Academy Director for the Academy for Built Environment & Logistics (ABEL) | Breda University of Applied Sciences

How do we make the Formula 1 races at Zandvoort the greenest Formula 1 event? Besides colleagues thinking about and collaborating on the logistics of this event, our students are also thinking about this important question.

In what ways can you make a London neighbourhood more attractive and livable: our students delivered a design focused on residing, living an active life, and partaking in recreational activities.

And closer to home: the Spoorzone in Tilburg is being rebuilt: some of our students' input is being implemented in the process.

The location of Breda University of Applied Sciences is an example of attractive built environment and smart logistics: modern, bright, spacious buildings “with a heart”, with the historic academy building in the middle of the campus, in which all festive events take place.

If such future-oriented projects in this changing world and leadership within a knowledge institution appeal to you, this challenging position offers an excellent position to make a significant contribution to it. As we say to our students, ‘Would you like to experience different cultures and are you looking for top-quality education and great career opportunities?’

Breda University of Applied Sciences

Breda University of Applied Sciences (BUas) is an ambitious, medium-sized, international leading knowledge institution with various study programmes in, among other things, transport management, spatial design, logistics, tourism, hospitality, leisure management, media, game technology, artificial intelligence and data science. With about 7,000 students from over 80 countries BUas offers high-quality education in both applied and academic programmes, English-taught and/or Dutch-taught. We actively promote connections with leaders in professional practice: we work on innovation and research and come up with new ideas and prepare students for the (global) job market. BUas is known for its strong ties with the business community, inclusive and sustainable values and is among the best universities of applied sciences in the Netherlands according to Keuzegids HBO. In addition, employee satisfaction within BUas is above average compared to other national higher education institutions. Our institution builds and relies on inspiring leaders who encourage and help employees individually and in teams to invest in their development. They are aware of current, relevant (global) developments within and outside our institution.

Academy for Built Environment & Logistics

The Academy for Built Environment & Logistics (ABEL) offers three bachelor’s tracks: Logistics Management, Logistics Engineering and Built Environment. The academy has over a thousand students and 100 employees. In January 2021 a new master’s track was launched: Supply Chain Management. We currently have around 40 research and business projects running. Education and research at our institute are often interconnected, carried out in close cooperation with our industry partners. We strive to take a leading role as a center of education, knowledge and expertise in the Netherlands and beyond. Innovation is our keyword. Over the last few years, the Academy for Built Environment & Logistics has established itself as a top knowledge institute, recognised as such by our international industry and research partners.

ABEL academy director

The academy director is part of the management team of ABEL and is responsible for managing the academy and facilitating the professionals in achieving high quality in education and research. The academy director leads and coaches the teams together with the management team, so they can further develop and implement the academy’s vision and strategy. Together with the directors of the other four academies and support services, the ABEL director will act as a sparring partner for the Executive Board and contribute to the strategic vision and direction of BUas as a whole. In addition, the director will play a crucial role in fostering cooperation and exchange among the academies.

The new director:

Inspirational leadership

• Is a visible and recognised leader within complex organisations with expertise and experience in managing talented and autonomous professionals, within applied research, knowledge development and innovation, on the basis of a clear ambition and strategy;
• Combines significantly relevant business, strategic and operational insight, experience, skills and competences with a solid understanding of the higher education landscape and the dynamics that drive the success of specialised top educational institutions and can successfully manage and navigate within it;
• Encourages talent development and has a facilitative, coaching style of leadership. Can delegate with trust where clear frameworks, priorities, and clear agreements are part of the basis;
• Thrives in a hands-on culture, shows genuine interest in education and research processes and dares to choose and prioritise and respectfully challenge behaviour, agreements and quality;
• Is able to promote that, within clear frameworks, the direction of educational processes and content is placed as low as possible in the organisation, in which the continuous safeguarding and, where possible, innovation of the quality of education is an important goal;
• Is analytically strong and has an eye for the relationship between the organisational level of the academy and its ambitions and can make appropriate interventions to optimise this relationship. Has experience in change management and is able to properly secure “what works”.

Strategic insight

• Is able to translate BUas strategy into concrete (future-oriented) objectives of the academy, shape and implement them in good constructive cooperation with other stakeholders within and outside the academy and the institution, such as the management team, fellow academy directors, support services, staff and student participation, and external organisations;
• Is able to add an international perspective to cooperation and crossovers together with others. Can simultaneously deal with the detailed, complex challenges and decisions that arise daily.

Binding capacity and social strength

• Is a staunch supporter of community building, with regard to academic staff, support staff, students and external stakeholders;
• Is able to create an inclusive culture within an international context in which the diversity of qualities, experiences and insights of colleagues, staff, students and other stakeholders leads to further qualitative development of ABEL.

Analytical and development skills

• Can generate what are the essential ingredients for a successful approach to projects and collaborative ventures; also shares these findings BUas-wide;
• Can encourage the further development of a growth mindset and feedback culture within the academy creating a learning organisation and plays an exemplary role in this.

Networking skills

• Has a proven ability to strategically position the academy within and outside BUas, develop, manage and maintain relationships and actively seek opportunities for joint impact-driven initiatives with other academies and private and public sector organisations within regional, national and international networks.

Further requirements:

• Has a master’s degree
• Has affinity with and/or experience in the disciplines of Built Environment and Logistics
• Has an excellent command of spoken and written English (and Dutch).

Personal competences

• Empathic, visible and approachable leader, who gives space to others and listens attentively and is genuinely interested in the contribution and perspectives of others;
• Entrepreneurial spirit and drive to exploit new opportunities that match the needs and resources of the organisation;
• Inspiring, optimistic, businesslike, courageous, execution power, communicates transparently;
• Decisive and reliable.

What do we offer?

We are offering you a challenging and socially relevant management position with excellent employment conditions, within an appealing university of applied sciences, a motivated team and ambitious students.

Employment conditions

• The salary for this position amounts to a monthly minimum of € 6.030,72 and a monthly maximum of € 8.445,29 (gross amounts based on full-time employment);
• This position is classified in scale 14/15 of the CAO HBO (collective labour agreement). Your official job title will be the of Director;
• The position is a permanent position. We start with an appointment for one year. In case of good performance and unchanged organisational circumstances, a permanent appointment will follow;
• Your commuting expenses will be fully reimbursed when you travel by public transport;
• You will receive an end-of-year bonus of 8.3% and 8% holiday allowance;
• You will receive compensation for health insurance;
• You will also be awarded professional development hours every year and almost eleven weeks of holiday entitlements in a full-time position;
• You will be working on our modern, sustainable and high-tech campus;
• Moving from abroad to Breda in the Netherlands? We provide support and financial reimbursements in the case of relocation and settling in the Netherlands. Dutch tax authorities may offer tax reduction to applicants from abroad (which makes tax rates comparable to the UK and US).

Starting date: ASAP

Workload: 0.8 - 1 FTE

Interested?

We are supported by executive search agency Colourful People in the recruitment and selection of this procedure. For more information, please contact senior partner Sandra Lutchman via Whatsapp at 06-40744074 or s.lutchman@colourfulpeople.nl. You can express your interest by uploading your CV and letter by 13. September 2023 via the ‘Apply’ button at the bottom of this page.

Scheduling job interviews: 3 October 2023.

Please keep the above dates free for possible job interviews.

BUas has a great diversity of staff and students and operates both nationally and internationally. BUas considers it important to see this diversity reflected at all levels of the organisation, including at the top. So that it speaks the language of internal and external stakeholders well and can create an inclusive culture. Candidates who think they can make a contribution to this are expressly invited to apply.