Graduation: Design and Development of a Scalable Skills Intelligence Platform

This graduation assignment focuses on the design and development of a scalable Skills Intelligence platform, starting September 2026 (duration: 5 months).

Description of assignment

Your assignment is to design and build a Proof of Concept for a scalable Skills Intelligence application. Using several existing skill matrices as input, you will explore how to centralize, automate, and visualize skill data in a way that supports both teams and individuals.

The key research question is:

How can we develop a scalable, user‑friendly application that centralizes skill data and supports cross‑team development, reporting, and decision‑making?

Your Proof of Concept will include at least the following capabilities:

• Automated classification of skill categories across multiple teams
• Reporting of generic skills that are relevant organization‑wide
• Sending targeted cross‑team training invitations to specific groups
• Searching for skills as part of personal development objectives

The challenge lies in combining data from different existing tools and designing an architecture that can scale, remain user‑friendly, and integrate into future development initiatives.

Department description

You will work within ICT, specifically the Central Data Organisation, in close collaboration with the People Development Manager. This environment is dynamic and people‑focused, supporting roughly 200 employees and working closely with a field of eight People Development Managers.

The department works on data‑driven applications, reporting structures, and tools that support employee development, internal mobility, and organizational capability building.

As an intern, you will:

• Work closely with stakeholders across People Development
• Collaborate with ICT colleagues on architecture and implementation
• Be part of an environment that encourages experimentation, ownership, and initiative

Depending on your assignment type, you may work either independently or embedded within small project teams.

Tasks/responsibilities

• Design the architectural concept for a scalable skills application
• Build the Proof of Concept in an iterative, test‑driven approach
• Integrate and process multiple existing skill matrices
• Develop core features such as automation, reporting, search, and notifications
• Validate the POC with stakeholders and incorporate their feedback
• Document technical, functional, and architectural decisions
• Present results, findings, and recommendations in your research report

Your profile

• A background in Data Science, Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related field.
• Experience or strong affinity with:

• Power Apps and low‑code development
• Excel or other structured data processing tools
• Solution architecture and conceptual technical thinking
• Programming fundamentals
• Strong communication skills
• A mindset centered on outcomes, ownership, and continuous learning

Mandatory requirement: Enrollment in a Dutch educational institution and residency in the Netherlands.

internship@vanderlande.com