Are you passionate about organizing, facilitating and operating in an international research environment? We are seeking a Project Leader for two Horizon Europe projects with a focus in Artificial Intelligence (AI). The aim of both projects is to bring Europe to the forefront of AI developments by setting up a strong network of regional hotspots for AI research and innovation. The projects are collaborative, and work together to connect the local AI ecosystem in Amsterdam with other high-performing AI regions across Europe.

What are you going to do

You will be operating in a highly diverse consortium of stakeholders: from PhD students to senior researchers, startups to multi-nationals, as well as partners from dozens of European countries. The specific focus of the role is building bridges between research and industry to increase collaboration and innovation. We are therefore looking for a Project Leader that is culturally sensitive and diplomatic in their work, with excellent stakeholder management skills.

Tasks and responsibilities
Within this broad scope, the Project Leader will facilitate the development of AI for European research and industry by:

• coordinating industry involvement in our European PhD and Postdoc programme to promote collaboration between academic partners and European Industry; organizing participation of industrial and SME partners in the program (including through workshops, sponsorship, and general communications);
• supporting the involvement of industry and SME-players and representatives in other activities in the network where requested;
• encouraging and supporting the adoption of AI technologies by supporting regional ecosystems to boost high-tech, high-performance innovation;
• communicating and disseminating the project’s vision and progress to the general public, industry at large, educational institutions, other regional hotspots, and other EU projects;
• monitoring and administrating progress towards overall project deliverables and goals, while ensuring smooth communication with the projects’ central coordinators and other stakeholders in the projects;
• keeping up-to-date with the Amsterdam AI ecosystem, identifying synergies and overlap when possible, and acting on opportunities to establish joint activities or collaborations.

What do you have to offer

Your experience and profile
Our ideal candidate for the role:

• has completed academic training (Master), preferably in business administration, communications, international relations, or similar;
• has experience in project management, ideally in an international (research or educational) setting;
• has very good organizational qualities and process insight;
• has a high degree of cultural sensitivity and diplomacy;
• feels comfortable working with a diverse and complex network of stakeholders;
• can work independently and proactively, especially to identify synergies between initiatives as this role is highly collaborative with other projects both local and international;
• is process-driven and can take ownership of an entire process from ideation to execution;
• has excellent communication skills, with capacity to produce written progress reports to a high standard of quality;
• has an excellent command of the English language both spoken and written.

Fixed-term contract: 12 months.

Our offer

We offer a temporary employment contract for 38 hours per week for a period of 12 months. The preferred starting date is July 1st. If we assess your performance positive, your contract will be extended with 24 months.

The gross monthly salary, based on 38 hours per week and dependent on relevant experience, ranges between € 2,710 to € 4,093 (scale 8-9). This does not include 8% holiday allowance and 8,3% year-end allowance. The UFO profile Project Leader level 2 is applicable. For this position we can not sponsor a visa. The Collective Labour Agreement of Universities of the Netherlands is applicable.

Besides the salary and a vibrant and challenging environment at Science Park we offer you multiple fringe benefits:

• 232 holiday hours per year (based on fulltime) and extra holidays between Christmas and 1 January;
• multiple courses to follow from our Teaching and Learning Centre;
• a complete educational program for PhD students;
• multiple courses on topics such as leadership for academic staff;
• multiple courses on topics such as time management, handling stress and an online learning platform with 100+ different courses;
• 7 weeks birth leave (partner leave) with 100% salary;
• partly paid parental leave;
• the possibility to set up a workplace at home;
• a pension at ABP for which UvA pays two third part of the contribution;
• the possibility to follow courses to learn Dutch;
• help with housing for a studio or small apartment when you’re moving from abroad.

Are you curious to read more about our extensive package of secondary employment benefits, take a look here.

University of Amsterdam

The University of Amsterdam is the Netherlands' largest university, offering the widest range of academic programmes. At the UvA, 30,000 students, 6,000 staff members and 3,000 PhD candidates study and work in a diverse range of fields, connected by a culture of curiosity.

Faculty of Science

The Faculty of Science has a student body of around 8,000, as well as 1,800 members of staff working in education, research or support services. Researchers and students at the Faculty of Science are fascinated by every aspect of how the world works, be it elementary particles, the birth of the universe or the functioning of the brain.

The mission of the Informatics Institute (IvI) is to perform curiosity-driven and use-inspired fundamental research in Computer Science. The main research themes are Artificial Intelligence, Computational Science and Systems and Network Engineering. Our research involves complex information systems at large, with a focus on collaborative, data driven, computational and intelligent systems, all with a strong interactive component.

ELLIS - the European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems - is a pan-European AI network of excellence which focuses on fundamental science, technical innovation and societal impact. Founded in 2018, ELLIS builds upon machine learning as the driver for modern AI and aims to secure Europe’s sovereignty in this competitive field by creating a multi-centric AI research laboratory. ELLIS wants to ensure that the highest level of AI research is performed in the open societies of Europe and follows a three-pillar strategy to achieve that.

The Amsterdam ELLIS unit is a local branch of the ELLIS Society, a diverse European network that promotes research excellence and advances breakthroughs in AI. Beyond acting as the local touchpoint for the ELLIS Society, ELLIS Amsterdam brings together top talent from local stakeholders to provide opportunities for students, faculty, researchers, and industry, conduct fundamental basic research, and develop infrastructure for excellence in machine learning in the Netherlands and throughout Europe.

Want to know more about our organisation? Read more about working at the University of Amsterdam.