Software engineer/Technical Project Manager DANS

Are you an experienced technical professional ready to contribute to large-scale international projects in the field of Open Science? Do you have a strong background in software engineering and project management, and are you motivated to help advance FAIR data infrastructure in Europe? Then this position may be a perfect fit for you.

For our IT department, we are looking for a:

Software engineer/Technical Project Manager 38 hours per week (1 FTE)

What will you be doing? As a Software Engineer and Technical Project Manager, you will work at the intersection of software development and international project coordination, especially in the context of European-funded projects such as EOSC Data Commons. You will lead tasks and work packages focused on data infrastructure, quality assessment, and metadata services within the EOSC Federation. Your responsibilities include:

Software Engineering

• Design and develop software tools and applications to support FAIR data access, metadata crawling, and data quality assessment.
• Build and maintain back-end and front-end components using Python and JavaScript.
• Manage data structures across various database systems: relational (PostgreSQL, MySQL), NoSQL (MongoDB), and graph databases (e.g., GraphDB, Fuseki).
• Contribute to technical innovations involving Linked Data, Semantic Web technologies, workflow orchestration (e.g. Apache Airflow), and containerized CI/CD deployments.
• Work with open-source research data platforms such as DSpace, Dataverse, CKAN, or Invenio.

Technical Project Management

• Act as project manager and main point of contact for EOSC Data Commons and other EU-funded projects.
• Lead project work packages, monitor progress and milestones, and ensure timely delivery of deliverables.
• Collaborate with finance and communication teams at DANS to manage reporting and dissemination tasks.
• Represent DANS in international project meetings and maintain strong stakeholder relationships.

What will you bring to the table? You hold a master’s degree in a relevant field (e.g. computer science, engineering) or have comparable experience in software/system development. You are experienced in both software engineering and project-based work in international research environments.

• In addition, you bring the following knowledge and skills:
• Proven experience in software development with Python and JavaScript.
• Familiarity with version control systems (Git, GitHub).
• Experience with structured and semantic data models (RDF, SKOS), and knowledge representation.
• Affinity with research infrastructure and metadata standards.
• Experience with containers, cloud deployment, and HPC environments is a plus.
• Prior experience leading tasks or work packages in EU-funded projects.
• Affinity with Open Science and the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) landscape.
• Fluency in English; understanding of Dutch is a plus.

What do we offer? DANS provides a pleasant working environment, where a motivated and well-cooperating group of research data experts and software engineers is dedicated to Open Science and FAIR data. At DANS, we value initiative, expertise, result-orientation, reliability and collaboration. We appreciate a lively atmosphere among colleagues and attach great importance to mutual knowledge exchange. Personal development is not forgotten, and employee satisfaction is high.

The salary is depending on age and experience, ranging from a minimum of € 4.537,-- to a maximum of € 7.056,-- gross per month for a full-time position (scale 11-12 of the collective labour agreement Dutch Universities/KNAW). Initially, it is a fixed-term employment contract for a maximum of 4 years due to a temporary project. A complete overview of the terms of employment can be found on this webpage: https://www.knaw.nl/en/working-at-knaw.

Where is your workplace? DANS is located on Anna van Saksenlaan in The Hague, within walking distance of Laan van NOI station. It is possible to work partially (up to 50%) from home.

Who can you contact for more information? For further information about the position, please contact Patris van Boxel, Head of Technology, at patris.van.boxel@dans.knaw.nl. Information about DANS is available on dans.knaw.nl.

About DANS DANS is the national expertise center and repository for research data. We help researchers make their data available for reuse. This allows researchers to use the data for new research and makes published research verifiable and reproducible. With almost 300,000 datasets and a staff of fifty, DANS is one of the leading repositories in Europe. DANS is an institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) and the Dutch Research Council (NWO).

Working at DANS means working in an informal and international environment where colleagues with diverse backgrounds collaborate to achieve goals, and where people are given the opportunity and the confidence to fulfil their roles and develop as they see fit.

Internally, we apply the same principles of our service: we are accessible, reliable and innovative.

Terms of employment
Depending on education and experience the minimum salary is and the maximum salary is € 4.537,-- to a maximum of € 7.056,-- gross per month for a fulltime employment (=38 hours, scale 11-12 cao Nederlandse Universiteiten/KNAW). This is exclusive of 8% vacation allowance, 8.3% year-end bonus, travel allowance, internet allowance, home working allowance and pension accrual with ABP.

The KNAW offers its staff an excellent package of secondary benefits. A package that meets the different needs of employees depending on their stage of life, lifestyle or career ambitions. For example, by working an extra two hours a week, it is possible to increase the number of days off from 29 to 41 days a year (with fulltime employment).

Applying for a Certificate of Good Conduct can be part of the employment procedure.

Diversity & Inclusion
The KNAW considers a working environment in which everyone feels welcome and appreciated of great importance. A working environment in which attention is paid to individual quality and where development opportunities are paramount. Together we strive for an inclusive culture in which we embrace differences. We would therefore like to invite candidates who want to contribute to this through their background and experience. In the event of equal suitability, preference will be given to the candidate who thus enhances diversity within the Academy.