Rotterdam, Netherlands
General and artistic director
at Het Nieuwe Instituut
Nieuwe Instituut is hiring a general and artistic director to join its team in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
General/artistic director
The ideal candidate will promote the institute’s ambitions, understand the significance of architecture, design and digital culture for our society, and recognise the importance of heritage as collective memory. The director will convincingly strengthen the Nieuwe Instituut’s international presence and harness the potential of all our employees. They will also build partnerships with Dutch institutions and international allies. We are looking for someone who can combine the roles of connector, team player and figurehead.
Nieuwe Instituut
Since its foundation in 2013, the Nieuwe Instituut has evolved into a national cultural institution with an interdisciplinary focus, situated at the intersection of architecture, design and digital culture. Nieuwe Instituut is a hybrid organisation with various functions – museum, heritage institution and sector-supporting network organisation – with one larger, integrated mission: connecting knowledge of the past with contemporary and future design assignments. The institute showcases the transformative power of new design ideas and applies the knowledge of the past to today’s urgent global challenges, such as climate change, technological acceleration and social inequity.
Role and tasks
The new general/artistic director:
- represents the Nieuwe Instituut nationally and internationally and acts as an artistic figurehead
- positions the institute in terms of content and strategy as a leading platform and as an agenda-setting testing ground
- manages the heads of the programme, agency and collection departments and is the direct manager of the research department
- actively acts as a co-manager, as a sparring partner for the management team and as a discussion partner for the OR (works council)
- develops and monitors the institute’s artistic and content-related direction, in relation to social and ecological issues and with an eye for accessibility and public reach
- connects heritage and design capacity with research and public programming
- works in managerial collaboration on the strategic multi-year policy
- stimulates an approach that is interdisciplinary, multivocal and collaborative within the organisation and with external partners
- maintains a relevant (inter)national network in the design world
- actively contributes to fundraising, public reach and relationship management
- is visible and approachable within the organisation and stimulates an open, reflective work culture with an eye for participation, sustainability and diversity, equity and inclusion
What are we offering?
Nieuwe Instituut offers a full-time position as a key member of a unique, influential and dynamic cultural institute, which has a supportive working environment and an international presence.
A detailed job profile, including information about the organisation, current developments, the position and the timeline, is available and can be downloaded from this page.
Interested?
Are you excited about this opportunity? Nieuwe Instituut is guided in this procedure by executive search agency Colourful People. For more information about the Nieuwe Instituut, the position or the procedure, please contact Naima Azough, Partner at Colourful People, at [email protected] or on (+31) 6 4344 9717.
Please send your motivation letter and CV in English and in PDF format no later than 15 August 2025, using the application button on www.colourfulpeople.nl.