Head of Department, Pediatrics

Do you want to shape the future of pediatrics together with passionate professionals? At the Erasmus MC Sophia Children's Hospital, highly complex care, research, and education converge. As Head of Department, you will connect that strength and contribute to better care for children and their families. You will lead one of the largest and most versatile academic departments within Erasmus MC. Together with the sub-heads, you will develop and realize a shared course for care, research, education, and innovation. You will leverage the expertise of the various specialties and make choices that advance the department as a whole. In doing so, you bear integral responsibility for the strategic, medical, organizational, financial, and scientific functioning of the department and the Erasmus MC Sophia Children's Hospital.

You are stepping in at a moment when you can truly make a difference. The new care concept, temporary housing, renovation, and new construction offer the opportunity to reshape not only the working environment but also the care and collaboration. You will build upon a strong clinical and scientific foundation and, together, provide direction to the next phase of Sophia, while preserving its recognizable identity. The increasing complexity of care, labor market tightness, and scarcity of people and resources demand clear priorities. You will balance care demand and capacity, make trade-offs transparent, and translate decisions into results. At the same time, you will stimulate innovation in network care, data, digitalization, and AI.

You are visible and accessible to the department and a recognizable figurehead within the Sophia Children's Hospital. Your influence extends beyond your own department: in the Sophia theme board, within the broader Erasmus MC, and in regional, national, and international networks, you will work on the future of pediatrics. You connect the interests of the department with those of Sophia and Erasmus MC as a whole and contribute to their further development and governability. Together with the Head of Department for Neonatal and Pediatric Intensive Care, you will shape integral pediatrics within and outside Erasmus MC.

Together, you will work on the following tasks, for which you, as Head of Department, bear responsibility:

Developing and realizing a shared future course, in line with Koers28, the Sophia Care Concept, and the broader strategic course of Erasmus MC.

Connecting the strength of the sub-specialties around shared priorities. You will strengthen collaboration and knowledge sharing and further develop the organization, governance, and structure of the department.

Safeguarding and further developing high-quality, accessible, and appropriate academic pediatric care. You will make clear choices regarding the care portfolio, capacity, and the positioning of complex care, with quality, safety, and continuity as the starting point.

Building a future-proof workforce. You will develop and realize strategic workforce planning, with attention to the labor market, workload, sustainable employability, talent development, and succession.

Advancing the scientific strength of the department. You will provide direction to a recognizable and successful research profile in which fundamental, translational, and clinical research reinforce each other and researchers and scientific talent are optimally facilitated.

Helping a next generation of professionals grow. You will ensure a safe, stimulating, and high-quality educational climate and oversee the department's contribution to education and training.

Connecting expertise across boundaries. You will strengthen regional chain care and national and international collaboration in patient care, research, education, and innovation.

Giving meaning to innovation in practice. You will promote the application of data, technology, digitalization, and AI in care, research, and work processes, with an eye for quality, safety, and social responsibility.

Contributing to the Sophia of the future. You will utilize temporary housing, renovation, and new construction as strategic opportunities to further develop care, collaboration, and the working environment.