Projects Facilitator, Research Data and Software

We are looking for a new staff member to join the small team of the Dutch Thematic Digital Competence Centre for the Natural and Engineering Sciences (TDCC-NES). The TDCC-NES is building a network across the Dutch academic community to formulate and fund projects designed to promote FAIR data, research software sustainability, and open research practices, alongside the necessary expertise. The staff member will help drive forward projects that contribute to reproducible and open science.

In this position you will work closely with the TDCC-NES Community Coordinator and with experts from different disciplines and with different roles across research in the natural and engineering sciences. These might include software engineers, data stewards, data managers, IT support staff, as well as professors, senior and junior researchers, postdocs, or PhD candidates, all from various research institutions in the Netherlands.

The Project Facilitator will:

• Meet with project groups and participate in events (which might require occasional work outside your regular working hours) to guide groups during the process of developing a project idea and building an effective project team, using tools and methods to drive groups towards concrete results in a predefined period of time;
• Understand the potential impact a project might have on the landscape, and the collaboration potential it might offer, proactively seeking out and identifying useful information, people, or connections (some of which might be international) that might maximize the success of the projects and the impact of their outputs, and advising the project groups accordingly;
• Help project teams during the funding application process: helping the project team to identify realistic outputs, structure work packages, draw up a formal TDCC project proposal, and make revisions to the project plan based on feedback from the review committee(s);
• Give administrative support to project leads during the start-up phase once a project is funded and periodically ensure that projects are on track and that communication of progress and formal reporting is going smoothly;
• Work with the Community Coordinator and the Network Manager to provide summary information to the Governing Board concerning the development of project ideas, progress of projects, and project team feedback, including highlighting any challenges that slow down or prevent progress.

As you will be working in a small team, you may be asked to provide support during other activities or in another role as and when required. These might include, for example, helping to facilitate a workshop, support for Governing Board meetings, writing blog posts, or presentation of the TDCC activities at (inter)national events or workshops.

This is a part-time position offered for one year. It might provide an ideal opportunity for secondment for someone already working in the TDCC network with connections to potential project participants. The role would provide experience and insight into project development and project management within the area of Open Science.

The TDCC-NES office was established in 2022 and is funded by NWO for 10 years. It is hosted as part of the 4TU.ResearchData team at TU Delft Library, and you will interact with other staff members from 4TU.ResearchData and the Library. There are currently two full-time staff in the core team, and you will work closely with both, particularly the Community Coordinator, to fulfil the tasks listed above. The TDCC-NES is expected to expand in future.