Project Officer - Higher Education Initiative

Job DescriptionJob Title: Project Officer - Higher Education Initiative Team: Learning & Capacity Building. You will also work closely with other teams in the Cross-KIC EIT HEI initiative Contract: fixed-term contract until December 2027, with possibility of extension Level: Foundation Please refer to our Capability Framework Salary: Competitive for Not-for-Profit Organisation Location: Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, Austria, Slovenia, UK, France, Italy Start Date: 1 November 2025 About Us At Climate KIC, we are wholeheartedly committed to building a diverse and representative team and an inclusive workplace that values different life experiences and perspectives, and we encourage personal development, learning and growth. When recruiting, we look to achieve diversity in the candidate pool. We actively encourage applications from underrepresented groups and are happy to consider reasonable adjustments that will foster success in potential colleagues from diverse backgrounds and life situations. And because our team has differing needs and personal circumstances, we offer a high degree of flexibility to accommodate working patterns. We’re happy to discuss your situation during the interview and see how best we can support you. Don’t let Imposter Syndrome stop you from applying! Climate KIC (Knowledge and Innovation Community) is Europe’s foremost climate innovation initiative. We understand that global temperature rise is exceeding 1.5C and this demands unprecedented change. It requires new social dynamics, ways of doing business, capital flows, policymaking, economic models, and new ways of living. That is why our mission is to leverage the power of systems innovation to transform whole places, industries and value chains by 2030, working across sectors to develop and scale ambitious programmes. Climate KIC’s strategy 2024-2030, Transformation, with Urgency, is available here.  Climate KIC operates as a not-for-profit foundation working through public-private partnership, wielding both public and private funding. Established in 2010 and headquartered in Amsterdam, we orchestrate a community of more than 150 organisations, including large corporations and SMEs, municipal and regional governments, universities and research institutes, as well as non-governmental organisations and civil society actors.   Climate KIC leads the implementation of the European Union’s Mission on Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities and the launch pilot of the Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change, both with the objective of catalysing rapid and deep transformation on a large scale, creating the precedent and economic transition conditions for demonstration, learning, capacity building, fast followership and investment. Achieving the EU Cities Mission will mean avoided scope 1 and 2 emissions alone of an estimated 0.7GT CO2e between now and 2040.  Climate KIC has a Remote-First approach, where colleagues work remotely from home based in one of the countries where we have a branch or employing entity (and can work out of local offices or co-working seats, where they exist). We meet at our local offices to exchange and connect and use online collaboration tools to work with each other and with our community. On occasion, we meet in person as teams, and once per year as an organisation.  As a mission-driven organisation dedicated to climate transformation, we consider the climate impact of our own actions, for example travel, catering, or IT equipment.  About The Role Climate KIC contributes with its expertise and experience on Climate Innovation, Monitoring Evaluation and Learning and System Innovation to the Higher Education institutions’ Initiatives. Since 2021 Climate KIC has led the activities on Monitoring Evaluation and Learning within the Initiative, delivered various System Innovation Training and managed 9 projects. The EIT Higher Education Institution (HEI) Capacity Building Initiative is a pan-European Cross-KIC initiative aimed at creating systemic impact in higher education by supporting Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to increase their innovation and entrepreneurial capacity and better integrate into and engage with innovation ecosystems. The project mobilises KIC partner and non-partner HEIs and supports them along a trajectory toward a stronger systemic contribution to innovation ecosystems through (i) education and human capital development, (ii) innovation and knowledge transfer, (iii) innovation pathways to EIT/KIC instruments to support enterprise development; (iv) broader societal engagement and local/regional leadership. In this context, we are looking for a Project Officer to support the efficient and effective implementation of the EIT HEI Initiative-related activities at Climate KIC. Currently, Climate KIC supports 7 HEI Initiative projects, involving 62 organisations from 25 countries. Key Responsibilities

• Act as the primary point-of-contact for EIT Higher Education Initiative-funded projects and an intermediary between the projects and Climate KIC and the central EIT HEI coordination Team (RawMaterials)
• Proactively seek and establish connections between HEI Initiative projects and Climate KIC activities, opportunities, and clusters
• Monitor progress of HEI Initiative Projects regarding their timelines, budgets, deliverables, milestones, and scope of activities through monthly meetings and performance reviews in accordance with their project plan
• Autonomously manage project performance reporting on EIT key performance indicators (KPIs) and project outputs in accordance with HEI guidelines
• Ensure alignment with Climate KIC processes and procedures to support smooth programme delivery
• Support projects in identifying and locating resources to aid them in implementing their activities, primarily within the Climate KIC and EIT ecosystem
• Support the project lead and the project team in planning and managing activities and tasks to ensure deadlines are met
• Assist in the organisation and implementation of online and in-person activities, such as KIC Discovery Days, IVAP workshops and System Innovation trainings
• Participate in cross-KIC taskforces on EIT HEI management and coordination, such as the call for proposals for HEI projects and grant reporting
• Support in producing project documents and reports
• Actively nurture connection and engagement between HEI Initiative projects and Climate KIC Clusters

Key Working Relationships You will be the first point of contact for EIT HEI projects funded by Climate KIC and will therefore be in regular contact with the project coordinators and occasionally with the wider project consortium partners. Externally you will also be in close contacts with other EIT Knowledge Innovation Communities (KICs) leading and delivering the EIT HEI Initiative. Internally you will be working mainly with the fully remote EIT HEI Initiative team at Climate KIC, with connection to other units such as Learning & Capacity Building team, IT, Operations, finance and Monitoring Evaluation and Learning (MEL). You will also be in regular relations with Climate KIC clusters as relevant for the project topic. Moreover, you will be in contact with external suppliers/service providers supporting Climate KIC to deliver our work related to the EIT HEI Initiative. Job requirements About You To be successful in this role you will be passionate and committed to the mission of the programme and friendly and approachable to different stakeholders. We are looking for a can-do, get-it-done, action-oriented team player person who can support the EIT HEI Initiative Team to manage efficiently and effectively all the project-related tasks. Education/Qualifications

• University degree, in business administration, general/project management, social & political sciences, economics or another relevant field or 3 years or project management experience

Experience

• 3-5 years of demonstrated experience as a project officer in managing complex international projects in the public or private sector
• Experience in handling complex stakeholder relationships with academic professionals, R&I, and social enterprises
• Experience in building community engagement and fostering collaboration between different stakeholders
• Proven experience in project management and in organising individual and group, online and in-person events
• Experience in digitalising project/administrative processes and workflows as well as managing them using modern digital tools
• Proven expertise in autonomously creating high-quality written documents
• (Optional but encouraged) Experience working on topics related to Higher Education and/or Entrepreneurship programmes

Skills

• Excellent project management skills
• Strong attention to detail
• Self-organised, multi-tasking, prioritizing under pressure, and meeting deadlines
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
• Engaging with other team members with strong team spirit
• Experience or willingness to work with collaborative IT applications (we use Office365 and Microsoft Teams, as well as Miro, Zoom, Mentimeter etc.)

Qualities, Personal Style, and Approach

• Teamplayer, can-do and get-it-done attitude
• Collaborative and team focus
• Curious with a learning mindset
• Pro-active with a drive for problem-solving
• Ambition to learn and grow through taking on challenging tasks and complex organisation

Location Candidates must have the right to work in the EU prior to applying for the position. Ideally, the successful candidate will be based close to a Climate KIC office, but we support full remote or hybrid forms of working and offer a high degree of flexibility. Occasional travel may be required to engage with local stakeholders in different projects. At Climate KIC we are wholeheartedly committed to building a diverse and representative team and an inclusive workplace that values different life experiences and perspectives, and encourages personal development, learning and growth. When recruiting, we look to achieve diversity in the candidate pool. We actively encourage applications from underrepresented groups and are happy to consider reasonable adjustments to that will foster success in potential employees from diverse backgrounds and life situations. And because our team has differing needs and personal circumstances, we offer a high degree of flexibility to accommodate all working patterns. To ensure that we can respond to every single applicant, we will close the role once we receive a reasonable pool of candidates to assess.