ABOUT THIS POSITION

TNO conducts applied research for the built environment. The Mobility & Built Environment Unit (MBE) is looking for a medior scientist in the Risk & Reliability domain, applied to civil structures. Direct involvement in research into the consequences of the effects of climate change to our flood defences, looking into remaining lifetime of the large bridges in the Netherlands under changing traffic loads, or applying your advanced probabilistic analysis to maintenance strategies for offshore wind farms. How impactful do you want to be?

You perform qualitative and quantitative analyses to determine the risks related to and reliability of civil structures. These include among others bridges, flyovers, high rise buildings, quay walls, sheet piling, flood barriers and the foundations of wind turbines at sea. As every structure is different, has a different history and is exposed to different conditions, every project is a voyage of discovery for you. Together with your colleagues from the project team you come up with new solutions and develop applications to perform calculations. You do this for clients such as Rijkswaterstaat (Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management), municipalities, energy and port companies, and in consortia with other national and international research institutions.
Your analyses answer questions such as ‘how much longer will this structure be safe?’ or ‘how can we optimise the design?’ Your goal is to fulfil the customer’s wishes as well as possible. In doing so, you think outside the box and beyond the usual methods. After all, that is often the reason why the customer comes to TNO. Sometimes this means that you do not immediately find the solution. But by working together and exchanging knowledge with colleagues and researchers from other organisations, such as Deltares and Delft University of Technology, you always get a step further. You will usually work at our office in Delft.
In consultation with you and based on your knowledge, ambitions and interests, we determine what your exact duties will look like. As a medior, you will receive more guidance from peers and seniors in the beginning. As a medior, we expect you to be able to set up and carry out research independently, working in a team. You will also often have an independent advisory role towards our clients.