The Royal NIOZ will hire a junior- or senior-level EU project manager responsible for “ACTNOW”, a four-year project coordinated by NIOZ. The position is advertised at 0.8 FTE. This position is initially offered for 12 months starting March 2023 but it is envisioned that the position runs for the full duration of ACTNOW plus 2 months (i.e. 50 months through April 30th, 2027).

THE PROJECT
ACTNOW is 4-year, EU-funded research project examining the effects of multiple stressors on key aspects of the biodiversity of marine and coastal systems within European waters (HORIZON-CL6-2021-BIODIV-01-04). The consortium contains 34 partner institutions (universities and national laboratories) from 15 countries. NIOZ is the primary contact for the EU Commission and is responsible for ensuring that the consortium successfully delivers the goals and products within the project’s ambitious workplan.

THE RESEARCH
ACTNOW is designed to better understand how multiple drivers and stressors impact key species and marine ecosystems and to provide integrated indicators assessments of ecosystem health. Partners collaborate with marine managers within 20 Case Studies representing the broad breadth of European climate zones and regional seas including pan-European research on key groups at the base and top of marine food webs. This includes work within polar to sub-tropical waters in areas around the NE Atlantic and the North Baltic, Mediterranean and Black Seas. Our goal is to provide fit-for-purpose decision-support tools enabling regulators to deliver regionally-appropriate assessments and actions to restore and maintain good environmental status (e.g. actions that will minimize unwanted effects of global and region-specific stressors such as climate change and pollution). The goal of the Project Manager is to help ensure strong and effective collaboration and teamwork across the network of ACTNOW researchers and collaborators.

THE ROLE

• Project progress and deadlines monitoring, detailed project planning and work organization hand-in-hand with the scientific coordinator and project scientific steering committee.
• Budget monitoring (in collaboration with financial controllers) for the whole project consortium (consortium size - 34 organizations, total project budget - 12.5 million €).
• Reporting to the European Commission. Writing, compiling and submitting financial and technical project reports.
• Setup and oversee workflow and quality assurance measures for reports and results.
• Organization, preparation, support and follow-up of the project reviews, evaluation and checks.
• Primary contact person for the European Commission and its agencies.
• Work at the interface between scientists and the administrative departments. (particularly, financial administration), external partners and the funding authority (European Commission).
• Contribute to communication and engagement strategies, writing of the communication, dissemination and exploitation plans and reports.
• Project-related outreach, presentations and briefings.
• Management of the research data generated by the project (data management plan).
• Networking activities, involvement and coordination of relevant external stakeholders and advisors from academia, policy and industry.
• Organization, supervision and documentation of project meetings and scientific and policy events (logistics and content, up to 100 participants, incl. travel arrangements).

• University degree, preferably in natural sciences or business administration;
• Training in project and research management;
• Strong organizational skills and in application of (project) management methods and tools;
• Solid IT skills (MS Office, etc.)
• Experience in research and innovation project management;
• Candidate must demonstrate high social and intercultural competence (consistent with the size, international level, and complexity of the project consortium).

We offer an exciting position in the General Support team (with financial officers, Research Data Management (RDM) support and other EU project managers) of the NIOZ for 32 hours per week. Initially you will receive a contract for one year (March 2023 until February 2024), with the possibility for an extension until the end of the project.

The salary is compliant to the CAO-OI (Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Research Institutes) scale 10 or 11 depending on relevant experience, max € 5590,- gross per month Employment of this position at Royal NIOZ is by NWO-I (The Netherlands Organization of Scientific Research). We offer a pension scheme, a yearly 8% vacation allowance, year-end bonus and flexible employment conditions and 42 days of holiday leave (fulltime position).

You may expect attractive secondary employment conditions. We offer generous relocation expenses for employees coming from abroad and support with finding accommodation.

Royal NIOZ

Royal NIOZ EDS is located in the village of Yerseke in the province of Zeeland and lies in the middle of the ‘Delta area’ on the southern border of the Eastern Scheldt. Yerseke offers a diverse but moderate level of facilities, including a thriving tourist industry, shops, sports facilities and primary schools. Within commuting distance, you will find cities like Antwerp, Breda, Goes, Middelburg and Vlissingen.

Department of Coastal Systems

The Department of COS is one of three research departments of NIOZ located on the island of Texel. COS integrates state-of-the art laboratory, field, and numerical modelling studies in frontier explorations of the drivers of the dynamics of marine habitats and food webs. COS examines how physical, chemical and biological processes interact to determine the distribution, composition and productivity of marine species - from primary producers to top predators - and marine habitats - from the coast to inter/sub-tidal and pelagic environments. Research is applied at both the regional and global scales. Special emphasis is given to maintaining long-term ecological time series (on phytoplankton, macro zoobenthos, fish and birds) in the Wadden Sea.