The organization
Nikhef is the national institute for subatomic physics in the Netherlands. At Nikhef, approximately 220 physicists and 75 technical staff work together in an open and international scientific environment. Together they perform theoretical and experimental research in the fields of particle and astroparticle physics. Nikhef is a partnership between six major Dutch universities and the NWO-I Foundation, the Institutes Organization of the Dutch Research Council (NWO).
Nikhef participates in a wide range of research collaborations, including the ALICE, ATLAS and LHCb experiments at CERN, the KM3NeT neutrino telescope in the Mediterranean, the Virgo gravitational waves interferometer in Pisa, the Xenon-nT dark matter experiment in Gran Sasso, the Pierre Auger cosmic ray observatory in Argentina, and the eEDM research programme in Groningen. Nikhef furthermore has scientific groups on theory, physics data processing and detector R&D, and has excellently equipped technical departments in mechanics, electronics, and computing. Nikhef hosts a LHC Tier-1 data processing center and offers substantial additional computing resources for end-user data analysis and simulation.
ETpathfinder
ETpathfinder R&D facility aims to provide a unique R&D, testing and integration facility for the Einstein Telescope with a special focus, amongst many others, on cryogenic operation and interferometry with silicon optics. Located at Maastricht University ETpathfinder is a young collaboration of more than 20 universities and research institutions, including in particular Nikhef (of which Maastricht university is a member) which plays a central role in ETpathfinder (with leading the system engineering as well as having key leadership in all subsystems).
The position
The ETpathfinder Project Manager will be well integrated into the ETpathfinder project office and will work in close relation with the Project Leader, the system engineering leader, the ETpathfinder Technical Coordinator and the team of working group leaders. The Project Managers role will include:
- Management of the overall project, including in particular the development and roll-out of processes to negotiate and monitor the contributions from all the partners; annual review processes; onboarding of new partner institutions.
- Management of the central project finances and budget planning.
- Maintaining up-to-date resource planning and timeline of the project.
- Development of guidelines for a uniform and holistic documentation within the ETpathfinder project. Overseeing and enforcing the documentation policy.
- Organisation of internal technical reviews and change requests procedures.
Requirements
The ideal candidate is expected to have a strong track record in project management and has demonstrated excellent communication skills. The candidate needs to be fluent in English, both in speaking and in writing. Proficiency in Dutch is a bonus. A certain level of experience with relevant processes and software tools for project planning, documentation and financial management is required. Experience in working in an international scientific collaboration is an advantage.
A basic technical, scientific or engineering knowledge is desirable.
Offer
The successful candidate will be offered initially an employment contract for 3 years, in the service of the Netherlands Foundation of Scientific Research Institutes (NWO-I), with a salary scale that ranges from € 3.458 till € 6.404 per month, excluding holiday allowance and thirteenth month. The Project Manager position is ideally 1.0 FTE and will be located mainly in Maastricht (to ensure close interactions with the Project Leader and the Technical Coordinator). Travel to participating institutes on a regular basis is required.
The conditions of employment are excellent and include extra months' salary payment in May and December and good travel arrangements. More information about the NWO-I foundation can be found here. The date on which the appointment is to begin will be determined by mutual agreement.
Curious?
Are you interested in this exciting position but still have questions? Feel free to contact Stefan Hild at stefan.hild@maastrichtuniversity.nl for more information.
Application
Qualified applicants are encouraged to apply using the template below. Please be prepared to upload a curriculum vitae, a motivation letter and the email addresses of three referees who are willing to send a letter of recommendation on your behalf. The deadline for applications is 8 April 2025.
Nikhef is committed to diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace, and strongly encourages candidates from under-represented minorities to apply.