledgeable colleagues in an open environment on state-of-the-art technology and its application in scientific research. You will develop prototypes, proof-of-concepts and present your ideas, plans and results to stakeholders and potential user communities. You will proactively involve interesting parties and individuals. You will suggest new directions for innovation and propose concrete plans for implementing new ideas.

What we are looking for

We are looking for someone with excellent technical and communication skills. You initiate new ideas for innovation, and are able to make quick technical assessments and build prototypes fast. You have a keen interest in new technology and like to explore new areas of expertise, in relation to the current focus of SURFsara. You’re analytically strong, pro-active and recognize yourself in the following skills:

• An academic level of thinking and working: (MSc/PhD level), this can be equivalated by professional experience
• Strong interest in the application of new data & cloud technologies to support solving scientific problems
• UNIX/Linux knowledge
• Knowledge about cloud services & architectures
• Familiar with programming languages like Python, Node JS or GoLang
• Familiar with practice of software engineering

We are looking for someone who has a strong affinity with science in a facilitating capacity. You have a good grasp of how data processing and computational systems can facilitate modern research and what kind of barriers have to be overcome. You like to assist and support academic research rather than doing research yourself. You like to present and explain your work to others and know how to explain concepts that are difficult to others. You know how to reach out to potential user groups and relevant communities.

What we offer

A diverse work environment, with many nationalities (working languages are English and Dutch)

• You will be appointed a full-time position (38- hours), a part-time position (32 hours) is possible
• Salary ranking in VSNU-scale (University Regulations) level 11-12,  €3.637 - €5.656 gross per month based on a fulltime workweek (38-hours)
• 8% holiday allowance, a fixed year-end bonus of 8,3%
• 29 vacation days per year (based on a 38 hour work week)
• When working a 40-hour work week, due to 2 extra hours of work per week, the number of vacation days is extended by 12
• A compensation for travel expenses that covers commuting up to 45 kilometres one way
• Participation in the ABP pension fund, where approximately two thirds of the premium is paid by the employer