Temporary Wood Workshop Specialist for 11 hours (0.28 fte)

The Gerrit Rietveld Academie is looking for a:
Temporary Wood Workshop Specialist for 11 hours (0.28 fte)

The Wood Workshop at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie is looking for a temporary colleague to join our team for one year while one of our workshop specialists is away.

The position is for 0.28 FTE, equivalent to approximately one day per week throughout the year. During our graduation period in May and June, this will increase to around three days per week.

About the Wood Workshop
The Wood Workshop at the Rietveld Academie and the Sandberg Instituut is open to students from all departments and study programmes who want to work with wood as part of their creative practice. Students come to the workshop to develop and realise their own projects. We support them with technical questions and questions relating to materials, construction, sustainability, the sequence of work, safety and the substantive development of their ideas. We enjoy guiding and supporting students and following the development of their creative practice. Alongside individual guidance, we offer courses and workshops.
We collaborate with designLAB and the Architecture Department on workshops and special educational programmes. The workshop is run by a team of four specialists, each working on different days. We are open five days a week, with extended opening hours until 20.00 on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Who are we looking for?
We are looking for someone with a practical, hands-on approach, an in-depth understanding of woodworking and a willingness to share their knowledge and expertise. You enjoy supporting students in their creative processes in a variety of ways.

You have:

• Experience working with hand tools, power tools and stationary woodworking machinery.
• Preferably, a background in furniture making or a related field.
• A good knowledge of wood and its properties.
• A sound understanding of workshop safety and safe working practices, and the ability to ensure these are followed and to implement improvements where needed.
• The ability to guide, teach and support students as they develop and realise their projects.
• The ability to manage and run the workshop independently after an introduction and onboarding period.

In addition, you:

• Are able to instruct and communicate clearly and enjoy working with students from a wide range of backgrounds. You are aware of neurodiversity and different learning needs.
• Have experience working with students from different departments, ranging from beginners to those with extensive woodworking experience.
• Are patient and approachable and can explain technical matters in an accessible and friendly way.
• Are comfortable communicating in English and Dutch by email, managing workshop bookings and responding to administrative enquiries.
• Work in an organised and tidy manner and contribute to keeping the workshop clean, safe and well maintained.
• Are flexible, curious, resilient under pressure, creative, open, proactive and consistent.

About the Gerrit Rietveld Academie
The Gerrit Rietveld Academie is a small-scale, independent internationally oriented university of applied sciences for visual arts and design. The academy is characterised by research-based and experimental art education, where department heads, teachers, workplace specialists, students and staff jointly shape and give substance to education and research. Diversity and inclusion, ecology and sustainability, transparency and accessibility are important focal points of the academy and therefore guide the actions of members of the academy community. All staff and students are expected to uphold the academy's code of conduct.
Students at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie come from 55 different countries, making the academy a diverse community. Department heads and teachers attached to the academy are mostly also independent artists or designers or have a practice connected to the artistic field as contemplators or theorists. The daily management of the academy is in the hands of the Executive Board and the director bachelor’s education and workshops, director of masters education and research and the director of operations. The academy has about 375 employees.

Employment conditions

• The position is classified in salary scale 8 (Instructor) under the Dutch collective labour agreement for universities of applied sciences (cao hbo).
• As of January 2026, the full-time gross monthly salary ranges from €477,51 to €4.595,29, based on a 40-hour working week. The salary offered will depend on the candidate's knowledge and experience.
• Benefits include an 8% holiday allowance, an end-of-year bonus of 8.3%, generous annual leave, a pension scheme to which the employer contributes 70% of the premium, and opportunities for professional development.
• The appointment is temporary, from 1 January to 31 December 2027, with no prospect of a permanent contract.
• This is an employment contract. Applicants who are not EU nationals must hold a valid residence permit. Depending on the type of permit, restrictions may apply to the number of hours they are allowed to work. Please state in your application which type of residence permit you hold, if applicable.
  
  

Diversity and inclusion
The Gerrit Rietveld Academie aims to broaden the representation of staff, students, partners and programmes to better reflect the diversity of the city and the artistic and design fields. Anyone who would like to contribute to this ambition is warmly encouraged to apply.

How to apply
Please send a letter of motivation and your CV to vacatures@rietveldacademie.nl.
Please use the subject line: Application – Temporary Wood Workshop Specialist.
For further information about the position, please contact Stephanie ter Heide at stephanie.terheide@rietveldacademie.nl.

The response deadline closes on November 20th, 2026.
The first round of interviews will take place on December 1st, 2026.
Start of contract January 1st, 2027. First day at the job to be discussed.

Recruitment agencies are asked not to contact us in response to this advert.