Teamlead AI & Data

SURF has established a new team focused on AI and data in education and is looking for a team leader to provide direction, connect people, and build sustainable innovation and service development around this theme. In a dynamic playing field with a major social impact, you will bring focus, cohesion, and leadership. Are you a people-oriented leader who enjoys working in a rapidly changing 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 IT 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. We do this in close collaboration with the sector, with an eye for public values, openness, and sustainability.

Those who work at SURF work for 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 terms of employment and is flexible when it comes 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 AI & Data in Education team is a new team within the Accessible and Open Education & Research unit. The team launched in April, and most team members already knew each other from the Educational Innovation team. It focuses on sustainable service development and innovation in the field of AI and data for education, with work conducted partly or entirely under the Npuls banner. Future services developed under Npuls may fall under this team’s purview.

What unites the team is the ambition to deploy AI and data in education in a responsible, effective, and sector-wide manner. As team lead, you play a key role in shaping the team’s direction, identity, and composition.

What you will do

As the AI & Data in Education Team Lead, you will manage a team of professionals and ensure that the team effectively contributes to the strategic goals of SURF and Npuls, while also overseeing future service developments. In a dynamic environment where opportunities, complex challenges, and diverse interests converge, you will provide direction and foster collaboration. You are the central figure for AI and data in education within SURF, ensuring the AI strategy is implemented, strengthening collaboration with Npuls, and fostering cohesion within the organization.

Other responsibilities:

• You lead the team and encourage professional development.
• You expand the team and carry out strategic workforce planning.
• You ensure the team’s reliable and high-quality performance and coordinate with internal and external stakeholders.
• You draw up the annual plan and budget and monitor planning, resources, and implementation, including reporting.
• You contribute substantively to projects, service development, and strategic explorations.
• You will maintain close collaboration with colleagues within SURF who work on AI and data, as well as with teams and programs such as Npuls.
• You will represent SURF in strategic consultations with external partners and at sector-wide meetings.
• You will contribute to the direction of the Accessible and Open Education & Research unit and of 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 balance technology, organizational needs, and social values.

In addition, you have:

• A university-level education and way of thinking.
• Experience leading professionals and developing teams.
• Comfort in a dynamic and complex environment.
• The ability to switch between strategic thinking and practical execution.
• Strong interpersonal skills, both within and outside the organization.
• Compelling communication skills.
• Several years of relevant experience and sufficient substantive knowledge of data (and AI) in education to develop direction and vision
• Experience with service development is a plus
• Experience with innovation projects is a plus
• An eye for the social and ethical dimensions of AI and data and the ability to navigate tensions between different values and interests.

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