Teamlead High Performance Machine Learning
ApplySURF is seeking a team lead for its High Performance Machine Learning team who can provide direction, bring people together, and drive sustainable innovation and service development in this area. In a dynamic field with significant societal impact, you will bring focus, cohesion, and leadership. Are you a people-oriented leader who thrives in a fast-paced environment and wants to make an impact at the national level? Then this is the challenge for you.
Where you will work
SURF is the ICT cooperative for Dutch education and research institutions. Together with them, we work on digital services and complex innovation challenges to improve the quality of education and research. We do this in close collaboration with the sector, with a focus on public values, openness, and sustainability.
Working at SURF means working at a unique and open organization. You can see this in everything: the structure of the organization, the setup of the project teams, the culture in our offices, and the atmosphere among colleagues. SURF offers excellent employment conditions and takes a flexible approach to work-life balance. Employees enjoy working independently. In addition, everyone is given the space and freedom to apply and develop their talents as effectively and broadly as possible.
The team you will join
You will lead the High Performance Machine Learning (HPML) team within the Applications & Technologies department in the Advanced Solutions for Research unit. This team currently consists of 18 colleagues but is set to grow significantly in the coming years. In addition to the Amsterdam office, a second location will open this year in Groningen, which will house the AI Factory.
The team consists of advisors who work on:
• Training large language models, such as GPT-NL
• Providing AI services for higher education and researchers (AI Hub)
• Helping scientists run AI workloads efficiently on the Snellius supercomputer.
• Building and managing AI services on the Dutch AI Factory.
• Mentoring interns and students (optional)
• Various EU projects involving collaboration with researchers and the business community
The team has an open atmosphere, is enthusiastic, and we help each other. By guiding the team’s strategy, identity, and composition, you will make the department future-proof.
What you will do
As the High Performance Machine Learning Team Lead, you will manage a team of approximately 18 professionals, including consultants and a product manager, and ensure that the team effectively contributes to SURF’s strategic goals. In a dynamic environment where opportunities, complex challenges, and diverse interests converge, you will provide direction and foster collaboration.
Your other responsibilities include:
- You lead the team and oversee professional development.
- You expand the team and carry out strategic personnel planning.
- You ensure the team’s reliable and high-quality performance and coordinate with internal and external stakeholders.
- You draw up the annual plan, are responsible for the team’s budget, and monitor planning, resources, and execution, including reporting.
- You will maintain close collaboration with colleagues within SURF who are involved in AI.
- You will represent SURF in strategic consultations with external partners and in sector-wide meetings.
- You will contribute to the direction of the department, the Advanced Solutions for Research unit, and SURF as a whole.
Your skills and experience
You are a strategic and people-oriented leader who provides direction in a complex and rapidly changing field. You combine vision with decisiveness, bring people and perspectives together, and know how to strike a balance between technology, organizational structure, and social values.
In addition, you have:
- A university-level education and way of thinking.
- Proficiency in English and Dutch.
- Experience leading professionals and developing teams. Comfort working in a dynamic and complex environment.
- The ability to switch between strategic thinking and practical implementation. Strong interpersonal skills, both within and outside the organization.
- Convincing communication skills
- Several years of relevant experience and sufficient substantive knowledge of Machine Learning/AI to develop direction and vision
- An eye for the social and ethical dimensions of AI and the ability to navigate tensions between different values and interests.
SURF takes pleasure in doing its recruitment itself; acquisition is therefore not appreciated.