The position

The Research Support Office (RSO) has recently been established to further strengthen the acquisition of external research funding. As coordinator of the RSO, you will play an important role in realising two main objectives: (1) supporting the development and realisation of an institutional research funding strategy (including coordination of central funding support activities at a strategic level), and (2) creating insight into UM's funding profile and performance in the acquisition of external research funding, by monitoring and analysing performance.

You will provide input and advice to the Executive Board and faculties, informed by faculty policies and ambitions, but also by internal and external developments. You will collaborate closely with a team of experienced funding advisors from the six UM faculties to further optimise the support mechanisms available at UM for research funding acquisition. An important task is to strengthen the connections between the faculties and the central Academic Affairs department (see below) on funding-related matters. This includes actively looking for (and exploiting) opportunities for knowledge exchange and expertise building within the university, and optimising institutional-level grant support processes. You should be a team player with excellent communication skills, and you are well-equipped to handle different organisational dynamics.

Tasks

• Taking a leading role in developing, implementing and evaluating an institutional research funding policy and strategy that aligns with faculty funding policies.
• With the RSO data analyst and faculty funding advisors, developing the central RSO into the UM knowledge hub (both in terms of data and best practices) for research funding, and using this to tailor institutional-level grant support processes to the institutional research funding strategy.
• Providing input and advice to the Executive Board and faculties regarding funding matters, in direct consultation with the faculty funding advisors and other stakeholders.
• Strengthening connections between faculties and Academic Affairs regarding funding matters.
• Translating funding-related policy developments on national and international level into strategic advice.
• Representing UM in national and international research funding-related meetings and groups.
• Coordinating central funding support activities and processes

Profile

• An academic level of working and thinking; a PhD is a plus.
• Knowledge of the Dutch and EU research funding landscapes.
• At least 4-5 years of relevant work experience in (research) strategy and policy development and implementation.
• You are a builder: you like setting up something new, you can devise a plan with milestones, you have an open personality and can inspire and convince different groups of people, up to and including a board room;
• Excellent communication skills (in English and Dutch; both written and spoken) and collaboration skills.
• Strong networking skills. You can effectively connect people and issues at different organisational levels; ideally you will also bring in your own networks. 

Conditions of employment

We offer a 1.0-0.8 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 € 4.814,00 and a maximum of € 6.702,00 gross per month for a full-time appointment of 38 hours per week (salary scale 12/13, 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 www.maastrichtuniversity.nl > About UM > Working at UM.

Start date: as soon as possible, in agreement.

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 22,000 students and about 5,000 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. 
For more information, visit www.maastrichtuniversity.nl.

The Department: 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.