ITC aims to remain the global player in education and capacity development in advanced geospatial applications including the big data domain. This position is a key element in that effort. You have knowledge of big data management, parallel and distributed computing, machine learning and AI techniques, and the computational infrastructure including cloud platforms required to make it work. You either already have experience with geospatial data or you are motivated to extend your existing big data experience to the geospatial information domain. You feel at home in a multi- and trans-disciplinary setting and understand the role you can play in a team. You will complement and expand existing expertise in the faculty. You will aim to understand ongoing research projects and contribute and enhance them with your big data science expertise. ITC aims to design a coordinated strategy in this scientific field to make its research and project activities future-proof, and generate educational spin-off. Thus, you will help steer and contribute to the development of a community of practice in our network on geospatial data science.

Various of ITC’s scientific departments are already engaged in work that has big data science dimensions. Such work primarily has a research orientation, but big data science is also becoming established in our educational programs, and more and more also in projects with external partners. Depending on application, purpose and audience data-intensive projects with large spatiotemporal data sets must make many choices, specifically in data preparation and management, analytical workflow design, computational methods, in hardware/software platforms to use, and in the techniques to disseminate results. This diversity of choices is worthy of study itself. All these developments require vision and experience, understanding of the state-of-the-art and trends in cloud computing, distributed spatial analysis, and machine learning.

This position has a strong technical and scientific orientation, operates at the assistant professor level, and focuses on shaping ITC’s capabilities in the field by seeking synergies across departments and applications. You liaise with staff, support their work, and aim to solidify their expertise as institutional knowledge. You contribute to scientific papers and in research projects, especially in the Global South.

• You hold a PhD degree in Computer Science, GIS, or Remote Sensing, and can demonstrate a strong scientific background related to big data analysis.
• You have relevant practical or research experience on parallel/distributed computing and machine learning methods, preferably related to big geospatial data.
• You are a competent user of open-source software relevant to large-scale computing, including big data storage, distributed computing, image processing, and machine learning. Experience in cloud computing platforms and GPU computing is an asset.
• You have experience with large-scale projects that are externally funded.
• You have an understanding of thematic fields covered by the faculty.
• You have an aptitude for teaching, including lecturing and tutoring at an academic level, as well as providing training to academic staff
• You have an affinity with a multi-cultural, post-graduate education environment.
• You have a willingness to undertake international travel to developing countries and a positive mindset to contribute to international projects.
• You have an excellent command of English. Knowledge of, or willingness to learn Dutch, is an advantage. Command of a third language relevant to international development work is an asset.

We offer an inspiring and challenging international environment. You will be initially employed for two years. Extension of the employment after this period is a possibility.

• Gross monthly salary between € 3,746.- and € 5,826,- depending on experience and qualifications (job profile Assistant Professor level 2 or 1).
• A holiday allowance of 8% of the gross annual salary and a year-end bonus of 8.3%
• Excellent support for research and facilities for professional and personal development.
• A solid pension scheme
• Possibilities to save up holidays for sabbatical leave
• Minimum of 41 holiday days in case of full-time employment

The Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC) works in a variety of application domains in which voluminous geospatial data sources are used to monitor, manage, model and predict key processes that take place on Earth. The faculty’s research, education, and capacity development focus on the professional and responsible use of Earth observation data and spatial information in combination with modern data handling systems. For these reasons, we established a Center of Expertise in Big Geodata Science for which we are hiring new staff.