Program Manager Digital Transition

Project overview

In connection with the DBA Act (Deregulation Assessment of Employment Relationships), it is not possible to invoice as a self-employed person for this assignment. Matchd offers various types of employment. We are happy to discuss with you to see which employment best suits your wishes and situation. Feel free to contact us for more information and an explanation of the possibilities.

The Assignment

Aventus is looking for a program leader to give the Aventus Digital program a new start and ensure that the change truly lands within the organization.

Aventus is working on future-proof education, supported by an accessible, clear, and coherent digital landscape. With the Digital Transition program, we are realizing the digital prerequisites for flexible and personalized education, including projects for digital examination processes, the education catalog, and the learning management system.

This transition goes beyond technology. It requires changes in processes, collaboration, leadership, and behavior. A complex task where shared ambitions and the professional autonomy of sectors and services come together.

The Core

We are not looking for a technical program manager or senior project manager, but a strong, connecting, and change-oriented program leader who tackles this assignment with great energy. Someone who provides direction, dares to question existing choices, gets people moving, and ensures that the digital transformation actually lands within the organization. The new program manager does not step into an empty field. Appreciating what is already in place while daring to realign is the core of the assignment.

The Role

As program manager, you will provide direction for this organization-wide change assignment. You will take the existing program as a starting point, but will explicitly have the space to critically assess the approach and priorities and, where necessary, make proposals for realignment.

Program Organization Aventus Digital

The director is the client; a director acts as the delegated client. The program manager leads the program with agreed mandate and forms one team with the project leaders.

• You will steer towards strategic goals and the coherence between projects, but primarily towards realizing sustainable change in the organization. You will lead the project leaders, who are responsible for concrete project results.
• You will be a strong discussion partner for the program steering committee. You will connect different interests, organize decision-making, and ensure clear frameworks, concrete steps, and visible progress.
• You will combine a clear direction with an adaptive approach: space to experiment, learn, and adjust, without losing sight of the common goals.
• You will have a servant leadership role. You work from the intention and subordinate your approach to it: what will work for Aventus?
• You will lead the integrated approach and support the organization's change capacity.

Responsibilities

The program manager steers on strategic goals and coherence; the project leaders steer on concrete project results.

7 months - 16-24 hours per week - 0.44-0.67 FTE

Profile of the suited interim professional:

Dutch native or near native

Knock-out criteria:

• Realign and provide direction. Critically assess the existing program regarding approach and priorities, and make proposals for realignment.
• Organize decision-making. Bring issues to the table well-prepared, address them, and request decisions. For example, the choice between the two flexibilization routes and who owns them.
• Maintain coherence. Keep an overview of the sub-projects, steer them from the Aventus@2030 strategy and the education vision, and ensure that projects remain a means, not an end.
• Ensure change lands. Stimulate adoption and behavioral change, with attention to culture, resistance, and differences in pace, keeping education central.
• Lead the program team. Form one team with the project leaders, facilitate them and give them space, and extract and share knowledge "from people's heads".
• Monitor, report, and learn. Monitor and report on progress, risks, and budget. Organize systematic reflection moments to learn and adjust.
• Communicate and interpret. Set out an appealing perspective, clearly interpret concepts, and translate complex issues into advice and decision documents.
• Work experience in education, preferably MBO;
• Minimum 12 years of work experience in program management;
• Minimum 12 years of work experience in change management;
• Minimum 12 years of work experience in digitalization and its impact on an organization;
• Extensive work experience with strategic program management and complex organizational changes;
• Knowledge of change management and adaptive, iterative forms of program management;
• Work experience with executive advising, stakeholder management, and leading multidisciplinary teams;
• The ability to translate complex issues into clear advice, foundational documents, and concrete actions.

Project details

• Start: flexible
• Duration: 7 months
• Location: Apeldoorn, Overijssel, Gelderland, NL
• Languages: Dutch