The Amsterdam University College (AUC) is looking for a Head of Studies Social Sciences

What are you going to do?

Are you a social scientist with a PhD interested in managing a challenging liberal arts and sciences programme and supervising a highly motivated interdisciplinary team of tutor/ lecturers? Amsterdam University College has an open position for a Head of Studies Social Sciences. With the other three Heads and the Director of Education the Head of Studies Social Sciences is responsible for the quality and the development of AUC’s curriculum.

As the Head of Studies Social Sciences you will be responsible for:

• the contribution to AUC’s mission and values through the development, implementation and management of  AUC’s Bachelor of Liberal Arts and Science curriculum in the social sciences. You do so in conjunction with cross-disciplinary cooperation within the team of Heads of Studies, Director of Education, Senior Tutor, and the Support Staff in order to create together an engaging and high quality and liberal arts and sciences programme.
• the coordination and HR management, as a hierarchical supervisor (leidinggevende), of the social sciences team at AUC (the core faculty (academic staff contracted to AUC), currently nine lecturers/tutors).
• providing guidance for quality in teaching of all social sciences lecturers (core faculty and partner faculty (academic staff teaching at AUC but contracted to other faculties/units of UvA and VU)) and ensuring a coherent curriculum both in terms of academic focus and quality.
• the implementation of course evaluations and peer-review procedures and the provision, development and implementation of suggestions for improvement on the basis of aggregated data.
• the maintenance and further cultivation of relationships with relevant VU and UvA faculties and institutes, including managing and developing arrangements for the deployment of their academic staff to teach at AUC. 
• the development and maintenance of relations with external stakeholders, including relevant (inter)national networks, partnerships or communities in scientific, social, cultural, and business circles.
• contributing to the management of AUC through active participation in meetings of the extended management team.
• other tasks as may be assigned to you by the Dean.

What do we require of you?

• You are committed to developing excellence and diversity in teaching and learning and have experience with curriculum development.
• You have a PhD in the social sciences, and a good overview of the various disciplines, developments and approaches within the social sciences.
• You preferably have a Senior Teaching Qualification (SKO) or an equivalent qualification.
• You have a particular interest in interdisciplinary approaches to teaching.
• Given the teaching part of the appointment, you have expertise in quantitative approaches in the social sciences.
• You have experience in managing a study programme and its academic staff (leadership), including human resource management as a supervisor (leidinggevende) and cooperation with support staff.
• You have experience with the management of academic quality.
• You preferably have a strong international profile and network and a good understanding of (and experience with) liberal arts and science education.
• You have a (near) native level of proficiency in English (C1 or C2 in the CEFRL) and preferably fluency in Dutch and/or one other language.
• You are willing to engage with students and to join a multidisciplinary and international team.
• You are a motivator, an inspirational leader, who is good in working with a variety of people from different backgrounds.
• You have an ability to understand people’s feelings and emotions and who can assess situations from another’s point of view.
• You are able to reach out to internal and external stakeholders and constituencies to enrich the curriculum and the student learning experience.
• You are able to reach out to internal and external stakeholders and constituencies to enrich the curriculum and the student learning experience.

We are offering a part-time (19 hours a week, 0.5 fte) appointment as Head of Studies, which will be combined with teaching tasks and/or other AUC tasks to extend it to a maximum 38 hours a week (full time/1.0 fte) (minimum 30 hours a week (0.8 fte). The appointment is offered for one year in the first instance with the possibility of a permanent contract

Your salary, depending on your relevant experience on commencement of the employment contract, ranges between €5.294 to €6.444 gross per month (salary scale 13), UFO profile is Programme Manager (opleidingsmanager) 1 on the basis of a full working week of 38 hours. This sum does not include the 8% holiday allowance and the 8.3% year-end allowance. The Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU) is applicable.

University of Amsterdam

With over 5,000 employees, 30,000 students and a budget of more than 600 million euros, the University of Amsterdam (UvA) is an intellectual hub within the Netherlands. Teaching and research at the UvA are conducted within seven faculties: Humanities, Social and Behavioural Sciences, Economics and Business, Law, Science, Medicine and Dentistry. Housed on four city campuses in or near the heart of Amsterdam, where disciplines come together and interact, the faculties have close links with thousands of researchers and hundreds of institutions at home and abroad.  

The UvA’s students and employees are independent thinkers, competent rebels who dare to question dogmas and aren’t satisfied with easy answers and standard solutions. To work at the UvA is to work in an independent, creative, innovative and international climate characterised by an open atmosphere and a genuine engagement with the city of Amsterdam and society.

Amsterdam University College

Amsterdam University College (AUC) was established by the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU) and the University of Amsterdam (UvA) in 2009. It offers their international Liberal Arts and Sciences joint-degree programme for approximately 900 Bachelor students.

The social sciences team is responsible for the social science courses, which include interdisciplinary courses and disciplinary courses in Economics, Law, Political Science, International Relations, Anthropology, Sociology and Psychology.