Are you an inspiring leader who radiates confidence and has a sharp eye for both business operations and employee well-being? This is your chance to make a tangible impact on healthier lives every day. Lifelines is on the lookout for a visionary General Director! Joining Lifelines means becoming part of a pioneering organization at the forefront of research into healthier aging, with a direct influence on shaping the future of health and science. As General Director, you will lead a passionate team and play a vital role in steering one of the world’s largest longitudinal biobanks towards new achievements and societal contributions.
Job Description
The General Director of Lifelines is a capable leader who can sustain and further develop the organization. This person combines expertise in business operations and finance with excellent communication and management skills. The General Director inspires trust both internally and externally, fosters collaboration, and ensures financial and operational control. Together with the Co-Director, they establish a shared vision for the future and have the ability to lead the organization towards that vision. By simplifying complex issues and making them manageable, the General Director helps the organization set clear goals and achieve results.
Duties and Responsibilities
The General Director:
– Has ultimate responsibility for managing both subsidiaries of Lifelines.
– Primarily oversees the operations of Lifelines, including monitoring financial frameworks.
– Leads staff at all levels, from operational personnel to management, and supervises operational procedures related to management, support services, and the division responsible for data and biological material collection (Collection & Fourth Research Round).
– Develops the organizational strategy and HR policies in collaboration with the Scientific Director.
– Maintains external relations with networks and partnerships with other organizations, companies, and governments that are vital to Lifelines’ development (regionally, nationally, and internationally).
– Bridges the internal organization (staff) and external stakeholders (participants, partners, and suppliers), particularly concerning operational aspects.
– Chairs meetings with the Participant Advisory Board.
– Leads the management team.
– Collaborates closely with and reports directly to the Supervisory Board and shareholders.
– Ensures the effective functioning of the internal organization, focusing on employee and team engagement.
– Oversees the policy and control cycle, annual reports, and financial statements.
– Ensures effective employee participation structures.
About Lifelines
What is Lifelines?
How can we grow old more healthily? Why does one person stay healthy while another falls ill? Many of these questions can only be answered through scientific research, and that’s precisely why Lifelines exists: to enable scientific research for healthier aging. Lifelines collects and shares data and biological materials to promote longer, healthier lives. We gather this data from 167,000 people in Northern Netherlands through questionnaires and research rounds conducted approximately every five years. With this data, Lifelines has created the world’s largest longitudinal biobank.
Our headquarters is in Roden, where we also have a laboratory for sample analysis. In Groningen, we manage the Lifestore, where collected materials are stored in freezers at -80°C. This year, we began the fourth research round with two operational locations, with additional sites opening across Northern Netherlands during the study. We are a small, informal, and ambitious organization, collaborating closely with partners like UMCG, RUG, and the Aletta Jacobs School of Public Health.
Lifelines is also part of the Health Data Valley, a consortium of Northern Netherlands organizations (including hospitals, research institutions, universities, and government bodies) working together to improve health and healthcare using health data. Lifelines’ research infrastructure forms the foundation for substantiating, monitoring, and evaluating health goals, agreements, and policies.
Lifelines was initially launched under the umbrella of the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG). Since early 2014, it has operated as two subsidiaries:
1. Lifelines Data Management BV: Oversees data and biological material management.
2. Medical Biobank North Netherlands BV: Handles operations.
Lifelines is a nonprofit organization owned by the University Medical Center Groningen and the University of Groningen. Its headquarters is located in Roden.
What We Seek
Required Experience and Competencies
– Academic-level thinking and working skills.
– A minimum of 5 years of leadership experience in a senior management or executive role.
– Entrepreneurial mindset.
– Decisive and results-oriented.
– Inspirational leadership style.
– Strong communication skills.
– People- and collaboration-focused.
– Organizationally sensitive.
– Experience within regional, national, or international policy networks (e.g., The Hague or Brussels) is a plus.
Position in the Organization
Lifelines has a dual leadership structure consisting of a General Director (0.5 FTE) and a Scientific Director (0.5 FTE). The General Director is primarily responsible for Lifelines’ overall operations, including financial oversight. The Scientific Director focuses on Lifelines’ scientific strategy, positioning, and societal and academic profile.
The leadership team works closely together, complementing each other’s roles and acting as each other’s sparring partners. Despite their differences in expertise and personal style, they must share and convey a unified vision. A strong personal connection between the two directors is essential.
The leadership team is responsible for managing Lifelines, which includes setting and achieving objectives, strategies, and policies, and ensuring positive outcomes. They report to the Supervisory Board and, for significant organizational changes, to the General Assembly. The leadership team may seek advice from experts or establish standing or ad-hoc committees. Currently, the Participant Advisory Board and Scientific Advisory Committee are active.
Interested? For more information and the full application process, visit this website.