Director of IT, Data & Platforms for Impact

Rotterdam Innovation City; Rotterdam; On-site; EUR 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

The Ocean Cleanup in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, seeks a Director of IT and Data to lead the strategy for IT, data, and cybersecurity, ensuring scalable, secure, and reliable systems that enable international growth.

You will build and mentor a team of about 9 permanent staff and 6 contractors, partner with senior leaders, manage budgets, and translate complex technology decisions into clear priorities that maximize the impact of donor funding.

Qualifications

• At least 15 years of experience in technology, including 5+ years of experience managing and leading teams.
• Demonstrated experience defining and owning technology strategies and multi-year software, platform, and IT roadmaps.
• Strong experience with enterprise architecture and/or solution architecture.
• Experience with cloud and data platforms, including AWS and Kubernetes, with the ability to challenge architectural decisions.
• Proven experience owning cybersecurity risk and governance and translating organizational risk appetite into controls.
• Experience operating at and reporting into management-team or C-suite level.
• Strong change management skills and experience leading technology-related organizational change.
• Experience in Operational Technology environments is an advantage.
• Experience in fast-growing, international, or scale-up environments is an advantage.

Responsibilities

• Define and execute platform, data, and IT strategy in alignment with the mission.
• Define, own, and prioritize multi-year software, platform, data, and IT roadmaps.
• Support operational teams with strategic data architecture and technology needs.
• Manage budgets, prioritize technology investments, and ensure value delivery.
• Establish architectural principles and ensure consistency across solutions.

Skills

Technology leadership

Strategy development

Cloud & data platforms

Change management

Stakeholder communication

Tools

AWS

Kubernetes

Job description

The Ocean Cleanup in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, seeks a Director of IT and Data to lead the strategy for IT, data, and cybersecurity, ensuring scalable, secure, and reliable systems that enable international growth.

You will build and mentor a team of about 9 permanent staff and 6 contractors, partner with senior leaders, manage budgets, and translate complex technology decisions into clear priorities that maximize the impact of donor funding.