Teamlead Security Awareness & Organisation

Would you like to lead an ambitious team that works every day to strengthen the digital resilience of education and research? As Team Lead for Security Awareness & Organization, you’ll combine coaching-style leadership with responsibility for a program that strengthens our members’ cyber resilience. Together with your team, you’ll help create a safe and resilient sector—both now and in the future. Ready to make a difference?

Where you will work

SURF is the cooperative ICT organization of and for the Dutch education and research sectors. SURF develops and manages cutting-edge digital infrastructure for educational excellence, leading-edge research, and sustainable collaboration. We work together with our members to promote digital sovereignty, innovation, and public value in the Netherlands and internationally. You will join the Trusted Digital Infrastructures unit, where we share responsibility for developing and providing advanced and secure infrastructures in the areas of networking, identity, and security.

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

You will lead the Security Awareness & Organization team, which is part of the Trust & Security department. Together with the Security Technology team, we work on service delivery, innovation, and collaboration in the areas of cybersecurity, privacy, and identity.

Security Awareness & Organization consists of 10 colleagues, each with their own thematic area of responsibility. The team focuses primarily on the human and organizational aspects of cybersecurity at our institutions. As team lead, you will combine managing the team (40% of your time) with a substantive role as program manager (60%).

Collaboration is central to the team. We work closely with our communities and networks of security and privacy professionals at affiliated institutions. On Mondays, the team meets in the office, and we start the week with a group check-in.

What you will do

As a team leader, you are responsible for the performance of a team of professionals focused on creating a safe learning and working environment at our affiliated institutions, with a particular emphasis on the human and organizational aspects of this. In addition to service delivery and (innovation) projects, maintaining contact with the professionals at the institutions is very important. You ensure that the team is moving in the right direction, maintain an overview of all activities, and are responsible for ensuring coherence between them and the overall picture. You maintain connections with the rest of the organization and ensure that the team operates within the established strategic and financial frameworks. As a program manager, you also lead a cybersecurity program for the benefit of our members.

Your responsibilities include:

• Leading, coaching, and developing your team members, with a focus on professionalism, expertise, and continuous improvement within your team;
• Being responsible for and reporting on your team’s results to the Trust & Security department manager, for example in terms of service KPIs and innovation outcomes;
• Making decisions regarding the allocation of personnel and resources for services and innovation projects, and being responsible for your team’s profit and loss;
• Providing program management for a program focused on helping our member institutions become and remain cyber-resilient;
• Stakeholder management at the strategic/tactical level (e.g., CIO, CISO);
• Providing substantive direction for the Security domain in collaboration with the other team lead from Security Technology.

Your skills and experience

You are a unifying leader with a passion for cybersecurity, privacy, and related issues in the field of digital business operations. You build connections not only within your team and the organization, but also with our members. You are able to steer our cybersecurity activities while maintaining a balance between technology, awareness, and organizational structure. You oversee the relationship between digitization, sovereignty, cyber resilience, and the support of our members within the current political reality. From that perspective, you know how to provide direction, exert influence, and contribute to enhancing security and supporting the sector’s need for collaboration.

What you bring to the table:

• At least 3 years of experience leading teams, projects, or services: including aspects such as providing substantive guidance to colleagues, finance, reporting, compliance, and risk management;
• Experience combining service delivery with innovation;
• Experience managing multiple concurrent projects;
• Networking skills and the ability to engage in substantive discussions with stakeholders at various levels, including CIOs and CISOs;
• Ability to develop a vision in the field of security and to translate this into action;
• Strong drive to work for the public interest and in line with SURF’s cooperative spirit;
• Oral and written proficiency in Dutch.

Procedure

The first-round interviews will take place on 19, 20, 21 and 22 October. We kindly ask you to keep these dates available. An assessment may be part of the selection process.

For this position, you will also be required to provide a valid Certificate of Conduct (VOG) before starting your employment.

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