Senior ICT Project Manager

About VIB

VIB (Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie) is an entrepreneurial non-profit research institute with a clear focus on ground-breaking strategic basic research in life sciences and operates in close partnership with the five universities in Flanders.

The ICT department at VIB ensures that assets technology information and data are managed securely and efficiently. Our focus includes:

• Supporting and improving the ICT infrastructure including networks hardware and critical systems.
• Enabling digital transformation initiatives across the organization.
• Securing and supporting applications information and data flows and software integrations.
• Helping researchers and support services work efficiently through modern reliable digital services.

To strengthen our ability to deliver complex cross-unit initiatives VIB in Ghent is looking for an experienced ICT Project Manager to lead and coordinate a variety of strategic projects in our ICT portfolio.

About the role

As ICT Project Manager you will take ownership of digital transformation and ICT projects across VIB. You bring structure clarity and momentum to initiatives ensuring projects are properly initiated planned executed tracked and delivered applying certified project methodologies.

You are someone who actively drives progress keeps stakeholders aligned and makes sure nothing slips through the cracks. You follow up proactively report clearly manage risks and issues and ensure governance is in place without needing constant follow-up.

Besides running projects you will also help VIB grow toward a more mature and consistent project approach. Step by step you will contribute to building a practical project methodology that fits VIBs culture: lightweight transparent and effective.

You will report to the ICT Director of VIB.

Responsibilities

As a Senior ICT Project Manager you will:

Project ownership and coordination

• Take full end-to-end ownership of ICT and digital transformation projects from initiation to delivery.
• Translate project objectives into clear scope deliverables milestones and actionable work packages.
• Build and maintain realistic project plans including dependencies resource planning and timeline management.
• Coordinate activities across ICT teams support units researchers and external partners.
• Ensure projects are delivered with a strong focus on quality stakeholder alignment and measurable outcomes.

Planning follow-up & coordination

• Proactively track progress and ensure follow-up actions are executed on time.
• Ensure project documentation is up-to-date and usable (planning decisions action lists status reporting etc.).
• Organize and facilitate project meetings workshops and alignment sessions.
• Ensure cross-team activities are properly coordinated and that responsibilities are clear.
• Ensure that everything is in line with the predetermined scope time and budget.

Governance reporting & stakeholder management

• Set up and manage appropriate governance structures (e.g. progress meetings steering committees status updates escalation paths).
• Prepare concise transparent status reporting for management and stakeholders.
• Ensure decisions are documented and communicated clearly across the project landscape.
• Act as the central point of contact to balance expectations and drive alignment across stakeholders.

Risk & issue management

• Maintain a clear and practical overview of project risks issues and mitigating actions.
• Actively identify risks early and ensure they are addressed and escalated when needed.
• Follow up on issues until resolution and ensure lessons learned are captured.

Methodology & maturity building

• Contribute to establishing a practical scalable project approach within VIB.
• Gradually build templates practices and routines that support consistent project delivery.
• Help embed project discipline and clarity across teams without adding unnecessary bureaucracy.
• Take ownership for continuous improvement of project governance and reporting within ICT.

Your profile

• You have at least 5 years of experience as an ICT project manager in a complex environment (multi-stakeholder multi-team high autonomy).
• You are comfortable leading projects that involve a mix of operational and strategic work.
• You bring structure and clarity even when requirements are evolving or the environment is complex.
• Certification or knowledge in a project methodology is a plus (Agile Scrum Prince2 …)
• You are proactive and self-driven: once you own a topic people can trust you to drive it forward and deliver.
• Experience in digital transformation projects is a plus but not a requirement we value strong project ownership and maturity above domain-specific background.

Skills and capabilities

• Strong organizational and planning skills you keep initiatives on track and up to date.
• Excellent communication skills: you can align technical and non-technical stakeholders with ease.
• You have a Masters degree or equivalent through experience
• Strong stakeholder management: you navigate different interests diplomatically and keep people engaged.
• Experience organizing steering committees and preparing structured reporting.
• Hands-on experience with risk management issue tracking and decision logging.
• You are pragmatic reliable and focused on delivery.
• Fluent in Dutch and English both written and spoken.

We offer

• An open-ended contract.
• Competitive salary based on experience and expertise.
• A strong salary package with multiple benefits (e.g. internet allowance meal vouchers smartphone hospitalisation insurance eco-cheques group insurance …).
• You will work within an innovative challenging and international working environment in the large life-sciences network of VIB.
• We offer opportunities for personal development. Taking additional training and courses is certainly possible if relevant to the performance of the job.
• Our offices are located at VIB headquarters in Ghent. Possibility of homeworking (2 days/week) with balance between working from a remote location and from the office. We are flexible regarding work location and working hours.
• We are an organisation that values diversity in backgrounds and in experiences. Diversity not only includes race and gender identity but also nationality age disability status sexual orientation religion and many other parts of ones identity. VIB is therefore looking for candidates who share a passion for science that generates an impact on society and care deeply about supporting each others growth.

How to apply

If you are interested in this challenging and rewarding opportunity please submit your application via the VIB careers portal including CV and letter of motivation.