Policy Coordinator, Educational Quality & Innovation

Introduction

As policy coordinator at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM), the largest faculty at Erasmus University Rotterdam, you coordinate the policy field of continuous improvement in RSM’s education as your primary dossier. You are RSM’s point of reference for how continuous improvement is designed, embedded, governed and evidenced across our pre-experience programme portfolio.

We have deliberately built the requirements of our external accreditations into our own continuous improvement policy rather than running them as a parallel exercise. Your work therefore serves two simultaneous purposes: it strengthens the quality of our programmes; and it keeps RSM continuously accreditation-ready.

Continuous improvement is your primary dossier. Alongside it, you hold a small number of longer-term policy dossiers within the Quality & Innovation portfolio and you take on other policy assignments on an ad-hoc basis.

You report to the Executive Director Quality and Innovation and work closely with colleagues responsible for or contributing to the quality and innovation portfolio, with academic directors and programme teams and with portfolio- and school-level committees.

Our business school is a dynamic and strongly internationally oriented organisation. In total there are about 650 employees, the majority of whom work in the academic departments. We have a public entity (RSM EUR), and a private entity (RSM BV) where, for example, we offer our MBA programmes. Your work focuses on the public entity. 

Job description

Your position carries a defined mandate:

• You are the custodian of the RSM continuous improvement maturity model, formally adopted at the school level and you determine and report where each programme stands against it.
• You have a standing reporting line into senior management through the Executive Director Quality and Innovation, including a defined escalation route where programmes do not reach the minimally required maturity level.
• You guide and support, but do not direct, programme stakeholders. Your effectiveness rests on evidence, professional authority and organisational sensitivity rather than on hierarchical position.

Your responsibilities fall into four areas.

Continuous improvement policy and frameworks

Under the direction of the Executive Director Quality & Innovation, you develop and maintain the policies, frameworks and standards that define continuous improvement at RSM and keep them aligned with evolving accreditation requirements. 

Monitoring and reporting

You coordinate RSM’s continuous improvement cycle across programme, portfolio and school levels. You monitor and report on programme maturity and progress of improvement actions to inform senior management and supply the evidence needed for accreditation and external reviews.

Guidance and implementation

You guide academic directors and programme teams in meeting and moving beyond RSM’s continuous improvement standards and lead improvement initiatives at different levels.

Other policy dossiers and assignments 

You hold a small number of policy topics as longer-term dossiers. You stay informed of developments so that you can act quickly when action is needed. Other topics are assigned ad-hoc, as developments such as new regulation, university- or school-wide policy initiatives or questions from within the school call for them. The dossiers and assignments you cover may change in line with the priorities of the school and the Q&I portfolio.

In both cases, you analyse the implications for RSM, coordinate stakeholder consultations and prepare policy proposals. You proactively liaise with those responsible for the areas concerned and for the school’s policy processes so that your proposals are actionable and pragmatic.

Your challenges can include:

• Securing genuine policy adoption across programmes that differ substantially in maturity, capacity, and appetite – without hierarchical authority.
• Enforcing agreed standards and deadlines with busy senior academic and professional colleagues, sensitively and effectively.
• Coming to grips quickly with policy topics and turning them, often at short notice, into proposals that are both well-founded and workable for the school.
• Balancing the fixed annual rhythm of continuous improvement with other policy work that may arrive unannounced.

Job requirements

You read organisations well and win over senior colleagues with evidence and argument, not authority. You turn abstract quality or policy principles into frameworks people actually understand and use and you distil a clear portfolio picture from what is happening across programmes. You set your own priorities, keeping the annual cycle on track while staying ready for the policy questions no one saw coming. And you write with precision and clarity: documents that get adopted and then get used.

Job requirements

• An academic degree at the master level
• At least three years of relevant experience in quality assurance, educational policy or continuous improvement, preferably in higher education
• Demonstrable experience in drafting policy documents, frameworks or governance instruments that have been formally adopted and used
• Demonstrable experience in advising and influencing senior stakeholders without hierarchical authority
• Strong knowledge of accreditation and quality assurance in higher education; experience with assurance of learning is an advantage
• Experience in leading cross-functional initiatives
• Confident and critical use of AI tools for analysis and reporting, including the judgement to verify what they produce before acting on it
• Proficiency in English at C1 CEFR level. Dutch at B2 CEFR level or higher preferred.

Employment conditions and benefits

We offer you an internationally oriented and varied job in an enthusiastic team, with excellent working conditions in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU).

The start date of this position will be determined by mutual agreement and you will be based at the Quality & Innovation Department in Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM). 

This position is for 0.9 FTE - FTE. The salary is dependent on your experience and knowledge and ranges from a minimum of € 3,706 to a maximum of € 5,760 gross per month Scale 10 on a fulltime basis (38 hours), in accordance with the CAO-NU. 

If you are selected, you will be offered a contract for a period of one (1) year which can be converted into an employment contract for an indefinite period if suitability is proven and if you continue in the same position, and if (financial and/or organisational) circumstances remain the same.

Read below to see everything else we have to offer you!

- Everything you need for a good work-life balance: the option to work from home in consultation with your manager, 41 days of paid leave with a 40 hour contract, 8% holiday pay and an 8.3% end-of-year bonus, and a significant discount on a subscription for our on-campus sports centre!

- Sustainable, inclusive and diverse work environment with an open culture, where you can be yourself and we pay attention to each other and to the world around us. Make the most of our bicycle budget, or join networks such as Young@EUR, FAME, EUR Disability Staff Network or QuEUR.

- Time and space for your development in the broadest sense: development days and a personal career budget and free access to our university library.

- Good pension with ABP that EUR contributes two-thirds towards, discounts on various collective insurances with Zilveren Kruis Achmea, Loyalis, and Allianz, and compensation for travel, working from home and home internet use.

- Are you currently combining your job with parenthood, or do you want to do so in the future? EUR offers partially paid parental leave and fully paid additional birth leave for partners, and our campus features a daycare (daycare not paid for by EUR).

- Moving to the Netherlands for your job with EUR? Then you may be eligible for the Expat-ruling if you meet the requirements of the Belastingdienst (Dutch tax agency), and with our Dual Career Programme we will also help your partner find the right job for them.

Employer

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) is an internationally oriented university with a strong social orientation in its education and research, as expressed in our mission ‘Creating positive societal impact’. EUR is home to 4.100 academics and professionals and almost 33.000 students from more than 140 countries. Everything we do, we do under the credo The Erasmian Way – Making Minds Matter. We’re global citizens, connecting, entrepreneurial, open-minded, and socially involved. These Erasmian Values function as our internal compass and create EUR’s distinctive and recognizable profile. From these values, with a broad perspective and with an eye for diversity, different backgrounds and opinions, our employees work closely together to solve societal challenges from the dynamic and cosmopolitan city of Rotterdam. Thanks to the high quality and positive societal impact of our research and education, EUR can compete with the top European universities. www.eur.nl.

Faculty / Institute / Central service

Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) is one of Europe’s top-ranked business schools. RSM provides ground-breaking research and education furthering excellence in all aspects of management and is based in the international port city of Rotterdam – a vital nexus of business, logistics and trade. RSM’s primary focus is on developing business leaders with international careers who can become a force for positive change by carrying their innovative mindset into a sustainable future. Our first-class range of bachelor, master, MBA, PhD and executive programmes encourage them to become critical, creative, caring and collaborative thinkers and doers. www.rsm.nl

RSM is an equal opportunity employer and explicitly encourages applications from candidates of all genders, ethnicities, and nationalities.

Applying

To apply for this vacancy, please submit your application before Friday 30 October, by applying via the portal. Be sure to include both your CV and motivational letter. 

Have any questions, need additional information or would you like to discuss your candidacy? Please reach out to Anna de Waard-Leung at leung2@rsm.nl .

We look forward to receiving your application! 

Please note: If a candidate is found to be suitable, we may invite them for an interview even before the closing date.