Lab Manager - DATAGOV Living Lab

Uva; Amsterdam; Hybrid; EUR 41,000 - 64,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

8% holiday allowance

8.3% end-of-year allowance

EU-funded programme

International team

Job summary

The University of Amsterdam’s DATAGOV Living Lab seeks a proactive Lab Manager to coordinate workshops, experiments and data collection, in close collaboration with the project team, artists and technologists. You will shape the Lab’s methods, formats and events, enabling interdisciplinary collaboration across academia and civil society.

You will lead design of participatory activities, support arts-based research, and liaise with partners to advance the Lab’s public engagement and dissemination

Qualifications

• Hands-on experience with participatory, play-based or game-based research methods.
• Experience with arts-based methods and public engagement activities.
• Ability to manage multiple activities, collaborators and deadlines.
• Comfort communicating with diverse groups in collaborative settings.
• Initiative to lead when required and liaise with technical collaborators.
• Interest in societal implications of data, AI and infrastructure.
• Good command of English, written and spoken.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate the Lab's programme of workshops, experiments and data collection, and public events with the research team.
• Design and facilitate participatory, play-based and game-based research activities.
• Support arts-based and creative research and public engagement with artists and practitioners.
• Translate research questions into engaging experimental formats for Lab activities.
• Coordinate collaborations with public institutions, civil society, artists and technologists.
• Support experiments involving digital technologies, coding and AI with researchers.
• Manage practical Lab organization: planning, scheduling, budgeting and materials.
• Document activities and contribute to reporting and dissemination.

Skills

Participatory research methods

Play-based research design

Arts-based public engagement

Interdisciplinary collaboration

Coding & AI concepts

Project coordination

Public event organization

Job description

Shape a living lab for data, AI and democracy

The DATAGOV Living Lab is not a conventional research laboratory: it is a space where researchers, artists, public institutions, civil society organisations and citizens experiment together with participatory research, play and game-based methods, and arts-based engagement. Activities range from the world-building game Le Grand Jeu to participatory AI audits, infrastructure walks and an art programme. As Lab Manager, you turn this ambition into a lively, sustainable programme of workshops and events, working closely with the project leader Prof. Stefania Milan and the DATAGOV research team while helping shape the Lab's own methods and formats.

This is what you will be doing

• You coordinate the Lab's programme of workshops, experiments and data collection, as well as public events, in collaboration with the research team;
• You help design and facilitate participatory, play-based and game-based research activities;
• You support arts-based and creative forms of research and public engagement, working together with artists and creative practitioners;
• You translate research questions into engaging experimental formats, helping researchers develop activities for the Lab;
• You coordinate collaborations with academic and non-academic partners, including public institutions, civil society organisations, artists, designers and technology practitioners;
• You support experiments involving digital technologies, coding and AI applications, liaising between researchers and technical collaborators;
• You manage the practical organisation of the Lab: planning, scheduling, documentation, budgets and materials;
• You document activities and contribute to project reporting, communication and dissemination.

This is what we ask of you

You are organised, creative and proactive, and just as comfortable taking the lead as working as part of a team. Specifically:

• You have hands-on experience with participatory, play-based, game-based or other experimental research or engagement methods, and with the design of research-oriented games such as Le Grand Jeu;
• You have worked with arts-based methods, creative practice or creative forms of public engagement;
• You keep several activities, collaborators and deadlines on track at once;
• You're at ease in collaborative, interdisciplinary settings, and you communicate and facilitate confidently with diverse groups;
• You take ownership and initiative, and are ready to lead when a project needs it;
• You're comfortable enough with coding, digital tools and AI applications to experiment with them and talk shop with technical collaborators;
• You're genuinely interested in the societal and political implications of data, AI, and data infrastructure;
• You can communicate effectively in English, both verbally and in writing;
• Experience with EU-funded or other large collaborative research projects is a strong plus, and some Dutch is an asset but not essential.

This is what we offer you

• Starting date as soon as possible, and otherwise 1 November or 1 December 2026; for 0,4 fte (15.2 hours per week) for 36 months, starting with 12 months and contingent upon positive evaluation an extension of 24 months;
• Depending on relevant experience, the salary at the start of the employment is in scale 10 and between €3.706 and €5.760 gross per month based on full-time employment for a 38-hour working week. In addition, you will receive an 8% holiday allowance and an 8.3% end-of-year allowance. The Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities is applicable;
• An interdisciplinary, international research environment within an EU-funded programme, with real scope to bring your own ideas, skills and experience to the development of the Living Lab;
• Close collaboration with the project leader and research team, and with artists, technologists and civil society partners from across the globe.

This is where you'll be working

The DATAGOV Living Lab is part of a larger research programme investigating how data infrastructures are reshaping democratic governance, public institutions and citizen participation. Rather than a conventional laboratory, it is a space where researchers, practitioners, public institutions, civil society organisations, artists and citizens explore these transformations together, experimenting with alternative ways of researching and governing data and AI. You will join an interdisciplinary, international team that does not expect you to fit a single professional profile: you might come from an arts or cultural organisation, a civic technology initiative, or a design or innovation lab. What matters is your ability to move comfortably between the practical coordination of the Lab and active participation in designing, facilitating and developing its experimental programme, with considerable scope to bring your own ideas to its growth.

The DATAGOV project at the University of Amsterdam is looking for a Lab Manager to coordinate and help develop the DATAGOV Living Lab, an experimental research environment focused on the relationship between data and AI infrastructures, governance and democracy.

Shape a living lab for data, AI and democracy

The DATAGOV Living Lab is not a conventional research laboratory: it is a space where researchers, artists, public institutions, civil society organisations and citizens experiment together with participatory research, play and game-based methods, and arts-based engagement. Activities range from the world-building game Le Grand Jeu to participatory AI audits, infrastructure walks and an art programme. As Lab Manager, you turn this ambition into a lively, sustainable programme of workshops and events, working closely with the project leader Prof. Stefania Milan and the DATAGOV research team while helping shape the Lab's own methods and formats.

This is what you will be doing

• You coordinate the Lab's programme of workshops, experiments and data collection, as well as public events, in collaboration with the research team;
• You help design and facilitate participatory, play-based and game-based research activities;
• You support arts‑based and creative forms of research and public engagement, working together with artists and creative practitioners;
• You translate research questions into engaging experimental formats, helping researchers develop activities for the Lab;
• You coordinate collaborations with academic and non‑academic partners, including public institutions, civil society organisations, artists, designers and technology practitioners;
• You support experiments involving digital technologies, coding and AI applications, liaising between researchers and technical collaborators;
• You manage the practical organisation of the Lab: planning, scheduling, documentation, budgets and materials;
• You document activities and contribute to project reporting, communication and dissemination.

This is what we ask of you

You are organised, creative and proactive, and just as comfortable taking the lead as working as part of a team. Specifically:

• You have hands‑on experience with participatory, play‑based, game‑based or other experimental research or engagement methods, and with the design of research‑oriented games such as Le Grand Jeu;
• You have worked with arts‑based methods, creative practice or creative forms of public engagement;
• You keep several activities, collaborators and deadlines on track at once;
• You're at ease in collaborative, interdisciplinary settings, and you communicate and facilitate confidently with diverse groups;
• You take ownership and initiative, and are ready to lead when a project needs it;
• You're comfortable enough with coding, digital tools and AI applications to experiment with them and talk shop with technical collaborators;
• You're genuinely interested in the societal and political implications of data, AI, and data infrastructure;
• You can communicate effectively in English, both verbally and in writing;
• Experience with EU‑funded or other large collaborative research projects is a strong plus, and some Dutch is an asset but not essential.

This is what we offer you

• Starting date as soon as possible, and otherwise 1 November or 1 December 2026; for 0,4 fte (15.2 hours per week) for 36 months, starting with 12 months and contingent upon positive evaluation an extension of 24 months;
• Depending on relevant experience, the salary at the start of the employment is in scale 10 and between €3.706 and €5.760 gross per month based on full‑time employment for a 38‑hour working week. In addition, you will receive an 8% holiday allowance and an 8.3% end‑of‑year allowance. The Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities is applicable;
• An interdisciplinary, international research environment within an EU‑funded programme, with real scope to bring your own ideas, skills and experience to the development of the Living Lab;
• Close collaboration with the project leader and research team, and with artists, technologists and civil society partners from across the globe.

This is where you'll be working

The DATAGOV Living Lab is part of a larger research programme investigating how data infrastructures are reshaping democratic governance, public institutions and citizen participation. Rather than a conventional laboratory, it is a space where researchers, practitioners, public institutions, civil society organisations, artists and citizens explore these transformations together, experimenting with alternative ways of researching and governing data and AI. You will join an interdisciplinary, international team that does not expect you to fit a single professional profile: you might come from an arts or cultural organisation, a civic technology initiative, or a design or innovation lab. What matters is your ability to move comfortably between the practical coordination of the Lab and active participation in designing, facilitating and developing its experimental programme, with considerable scope to bring your own ideas to its growth.

The DATAGOV project at the University of Amsterdam is looking for a Lab Manager to coordinate and help develop the DATAGOV Living Lab, an experimental research environment focused on the relationship between data and AI infrastructures, governance and democracy.

Questions?

For questions about the position or department, you can contact us during office hours at: [e-mail] to the attention ofProf. Stefania Milan.

The vacancy closes on 25 September 2026. The first round of interviews will take place in early October 2026.