The Aurora Secretary General (SG) is the chief operational officer and the most senior
employed official of the Aurora Universities Network. As such, the SG plays a pivotal
role in the network.
The SG serves the General Council, Board, Vice rectors groups, thematic and working
groups, students, communication officers and institutional coordinators (IC’s). The SG supports
and replaces the Board in external representations.
The SG is expected to act as coordinator, orchestrator, liaison, councilor, supervisor and
ambassador for Aurora as a whole and to act as the leader and manager of the central
Aurora office – hosted at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
The SG is expected to ensure adequate strategy, governance, activities, finance,
administration and internal and external communication. Your duties

• Support the General Council and Board
• Manage and supervise the quality, effectiveness and coherence of the Aurora activities and projects, including the Aurora 2030 programme
• Manage and supervise Aurora as the voice of societally relevant academic excellence. Manage global partnerships and external relations
• Identify bridges between Aurora 2030 and Aurora members’ institutional strategy
• Chair the meetings with the IC's, but for the parts related to Aurora 2030 as technical chair
• Manage the Aurora Central Office, including finance, HR and liaison with VU as host university

The SG needs to combine substantive, practical, strategic and diplomatic
competences at a high level.

• Substantive knowledge and understanding of university education and research, as well as of university organizations and their role in society. The SG needs to be able to quickly grasp the essentials of activities across the full range of Aurora and its members. It is unlikely that candidates without extensive experience within research intensive universities and in international collaboration would have developed this
• Practical: Experience in roles that encompass practical management and administrative dimensions of universities is desirable
• Strategic: the SG has a pivotal role in helping to develop and secure implementation of the Aurora strategy, both within the key programmes (Aurora 2030 and others) and in the network as a whole. Competence in securing alignment between strategy and day-to-day activities is essential; experience in this is highly desirable
• Diplomatic: the diversity among and within Aurora universities is a key characteristic and a key asset. The ability to not only avoid misunderstanding between universities, university layers, EU, (global) partners, but to help use this diversity to further the Aurora mission and coherence is a key quality of the SG

The SG will be employed by VU but report to the Executive Board and General Council of Aurora.
We offer a challenging position in the heart of a network of socially involved universities.
The remuneration is competitive and in accordance with the weight of the position and the
complexity of the environment. The position is permament while the initial employment contract
will be for a period of 1 year.
Additionally, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam offers excellent fringe benefits and various
schemes and regulations to promote a good work/life balance, such as:

• possibility to save holiday hours for sabbatical leave
• attractive tax benefits for immigrants (30% ruling)
• contribution to commuting expenses
• room for personal development
• hybrid working enables a good work/life balance

Over de VU
Bijdragen aan een betere wereld door onderscheidend onderwijs en grensverleggend onderzoek, dat is de ambitie van de VU. Een universiteit waar persoonlijke vorming én maatschappelijke betrokkenheid centraal staan. Waar we vanuit verschillende disciplines en achtergronden samenwerken aan innovaties en nieuwe inzichten. Ons onderzoek beslaat het hele spectrum: van alfa, gamma en bèta tot leven en medische wetenschappen.

Aan de VU studeren ruim 31.000 studenten en werken meer dan 5.000 medewerkers. De uitstekend bereikbare VU-campus is gevestigd in het hart van de Amsterdamse Zuidas, een inspirerende omgeving voor onderwijs en onderzoek.

Diversiteit
Diversiteit is een kernwaarde van de VU. Wij staan voor een inclusieve gemeenschap en geloven dat diversiteit en internationalisering bijdragen aan de kwaliteit van onderwijs en onderzoek. We zijn dan ook voortdurend op zoek naar mensen die door hun achtergrond en ervaring bijdragen aan de diversiteit van onze campus.

Student- & Onderwijszaken
De dienst Student- & Onderwijszaken (SOZ) verleent diensten aan studenten en medewerkers van de VU. We zijn verantwoordelijk voor in- en uitschrijving van nationale en internationale studenten, en regelen huisvesting voor internationale studenten en wetenschappers. We dragen bij aan de ontwikkeling van onderscheidend onderwijsbeleid, ondersteunen en evalueren de onderwijsuitvoering en -logistiek, van in- tot uitstroom. We dragen ook zorg voor VU-studenten, die begeleiding nodig hebben. Onze ambitie is een uitstekende, transparante en efficiënte dienstverlening voor studenten en medewerkers.

Werken bij SOZ is werken in het hart van de VU. Je bent bij veel centrale processen in de VU betrokken en werkt nauw samen met de diverse faculteiten en hun medewerkers. Bij SOZ werken bijna 300 medewerkers, verdeeld over zeven afdelingen: Directie, Studie- en Studentadministratie (SSA), Centrale Studentbegeleiding (CSB), Onderwijsbeleid, Kwaliteitszorg en Procesregie (OKP), International Office (IO), Sportcentrum VU en Cultuurcentrum Griffioen.

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Aurora is a network of research-intensive universities in Europe committed to matching
academic excellence with societal relevance. Aurora serves as a high-trust platform in
which university leaders, academics, students and administrators learn from and with
each other how to make their universities more successful in achieving their
mission. Only one university per HE system can be a member; other membership criteria
address research excellence, demonstrable societal engagement and
comprehensiveness of education and research.
Aurora was founded in 2016 as an association under Dutch law by Vrije Universiteit
Amsterdam and the University of East Anglia. It currently consists of the Vrije
Universiteit Amsterdam, the University of East Anglia, the University of Iceland, the
University of Duisburg-Essen, the University Rovira i Virgili, the University
of Innsbruck, the University of Naples Federico II, Palacky University Olomouc, and University
Paris-Est Creteil. The University of Minnesota is a Global Associate Partner.
Aurora is part of the European Universities Initiative funded by the European
Commission under the Erasmus+ programme. In November 2023, the 2nd funding
period under this initiative has started as the Aurora 2030 programme. The
Copenhagen Business School is also a member of this Aurora 2030 programme.
In addition, four universities in Central and Eastern Europe collaborate with Aurora in
the Aurora 2030 programme.