Chief Operating Officer (COO)
The Delta Institute is currently a small team working on issues that will shape the Dutch technological future, from AI policy to the establishment of a Dutch ARPA. We are set for rapid expansion in the coming period: more issues, more fellows, and more initiatives we want to get off the ground. To achieve this growth, we need an operational foundation that scales with our substantive work, to ensure that recruitment, finance, legal affairs, and internal operations are organized so that our fellows can fully focus on the substantive work. We are immediately seeking a Chief Operating Officer (COO) to build this foundation.
Deze rol is ook beschikbaar in het Nederlands.
PEOPLE WANTED for hazardous journey, small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful, honor and recognition in case of success.
- Ernest Shackleton, 1914, explorer
As Chief Operating Officer, you will immediately start working for the Delta Institute. You will be responsible for establishing scalable operations: from recruitment and HR to finance, legal affairs, and everything that impacts our internal operations. In this role, you will actively help build the organization alongside the CEO. The topics you will be involved with include:
- recruitment, onboarding, and retention of top talent: from student employees to fellows;
- financial management: budgets, donor reports, payroll administration, and tax matters;
- legal frameworks: contracts, ANBI status, privacy, and compliance;
- internal operations and office;
- setting up scalable processes that allow the team to continue growing without diluting its core focus.
In this role, you will work on an organization where our fellows can operate without impediments. Your decisions will determine whether we can attract the right talent, provide rigorous accountability to our donors, and be operationally ready for the next phase. This directly enables the Delta Institute to continue expanding its work across all areas.
Who are you?
- You think independently and transcend partisan interests.
- You are extremely self-driven and set high standards for yourself.
- You have towering ambition, both personally and for society.
- You have demonstrable experience with operational leadership in a fast-growing organization — a startup, scale-up, or a similar rapidly expanding environment with limited resources and high ambition.
- You are proficient in HR, finance, and legal matters, and know when to engage an external expert.
- You can both roll up your sleeves for hands-on execution and design processes that others can take over.
- You communicate clearly, both in conversations and in written texts.
- You primarily work from our office at the Marineterrein.
What do you get in return?
- A salary between €6,000 and €10,000, depending on your experience.
- A Nieuwspoort membership.
- Travel expense reimbursement.
- A phone and/or laptop if needed.
- A Claude subscription
When should you not apply?
- If you can't handle a startup dynamic and are looking for an organization where processes, tasks, and hierarchy are already established. We are still building ours, and we're specifically looking for someone who sees that as an exciting challenge.
- If you're not willing to roll up your sleeves for everything that's needed, from drafting a contract to onboarding a new colleague and setting up the administration yourself.
- If you're too modest to pick up the phone, approach an expert, or take initiative for new things.
Application Process
Our selection process:
- Apply using the form below.
- The best applicants will receive an invitation for an interview where we will delve deeper into your vision, experience, and practical collaboration.
- The top interview candidates will receive a short case assignment where you'll demonstrate how you would tackle a specific operational challenge at the Delta Institute.
We aim to complete the procedure within three weeks. There is no standard profile for this role: we are primarily interested in candidates who can advance our work and thinking. If you're unsure whether you're a good fit, please apply anyway. We prefer to assess candidates ourselves rather than have you be deterred beforehand. For questions, please contact us via our contact page.
About Us
The Delta Institute (formerly Reprogram the Government) is committed to a strong digital government and an innovative economy that serves the public interest. We work on issues where technology and policy converge: the National AI Delta Plan, the modernization of digital government, NADI, the reform of government procurement, and the preconditions for an innovative economy. In recent years, we have co-authored an initiative note for a stronger digital government and the Delta Plan, both of which were included in the coalition agreement and serve as the basis for the new cabinet's policy.
We are difficult to categorize. We publish, but we are not journalists. We speak with politicians, but we are not lobbyists. We collaborate with civil servants, but we are not consultants. What we are, however, is results-oriented: we do what is necessary until the work is done. We set high standards for ourselves, for politicians, and for the government. Because we won't solve the biggest problems of our time with small thinking.