Technical Advisor Online Data Services

Would you like to contribute to digital autonomy and build open-source alternatives to Big Tech? As a Technical Advisor at SURF, you will work within the Online Data Services team on our Nextcloud-based storage services, which are widely used by Dutch education and research institutions. You will advise users and actively help to further develop these services, ensuring that they retain maximum control over their data. Does this sound like your next step? Apply now and make an impact.

Where you will work

SURF is the ICT cooperative for Dutch educational and research institutions. Together with them, we work on digital services and complex innovation challenges to enhance the quality of education and research.

The team you will join

The Online Data Services team manages large-scale data storage systems that are essential for scientific research and education. Our mission is to enable scientific progress by truly understanding researchers and working with them to solve their data issues.

With a team of system administrators, DevOps engineers and consultants, we build, scale and manage robust infrastructure. We are responsible for services such as SURFdrive and Research Drive (which are based on Nettcloud), which are used by tens of thousands of users for data sharing and active Research Data Management. We also support large-scale storage for international research instruments such as LOFAR and the Large Hadron Collider.

We offer an inspiring working environment, an open atmosphere of helpful colleagues, and the opportunity to work with exciting new technologies to enable world-class scientific research and education. We live at the cutting edge of infrastructure technology. Would you like to join us?

What you will do

As a Technical Advisor Online Data Services, you are the first point of contact for users, the technical team and other stakeholders. You will be at the heart of the user community and play an active role in user group meetings and training sessions. You will work on our Nextcloud-based sync and share services: an open-source alternative to cloud storage services such as OneDrive and Dropbox, which is being embraced by more and more organisations in Europe to maintain control over their data. These services are used on a large scale by Dutch educational and research institutions.

By listening carefully to ideas and needs, you translate questions into scalable, practical solutions and contribute ideas about the future development of our services.

Other tasks you will handle

• You advise users and institutions on adoption, implementation and best practices.
• You support users and explain complex technical topics in a clear and accessible way.
• You analyse wishes and feature requests and, together with engineers, translate these into concrete technical directions.
• You contribute to the roadmap and contribute ideas about what we are currently building and what the next steps are.
• You provide training and present our services and mission to users and stakeholders.

Your skills and experience

You are energised by technology, collaboration and creative problem solving. You switch effortlessly between technical depth and clear communication, enjoy working independently and in a team, and are motivated to contribute to reliable, future-proof technology that supports public values and digital sovereignty. You are curious, eager to learn and take ownership.

In addition, you have:

• University level of working and thinking (master's degree), preferably with a technical or STEM background.
• Experience with UNIX/Linux and a good understanding of how systems function in production.
• Basic knowledge of programming (e.g. Python or JavaScript), programming concepts and version control with Git.
• Strong analytical skills and the ability to understand and solve complex technical issues.
• Good technical and communication skills: you can explain, document and present complex matters clearly.
• An affinity with open source and modern cloud solutions, and an interest in transparent and future-proof technology.
• An advantage: experience with Agile/Scrum, data management, software testing, high-performance computing, or the further development of services.

Prior to starting this job, a VOG must be presented.

SURF takes pleasure in doing its recruitment itself; acquisition is therefore not appreciated.