Assistant / Associate Professor Policy Analysis for Vital Infrastructures

Help shape more resilient and sustainable infrastructure systems through research and education that makes a difference. At TU Delft, you'll work with engaged colleagues and students to develop practical approaches for addressing complex societal challenges, while growing your own research and teaching ambitions in a collaborative academic environment.

Job description

Vital infrastructures, including energy, healthcare, water, mobility and digital systems, are becoming increasingly interconnected. Decisions in one domain often influence many others, affecting the essential services that people and societies rely on every day. These challenges involve a wide range of stakeholders, including governments, infrastructure operators, regulators, businesses, NGO’s and citizens, each bringing different perspectives, priorities and responsibilities.

These challenges occur across every stage of the policy cycle, from agenda-setting and problem framing through policy design and implementation to monitoring and evaluation. The nature of these challenges evolves as the policy process progresses. Addressing these challenges requires methods explicitly designed for framing, analyzing, and structuring ill-defined, multi-actor problems across this cycle, before designing and evaluating interventions. This is precisely one of the methodological cores of Policy Analysis, and of the education we deliver.

As an Assistant / Associate Professor, you will contribute to this mission through both research and education. You will help develop knowledge that supports better decision-making for vital infrastructures while inspiring students to tackle the societal challenges of tomorrow.

Your responsibilities

In this role, you will:

• Teach and coordinate courses in our core programmes, including the MSc Engineering and Policy Analysis (EPA), MSc Complex Systems Engineering and Management (CoSEM), and the BSc Technische Bestuurskunde (TB).
• Supervise Bachelor's and Master's students and contribute to the continued development of our educational programmes.
• Develop your own research line in policy analysis for vital infrastructures.
• Conduct research on methods for understanding and addressing complex, multi-actor policy challenges throughout the policy cycle.
• Publish your research and contribute to national and international collaborations.
• Acquire research funding and supervise PhD candidates and postdoctoral researchers appropriate to your career stage.
• Strengthen and complement the methodological expertise within the Policy Analysis section.
• Contribute to the academic community through collaboration, knowledge sharing and service activities.

Your work environment

You will join the Policy Analysis section from the Multi-Actor Systems department within the Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management (TPM), an internationally recognised group with expertise in qualitative, quantitative and mixed-methods approaches for analysing and designing complex socio-technical systems. Our work spans problem structuring methods, participatory approaches, co-creation and co-design, serious gaming, adaptive planning, monitoring and evaluation, scenarios and visioning, modelling and simulation, and data analytics.

Our section values collaboration, openness and mutual support. We believe that diverse perspectives strengthen both our research and education, and we foster an environment where colleagues support one another, exchange ideas and have the space to develop their own academic profile. You'll work alongside colleagues with a wide range of expertise who regularly share ideas, develop research together and contribute jointly to education. Beyond the classroom and your research, you'll have the opportunity to contribute to a field that directly supports more resilient, equitable and sustainable infrastructure systems. In doing so, you'll help educate future engineers and policy professionals while making a meaningful contribution to society.

Job requirements

You are passionate about teaching and enjoy working closely with Bachelor's and Master's students, supporting their academic and personal development. You are motivated by addressing societal challenges and enjoy collaborating with colleagues and stakeholders from different disciplines, perspectives and backgrounds. You communicate openly, enjoy mentoring others and contribute to a collaborative, inclusive and supportive academic environment in which colleagues and students can learn, develop and succeed together.

Furthermore, you meet the following requirements:

• You hold a PhD in industrial engineering, systems engineering, policy analysis, or another relevant methodological discipline.
• You have demonstrated research potential through a strong publication record appropriate to your career stage.
• You hold a University Teaching Qualification (UTQ) or are willing to obtain this within your first year at TU Delft.
• You have the vision and initiative to secure external research funding (e.g., NWO, ERC, Horizon Europe, etc.) and to develop a sustainable, impactful research group.
• You have an affinity with the public domain and enjoy working across disciplinary boundaries.
• You communicate effectively in English.
• Knowledge of Dutch is an advantage but is not required at the start of this position. As all Bachelor's courses are taught in Dutch, you should be willing to learn Dutch within two years of your appointment.

We encourage applications from candidates with different academic backgrounds, perspectives and career paths. If you are enthusiastic about this position and believe your experience can contribute to our team, even if you don't meet every preference listed, we would be delighted to hear from you.

About TU Delft and the faculty

Working at TU Delft means contributing to solutions that really make a difference. You will have the opportunity to take the initiative, work with others, and grow as a professional within an international community of professionals and students.

At the Faculty of Technology, Policy & Management, you will work on complex technical-social issues such as energy transition, mobility, digitalisation, water management and (cyber) security, at the intersection of technology, society and policy. The faculty combines insights from engineering, social sciences and the humanities, and is internationally oriented with an extensive network of knowledge institutions, companies, social organisations and governments.

Conditions of employment

The position is at the level of assistant professor (Academic Career Track) or associate professor, depending on background, experience and leadership (potential). For candidates with a strong interest in education, TU Delft offers a full teaching career path alongside the research track.

Assistant Professor

During the Academic Career Track, we expect you 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 ample 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 personalized development 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.

Associate Professor

For an Associate Professor position, we offer an initial temporary position with the prospect of a permanent contract. The duration of the temporary position is a maximum of 1 year. After a positive performance assessment, you will be employed in a permanent Associate Professor position.

Inspiring, excellent education is our central aim. We expect you 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, we offer courses to learn the Dutch language within three years.

Salary and benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities. TU Delft offers a customisable compensation package, discounts on health insurance, and a monthly work costs contribution. Flexible work schedules can be arranged and you can work partly from home.