Assistant Professor of Digital Design & Construction

Challenge: Harnessing the potential of emerging digital technologies in design and construction.
Change: Developing next-generation digital methods and workflows from design to robotic fabrication.
Impact: Delivering smarter, faster, and cleaner construction practices that shape the future of our built environment.

Developments in digital design, digital fabrication and construction automation offer significant opportunities for the construction sector. These advancements enable the improvement of material efficiency, optimization of structural performance, reduction of construction time and costs, and the realization of geometrically complex structures. As such, these digital technologies can play an important role in addressing the quest for more resource-efficient and sustainable structures.

The Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences and the Department of Materials, Mechanics, Management and Design are seeking an Assistant Professor to strengthen their research portfolio and education in Digital Design and Construction within the domain of structural design of buildings and civil infrastructure.

Job description

Research and impact

As Assistant Professor, you will develop and lead an internationally recognised research line in Digital Design and Construction. Your work will focus on developing integrated digital design methods and computational workflows, such as parametric design, structural optimisation, and data-driven tools, and linking these to digital fabrication and construction automation technologies.

You will address fundamental scientific and technological challenges in digital design, fabrication, and robotic construction workflows, while translating research insights into practical solutions for the construction sector. You will actively pursue external research funding and contribute to more efficient, sustainable, and high-performance construction practices.

Education and academic leadership

You will contribute to and further develop high-quality education in structural and building engineering at both BSc and MSc levels. You will teach courses in areas such as structural design, building engineering, parametric design, and digital fabrication, and take responsibility for course coordination and innovation.

Working in multidisciplinary teaching teams, you will help integrate emerging digital technologies into engineering education and inspire students to engage with the future of construction. You will also contribute to the supervision of MSc theses and the broader educational mission of the faculty.

Environment and collaboration

The position is embedded in the Structural Design & Building Engineering group within the Applied Mechanics section. The group delivers practice-driven education and conducts research on innovative technologies for safe, smart, and sustainable structures.

You will collaborate across the department, faculty, and university, connecting with expertise in areas such as Materials Engineering, Additive Manufacturing, Robotics, Circular Construction, Building Information Modelling (BIM), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Extended Reality (XR). You will foster collaborations with academic and industry partners and contribute to interdisciplinary initiatives.

You will have access to emerging facilities, including the Digital Construction Laboratory, which can be further developed in line with your research ambitions. You will join a collaborative and international academic environment with strong links to industry and opportunities to build your research and leadership profile.

Job requirements

We are looking for a colleague who is motivated to build an academic career and contribute to advancing digital design and construction in both research and education.

• You hold a PhD in a relevant field, such as structural engineering, digital construction, building technology, or a closely related field, and an MSc or MEng in structural engineering or building engineering.
• You have demonstrable experience of conducting postdoctoral research or working in the construction sector on projects, preferably related to digital design and construction.
• You enjoy interacting with, teaching and coaching students, while enhancing your own competencies, including teaching and leadership skills. Experience in teaching is considered an advantage.
• You thrive on conducting research geared to driving digital design, fabrication and automation in the construction sector, and have a clearly defined vision.
• Harnessing your communication and networking skills, you seek collaboration, know how to convince and inspire stakeholders of your proposals and vision, and drive meaningful team results.
• You have a good command of written and spoken English, as you will be working in an international environment.
• If you are not yet proficient in Dutch, you are willing to learn the language, as undergraduate students are taught in Dutch and you will collaborate with Dutch partners.

TU Delft (Delft University of Technology)

TU Delft is a top international university combining science, engineering and design. It delivers world-class results in education, research and innovation to address challenges in the areas of energy, climate, mobility, health and digital society.

Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences

The Faculty of Civil Engineering & Geosciences (CEG) is committed to outstanding international research and education in the field of civil engineering, applied earth sciences, traffic and transport, water technology, and delta technology. Its research feeds into its educational programmes and covers societal challenges such as climate change, energy transition, resource availability, urbanisation and clean water. Research projects are conducted in close cooperation with a wide range of research institutions.

Conditions of employment

This position is offered as an Academic Career Track position. During the Academic Career Track, you are expected to grow towards an Associate Professor position within a maximum of eight years, for which a position will be available. With other Academic Career Track colleagues, you will participate in the Academic Career Track Development programme, where you are offered opportunities to develop yourself in the areas of Education, Research, Societal Impact & Innovation, and Leadership & Organisation.

You will regularly discuss your development and results with senior staff based on a personalized development plan and performance criteria agreed upon at the start of your Academic Career Track. You will start with a temporary contract that will be converted to a permanent contract no later than 12 -18 months after a positive evaluation, based on continuous confidence in your development potential and fit in the organisation.

Inspiring, excellent education is a central aim. You are expected to obtain a University Teaching Qualification (UTQ) within three years if you have less than five years of teaching experience. This is provided by the TU Delft UTQ programme as part of the Academic Career Track Development programme.

TU Delft sets high standards for the English competency of the teaching staff and offers training to improve English competency. If you do not speak Dutch, courses are offered to learn the Dutch language within three years.