Support Engineer
Omschrijving van de vacature
About us
VIB (Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie) is an entrepreneurial non-profit research institute, with a clear focus on ground-breaking strategic basic research in life sciences and operates in close partnership with the universities in Flanders.
The ICT department at VIB ensures that assets, technology, information, and data are managed securely and efficiently. Our focus includes:
- Supporting and improving the ICT infrastructure, including networks, hardware, and critical systems.
- Enabling digital transformation initiatives across the organization.
- Securing and supporting applications, information and data flows, and software integrations.
- Helping researchers and support services work efficiently through modern, reliable digital services.
Within ICT, our Support & Operations team is the first point of contact for end-users and plays a key role in ensuring a smooth and reliable workplace experience. To strengthen this team, we are looking for a Support Engineer who enjoys helping people, feels comfortable interacting with a wide range of end-users, and wants to contribute to a supportive and collaborative ICT service environment.
About the role
As a Support Engineer, you will be part of the Support & Operations team and act as the first point of contact for ICT-related questions, incidents, and requests. You support colleagues across the organization in their daily work by resolving issues, providing clear guidance, and ensuring a positive user experience.
You will:
- Resolve complex cases that would otherwise block or overload specialist teams.
- Take over smaller operational tasks from network & infrastructure colleagues where appropriate.
- Coach and guide junior engineers, raising the overall technical capability of the Support & Operations team.
- Continuously improve support quality through documentation, proactive monitoring and structural problem solving.
You will report to the Support & Operations Manager.
Key responsibilities
As a Support Engineer, you will:
End-user support & service delivery
- Act as the first point of contact for ICT-related incidents and service requests via the supported channels.
- Provide friendly, clear, and effective support to end-users, both remotely and on-site.
- Resolve common hardware, software, and workplace issues for Windows and macOS devices.
- Guide users in the correct use of standard tools and applications.
- Ensure proper follow-up, communication, and user satisfaction for assigned tickets.
Incident handling & escalation
- Analyze issues, perform initial troubleshooting, and resolve problems where possible.
- Escalate more complex issues to second-line or specialist teams with clear documentation and context.
- Follow up on escalated tickets and keep users informed of progress.
Team collaboration & ways of working
- Work closely with colleagues within the Support & Operations team to ensure consistent service quality.
- Collaborate with other ICT teams by providing accurate information and feedback from end-user interactions.
- Follow agreed procedures and contribute to a structured and reliable support process.
Documentation & continuous improvement
- Document solutions, workarounds, and common issues in the knowledge base.
- Signal recurring problems or improvement opportunities to the team.
- Contribute ideas to improve user experience, support processes, and service quality.
Gewenst profiel
- You have experience in an ICT support or service desk role.
- You feel confident interacting with end-users and explaining technical topics in a clear, approachable way.
- You have a good working knowledge of Windows and/or macOS in an end-user environment.
- You are familiar with Microsoft 365 applications (Outlook, Teams, OneDrive, SharePoint).
- You have basic experience with device management concepts (e.g. Intune or similar tools) or are motivated to learn.
- You are eager to grow your technical skills step by step.
Skills and capabilities
- Strong service and customer-oriented mindset.
- Good communication skills, both written and verbal.
- Structured approach to troubleshooting and ticket handling.
- Ability to work well in a team and ask for help when needed.
- Willingness to learn and adapt in a technical environment.
- Basic understanding of ICT concepts such as hardware, operating systems, and applications.
- Fluent in Dutch and English.
Ons aanbod
- An open-ended contract.
- Competitive salary based on experience and expertise.
- A strong salary package with multiple benefits (e.g. internet allowance, meal vouchers, …).
- You will work within an innovative, challenging and international working environment in the large life-sciences network of VIB.
- We offer opportunities for personal development. Taking additional training and courses is certainly possible if relevant to the performance of the job.
- Our offices are located at VIB headquarters in Ghent. Possibility of homeworking, with balance between working from a remote location and from the office. We are flexible regarding work location and working hours.
- We are an organization that values diversity in backgrounds and in experiences. Diversity not only includes race and gender identity, but also nationality, age, disability status, sexual orientation, religion and many other parts of one’s identity. VIB is therefore looking for candidates who share a passion for science that generates an impact on society and care deeply about supporting each other's growth.