Technical Project Manager – High Performance Computing

Advanced computing only makes a real difference when researchers can use it effectively. As a Technical Project Manager in SURF’s High-Performance Computing Development (HPCD) team, you help make that happen.

You lead projects at the intersection of research and technology, working closely with researchers, technical experts, universities and European partners. You bring the right people together, keep projects on track and turn technical challenges and research needs into practical solutions. In doing so, you help researchers get the most out of advanced digital research infrastructure.

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.

Working at SURF means working for a unique and open organization. This is evident 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 terms of employment and a flexible approach to work/life balance. Employees enjoy working independently. In addition, everyone is given the space and freedom to use and develop their talents as effectively and broadly as possible.

The team you will join

The HPC Development team supports users of Snellius, the Dutch national supercomputer, and contributes to innovation projects and national and European initiatives. Together with the HPC Services team, we help researchers make effective use of our infrastructure. With specialist expertise in areas such as code optimisation and performance, we help them get the most out of the national Tier-1 supercomputer.

We also share our expertise through workshops and courses for researchers in the Netherlands and abroad, while encouraging knowledge exchange within the HPC community.

Our team brings together colleagues from more than nine different nationalities. We value an open, inclusive and collaborative working environment. We also enjoy spending time together outside of work, from international dinners and board game nights to informal lunchtime walks through Flevopark.

What you will do

You will take responsibility for managing several projects within the HPCD team. In this role, you will both lead and contribute to projects. Leading involves providing structure and direction through planning, coordination, stakeholder management, progress monitoring, and risk assessment. Contributing involves analysing requirements and results, evaluating alternative solutions, and helping teams make informed technical and strategic decisions. When needed, you will also be willing to engage in lightweight hands-on technical work to investigate issues, test approaches, or validate proposed solutions. While this is not a day-to-day responsibility, an interest in understanding and engaging with the technical aspects of a project is an important part of the role.

Currently, these include two projects, each with a distinct focus:

EuroCC-3: You work with partners and stakeholders across Tier-2 sites, universities, and European consortia. You coordinate activities that strengthen advanced computing competencies in the Netherlands, engage stakeholders across academia and industry, support reporting and collaboration, and enhance the visibility of the Dutch National Competence Centre within the European network.

Improving User Friendliness: You work with researchers and infrastructure support teams to identify usability problems when using and moving between Tier-1, Tier-2, and other research infrastructures. You then drive the work that addresses these problems, making advanced computing easier to use without requiring researchers to become system administrators.

Across these projects, you will:

• Turn project objectives into concrete plans.
• Set, monitor and report on objectives, deliverables and tasks, keeping project tracking useful and accurate.
• Identify risks and dependencies early, and take action when work starts to drift.
• Align teams and organisations, and keep momentum when priorities collide.
• Engage with universities, research centres, Tier-2 sites, and European partners and act as a bridge between SURF, its members and project partners.
• Translate complex technical constraints into language that researchers, partners and funders can understand, and translate research needs into requirements that technical teams can act on.
• Support the development of new project proposals and collaborations at national and European level.

Through these projects, you help researchers and research-support teams make better use of advanced computing infrastructures, services and software.

Your skills and experience

We are looking for a project manager who is comfortable working across research, technology and different organisations. You do not need to be a technical specialist, but you understand the technology well enough to ask the right questions and engage confidently with researchers and technical experts.

What you bring:

• A Master’s degree or higher, preferably in a technical, scientific or computational field.
• Relevant experience in project management, programme coordination, research infrastructure or a related field.
• Understanding of HPC, AI, data, and research computing concepts that enable you to work effectively with researchers and technical experts.
• Strong communication, analytical and organisational skills. You can bring structure, set priorities and explain complex technical topics to different audiences.
• An understanding of the higher education and research environment, including how research is organised and funded and the context in which researchers work.
• Excellent spoken and written English. Dutch is an advantage.
• A proactive and independent approach. You take initiative, follow through on commitments and are comfortable working with multiple stakeholders, changing priorities and incomplete information.
• An interest in technology and community building, and in bringing researchers, technical experts and organisations together.

Nice to have:

• Experience with HPC, HTC, AI/ML, storage, data logistics or other research computing environments.
• Experience with national or international research projects, European collaborations or research infrastructure programmes.
• Experience with community building, knowledge exchange or bringing researchers and technical experts together.

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

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