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Would you like to help build digital solutions that advance education? As a full-stack developer at SURF, you’ll have the opportunity to work on innovative platforms that make a real difference for students, teachers, and educational institutions across the Netherlands. As part of an open and technically strong team, you’ll develop smart, future-proof solutions and help build the next generation of digital credentials. Ready to make an impact? Then we’d love to meet you.

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. Within the Accessible and Open Education & Research (AOER) department, we work with institutions to develop smart solutions for flexible education, digital learning materials, and the sharing of educational data. As a full-stack developer, you’ll play your part in this.

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 takes 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’ll be joining a relatively new team: the Development Team. This team consists of platform engineers, various developers, and designers, and will continue to grow in the coming months. That means that, as a new developer, you’ll help shape the culture and the team itself.

The Development Team provides the SURF Development Platform, software developers, and designers to various multidisciplinary product teams within the unit. We have an open attitude toward one another and help each other out when needed. As part of this team, you will be assigned to the edubadges/educredentials product team.

What you will do

As a developer, you’ll play a key role in the ongoing development of the edubadges service and its successor, educredentials. Edubadges is the platform through which 60 vocational, higher vocational, and university institutions issue digital credentials, including microcredentials. This allows learners to demonstrate their knowledge and skills and easily share them with educational institutions or employers. You will contribute to the further development of this platform and help build its future-proof successor, based on the latest standards and technologies and well-integrated with other educational applications.

Other tasks you handle:

• Designing, developing, and maintaining a reliable, scalable, and secure platform.
• Further developing the backend and frontend components of Edubadges and the new Educredentials
• Implementing integrations with educational systems (SIS, LMS, portfolios).
• Implementing authorization/authentication (SURFconext, EduID, OAuth2).
• Developing dashboards and interfaces for management purposes.
• Implementing standards such as Open Badges 3.0, Verifiable Credentials, and OOAPI.
• Actively contributing to the team’s results and the further professionalization of the development culture.

Your skills and experience

You are a curious and dedicated developer who enjoys working on reliable and future-proof digital solutions. You thrive in an environment where technology, collaboration, and social impact converge. You prefer to work according to Agile principles and have a strong focus on privacy and security by design. In addition, you enjoy contributing ideas for new applications, work independently, and actively seek collaboration within multidisciplinary teams.

In addition, you have:

• A bachelor’s degree or equivalent level of education and thinking, preferably in computer science or a related field.
• Experience with backend development in Python/Django and knowledge of Rust.
• Experience with frontend development using frameworks such as Vue.js or Svelte.
• Knowledge of RESTful APIs, OAuth2, JWT, and encryption/signing.
• Experience with CI/CD, DevOps, and containerization (Docker/Kubernetes).
• Experience with or interest in open standards such as Open Badges, Verifiable Credentials, and OOAPI.
• Experience with or affinity for learning management systems such as Osiris, Canvas, and Brightspace.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to effectively engage with both technical and non-technical stakeholders, in both Dutch and English

It is a plus if you:

• Have experience with modern (open source) development methodologies and tooling, such as CI/CD pipelines and container orchestration platforms like Kubernetes
• Have an affinity for social or education-related issues

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

SURF is launching a new team focused on AI & Data in education and is looking for a team leader who can 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 to be established within the Accessible and Open Education & Research unit. It focuses on sustainable service development and innovation in the field of AI and data for education. The team operates in a dynamic playing field where opportunities and complex issues converge, interests may clash, and developments follow each other in rapid succession.

What unites the team is the ambition to use AI and data in a responsible, effective, and sector-wide manner. As team leader, you will play an important role in shaping the direction, identity, and composition of the team.

What you will do

As team leader AI & Data in education, you will manage a team of approximately 10 professionals, such as project leaders and (technical) product managers, and ensure that the team contributes effectively to the strategic goals of SURF and Npuls. In a dynamic playing field where opportunities, complex issues, and divergent interests converge, you will provide direction and connection. You are the linchpin for AI and data in education within SURF, safeguarding the AI strategy, strengthening cooperation with Npuls, and ensuring cohesion within the organization.

Your other responsibilities:

• You lead the team and are responsible for professional development.
• You further expand the team and carry out strategic personnel planning.
• You ensure the reliable and high-quality deployment of the team 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 implementation, including reporting.
• You contribute substantively to projects, service development, and strategic explorations.
• You will maintain close cooperation with colleagues within SURF who are involved in AI and data, and with teams and programs such as Npuls.
• You will represent SURF in strategic consultations with external partners and in 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, connect people and perspectives, and know how to balance technology, organization, and social values.

In addition, you have:

• University level of working and thinking.
• Proficient command of the English and Dutch language.
• Experience in managing professionals and developing teams.
• Comfort in a dynamic and complex environment.
• The ability to switch between strategic thinking and practical implementation.
• Strong connecting qualities, both within and outside the organization.
• Convincing communication skills.
• Several years of relevant experience and sufficient substantive knowledge of AI and data in education to develop direction and vision.
• An eye for the social and ethical dimensions of AI and data and dealing with tensions between different values and interests.

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

Are you interested in IT solutions for research and education? Are you analytically strong and also a good communicator? We are looking for a technical consultant that helps researchers make the most of SURF services and infrastructures by providing support, consultancy, and tailoring solutions to their needs. Are you interested in this job? We would love to see your application!

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 takes 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 be part of our Data Preservation Services team. This team develops and runs services that are essential to the long-term preservation and retention of research data and open science. Among them is the the SURF Data Archive, a nearline storage solution built on magnetic tapes that houses more than 100 petabytes of research data, a backup and restore solution, a data repository, and persistent identifier services.

The team works in agile way, using a scrum framework adjusted to a team that does operations as well as development and project-based work. We have an amazing team dynamic based on trust and excellence. We make the most of hybrid working by having specific team days when we plan team meetings and tasks that are better done in person, for instance brainstoring or planning sessions, and using our remote working days for deep and focused work.

What you will do

As a technical consultant you will provide advice and support for the services that the team runs. You will be involved in European projects on Research Data Management (mostly within the EOSC landscape). Our technical consultants have a deep understanding of scientific research and can translate this into IT services and solutions. You recognize researchers’ needs for services that SURF is already offering or might develop in the future. You can identify possibilities for improvement and innovation and drive the development of new solutions.

Other tasks you handle:

• You help research communities make optimal use of SURF servicesby translating and explaining their needs to our system experts.
• You build and maintain relations with scientific researchers, research groups, research supporters (such as IT departments of universities and research institutions) and other stakeholders.
• You communicate effectively between different teams within SURF and externally – both on a national and international level.
• You respresent SURF at (inter)national project meetings and conferences in the field.
• You train researchers on topics related to Data Preservation and Research Data Management (FAIR data, metadata, trusted repositories, persistent identifiers, etc.) and on using SURF services or services that we develop with our partners.
• You will keep up with developments in the field and develop your knowledge and skills in preserving and managing research data, open science, high-performance computing and related domains.

Your skills and experience

• An academic level of thinking and working. You hold an MSc or PhD in a data or computationally-intensive research field such as computer science, artificial intelligence, mathematics, etc. or you have equivalent professional experience.
• Experience with programming (preferably C/C++/Java and/or Python), and good knowledge of Unix/Linux systems.
• You speak and write fluently in English (and preferably also in Dutch).
• You excel at presenting your work, both verbally and in writing, for instance via presenting at conferences, technical blogs, etc. Having written scientific papers or books is an advantage.
• Experience in teaching or delivering training sessions is an advantage.
• You have knowledge of scientific workflows, data processing algorithms and data structures; knowledge or experience in project management and data management or high-performance computing is an advantage.

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

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