The position

The Research Support Office (RSO) has recently been established to further optimise the acquisition of external research funding. As coordinator of the RSO, you will be in charge of the daily operation of this office, supported by a part-time data analyst and administrative assistant. You will collaborate closely with a team of experienced funding advisors from the six UM faculties. These funding advisors provide our researchers with professional support in the grant application process of competitive grants in both Dutch (e.g. NWO and ZonMW) and European (e.g. Horizon Europe) programmes. As coordinator of the RSO, you will facilitate and support this network of independent faculty funding advisors. You will look for opportunities to further advance UM’s grant support, optimize research funding acquisition and make an important contribution to our strategic growth objectives. This goes beyond traditional research funding programs, but also includes investment programs such as the National Growth Fund and OPZuid. An important task in that respect is to provide input and advice to the Executive Board. You will also act as a linking pin between the UM faculties and the central Academic Affairs department (see below) on funding-related matters, exchanging information, developing and implementing funding policy, monitoring and optimising institutional-level grant support processes. As such, you enjoy and are well-equipped to handle different organisational dynamics. You are a team player with excellent communication skills, facilitating the funding advisors in their work rather than managing them. Depending on your qualities and ambitions, there is an opportunity for development and expansion of the tasks at hand.

Tasks

• Responsibility for the daily operation of the RSO, including budget management.
• Provide input and advice to the Executive Board regarding funding matters.
• Keep up to date on internal and external policy-related funding developments on national and international level, and staying in touch with funding bodies.
• Provide input for, and develop, implement and evaluate an institutional funding policy and strategy, aligning with faculty funding policies.
• Linking pin between faculties and Academic Affairs regarding funding matters. Facilitate the sharing of best practices and stimulate development of expertise within the RSO.
• Monitor and optimise institutional-level grant support processes.
• Coordination of UM-wide grant-related training, workshops and events.
• Registration, collection, analysis and presentation of funding-related management information at institutional level (together with data-analyst).

Profile

• An academic level of working and thinking.
• Affinity with the academic world; a PhD is a plus.
• Knowledge of the Dutch and EU funding landscapes, affinity with financial and administrative matters related to grants; preferably also experience with supporting and/or writing grant applications.
• Experience in (research) policy development and implementation.
• You have an open personality and a proactive and stimulating mind-set; you are capable of inspiring a team as well as collaborating with a broad range of internal and external stakeholders; Management experience is a plus;
• Excellent communication skills (in English and Dutch; both written and spoken) and collaboration skills.
• Strong networking skills. You have a natural ability to connect (with) people and issues at different organisational levels; ideally you will also bring in your own networks.
• Organisational sensitivity.

Fixed-term contract: 1 year.

We offer a 0.8 fte appointment for 1 year with, in case of good performance, the prospect of a fixed appointment after one year. Within the UFO framework of university job classification, the position has been categorized under the UFO profile Policy Advisor. Remuneration will be according to standard salary levels, depending on education and relevant work experience. This implies a minimum of € 4.538 and a maximum of € 5.826 gross per month for a full-time appointment of 38 hours per week (salary scale 12, Dutch Universities Conditions of Employment). Each year the standard salary is supplemented with a holiday allowance of 8% and an end-of-year bonus of 8.3%.

The terms of employment of Maastricht University are set out in the Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities (CAO). Furthermore, local UM provisions also apply. For more information look at the website http://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl > Support > UM employees.

Maastricht University

Maastricht University is renowned for its unique, innovative, problem-based learning system, which is characterized by a small-scale and student-oriented approach. Research at UM is characterized by a multidisciplinary and thematic approach, and is concentrated in research institutes and schools. Maastricht University has around 20,000 students and 4,700 employees. Reflecting the university's strong international profile, a fair amount of both students and staff are from abroad. The university hosts 6 faculties: Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Faculty of Law, School of Business and Economics, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience.

Academic Affairs

Academic Affairs is a dynamic and ambitious department, responsible for advising and supporting the Executive Board and the faculties in the areas of research, education, quality assurance, knowledge valorisation, internationalisation and strategic development of the university.