Director, Research and Strategic Initiatives

Summary

Join the Eclipse Foundation as a Director, Research and Strategic Initiatives, leading and expanding engagement in European and Member States funded projects. Build strategic partnerships, lead a team of specialists, and collaborate with Foundation leadership. Ensure long-term success of Foundation engagement and enhance its reputation with European and national institutions. Oversee processes related to research and strategic initiatives, including bid processes, consortium development, project tracking and reporting, and mission evangelization. The ideal candidate possesses a strong understanding of EU institutions and the EU research landscape, with experience in building and managing consortia for European projects. This role reports to the Vice President of European Operations and Policy.

Requirements

• Minimum of 6-10 years of relevant work experience in EU projects or similar
• Demonstrated understanding of EU institutions and EU and government funding programs
• Excellent writing skills, including proposal and report drafting
• Strong management skills
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with experience building relationships with internal and external stakeholders
• Excellent analytical and strategic thinking abilities, with the ability to synthesize complex information and develop and communicate effective policy solutions
• Ability to work in a highly collaborative and distributed team
• Master or PhD in Computer Science or equivalent

Responsibilities

• Manage partnerships: Oversee and cultivate relationships with stakeholders, establishing and contributing to project consortia
• Cultivate and sustain strategic partnerships with stakeholders, including EU institutions, NGOs and RTOs
• Manage the team: Lead the team responsible for preparing project proposals, responding to calls for tenders, and fulfilling project commitments
• Coordinate efforts with other relevant teams in the organisation
• Project proposals: Manage project proposals as a project partner or the project coordinator and lead consortium-building efforts across EU member states
• Project Delivery and Reporting: Supervise the execution and reporting of EU and other projects, ensuring adherence to budgetary and planning requirements, and manage relationships with EU project officers
• Representation: Represent the foundation at EU-level events and conferences, advocating for the advantages of open-source software and its contribution to innovation and competitiveness
• Strategy: Monitor upcoming calls for projects and tenders, and recommend to management on go/no-go decisions
• Offer analytical insights, strategic direction, and support to the foundation's leadership regarding EU project opportunities that advance open-source software development and adoption
• Growth. Actively identify and seek new opportunities for strategic engagement within the open source communities to enhance our position as the leading European-based, globally focused open source foundation

Preferred Qualifications

• Fluency in English is required
• Proficiency in an additional language, such as German or French, is a plus
• Experience in working with the open source software ecosystem and understanding of its potential to drive innovation and economic growth in Europe
• Experience in coalition-building
• Existing network in the research community and to funding agencies like VDI/VDE Innovation (please replace VDI with EU based project control orgs)

Benefits

• Competitive salary and benefits
• A flexible, remote-friendly work environment
• Opportunities to engage with a vibrant, global community of open source contributors and developers
• Professional growth and learning opportunities in the rapidly evolving field of open source software