Technical Program Coordinator

Mission to metrics

The mission of The Ocean Cleanup is to develop advanced technologies to rid the world’s oceans of plastic. As part of the Science & Technology team we design and research systems that stop plastic from reaching our oceans by intercepting it in rivers

The assignment

We are looking for a Technical Program Coordinator who will provide the operational backbone that keeps the Analysis & Performance department aligned, on track, and working in cadence. You understand technical work and data uncertainties, but know how to structure work into clear cycles, push for milestones, manage interdependencies across multidisciplinary teams and support the head of department in delivering high-quality outcomes on time and a sustainable pace.

Responsibilities

The Program Coordinator will bring strong organizational skills, the ability to push for clarity and delivery, and excellent cross-functional communication. You can navigate uncertainty, structure complex technical work, and support the Analysis and Performance team in achieving their results and ambitious goals. Your overall responsibilities include:

• Support the HoD in maintaining the department’s master execution plan and budget, integrating timelines from all teams, tracking progress, identifying bottlenecks, and enabling pragmatic decision-making.
• Set up and run department-wide coordination rituals (weekly syncs, reviews, steering meetings, planning sessions) and serve as the central point of contact for cross-team updates, reminders, and follow-ups.
• Maintain clear documentation, including decision logs, activity logs, open issues lists, and cross-pillar files, ensuring transparency, alignment, and reproducibility.
• Coordinate cross-department dependencies and expectations, ensuring stakeholder alignment and facilitating structured handovers when multiple teams rely on each other’s outputs.
• Support recruitment and onboarding of technical staff and consultants, and ensure key templates, reports, and shared materials are organised, accessible, and up to date.
• Track timelines, budgets, and resource needs across pillars, proactively adapting plans to evolving project requirements, and supporting leads with planning of upgrades, field campaigns, experiments, and evidence-integration cycles.

Professional qualifications

“Even if you don’t meet every professional qualification listed, we strongly encourage you to apply if you believe you have the right skills, experience, and motivation to contribute to our mission. We recognize that talent and potential come in many forms, and we value diverse perspectives and unconventional career paths. If you’re passionate about the work we do and confident in your ability to make an impact, don’t hesitate to submit your application—we’d love to hear from you”

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in environmental sciences, engineering, applied data science, project/program management, or a related technical field.
• 3+ years experience in program coordination, project delivery support, or technical team operations in a complex or international environment.
• Lean certificate or process optimization experience is a pre-requisite
• Experience supporting planning cycles, milestone tracking, or release schedules in organisations with evolving requirements
• Ability to follow technical discussions and translate them into structured plans.
• Excellent organizational and strong skills in planning, prioritisation, coordination, and follow-up.
• Excellent coordination and communication skills, especially in fast-paced, international contexts.
• Comfortable with backlog management, roadmap support, and dependency tracking (experience in Agile environments is a plus) and familiarity with project tools (Notion, Jira) is desired.
• Strong facilitator of meetings, alignment sessions, and cross-team coordination.
• Experience working with applied science or technical workflows is a plus.

Personal qualifications

• Highly structured, organised, and proactive, someone who brings order without creating bureaucracy.
• Comfortable working in dynamic, high-change environments where priorities evolve.
• Self-motivated, positive, and resilient, capable of keeping teams focused and motivated.
• International mindset; experienced working across cultures, time zones, and remote setups.
• Strong personal integrity
• Intrinsic motivation to work on our ambitious and meaningful goal.

Additional details

• A valid work permit, or residency, to work in the Netherlands.
• As a non-profit organization, our salaries reflect our reliance on donations rather than commercial salaries.