UMC Utrecht Careers, Salaries & Jobs

UMC Utrecht is the university medical centre of Utrecht, including the Wilhelmina Children's Hospital (WKZ). Its English careers site says it has more than 1,100 beds and more than 12,000 employees, which makes it one of the largest academic centres in the Netherlands.

Its 2025 annual report gives an average of 9,745 FTE.

Research is organised in six strategic programmes: the Brain Center, Cancer, Child Health, Circulatory Health, Infection & Immunity, and Regenerative Medicine & Stem Cells, with patient care built into each. The annual report says the WKZ is the largest children's muscle centre in the Netherlands.

UMC Utrecht has an English-language site for new international employees. It has an agreement with the International Service Desk (ISD) of Utrecht University, which processes visa and permit applications and extensions and holds an intake with new international staff within three days of arrival.

Clinical roles still require BIG registration and Dutch at the BIG register's levels. Pay follows the Cao umc, with an 8% holiday allowance and an 8.3% year-end bonus.

Run by

UMC Utrecht, the university medical centre of Utrecht

Leadership

• Prof. L. (Louis) Bont, Dean and Vice-Chair
• J.C.E. (Josefien) Kursten, Member for finance, buildings and operations
• J.W.R. (Remco) van Lunteren, Member for operational control

Switchboard

+31 88 75 555 55

• Wilhelmina Children's Hospital (WKZ)

  UMC Utrecht's children's hospital; the annual report calls it the largest children's muscle centre in the Netherlands.

• Brain Center

  Care and research for neurological and psychiatric disease, from fundamental research to treatment.

• Cancer

  One of the six strategic research programmes, with patient care integrated.

• Circulatory Health

  A programme bringing together cardiovascular researchers, clinicians and educators to reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease.

• Infection & Immunity

  A strategic programme researching how infections and immune diseases develop.

• Regenerative Medicine & Stem Cells

  A programme aimed at speeding up regenerative therapies, including biofabrication and disease modelling.

• UMC Utrecht runs a new-employee site in English for international employees, guests, students and interns. It has an agreement with the International Service Desk (ISD), part of Utrecht University, which processes the visa and permit applications and extensions of UMC Utrecht's international employees and monitors the deadlines.
• Within three days of arrival, new international staff are invited for an intake with the ISD to help them find their way around living and working in the Netherlands, and they can go back to the ISD with questions on housing and practical matters.
• UMC Utrecht has limited temporary housing for new employees: short-stay rooms through SSH as an international staff member of the Faculty of Medicine, for up to one year, and a house on the Biltstraat with 49 single rooms. It warns that housing in Utrecht is very hard to find and that availability is not guaranteed.
• Universitair Medisch Centrum Utrecht is listed in the IND public register of recognised sponsors (checked 21 October 2026). Its careers site says that once you are hired, HR tells you which immigration procedures apply and helps where needed. We did not find a dedicated recruitment programme for internationally trained nurses or doctors.

• BIG registration. To work at UMC Utrecht as a doctor, nurse, physician assistant, pharmacist, midwife, physiotherapist or in another profession listed in Article 3 of the BIG Act, you must be in the BIG register. With a diploma from outside the EEA and Switzerland you first need a certificate of professional competence, assessed by the BIG register on the advice of the CBGV. The BIG register says the whole process takes on average 6 months to 1.5 years from your application, the application and assessment are free, and registration costs €85. Your first registration is conditional: you work for 3 months under supervision before it becomes definitive.

• Dutch at the level the BIG register sets. You prove Dutch before you apply for recognition: B1 for nursing, B2 for higher vocational professions such as physiotherapy and midwifery, and B2+ (above B2, below C1) for doctors, dentists and pharmacists. The BIG register also asks for proof of English reading skills, and says learning Dutch to the right level takes on average one and a half to two years.

• The BI-test. Doctors, dentists and nurses sit a professional knowledge test (BI-toets) as part of the assessment. The BIG register lists the fee for nurses as €400. For doctors it said, when we checked in October 2026, that there are no test places available at the moment and that it is not known when doctors can be scheduled again.

• A residence permit. Non-EU staff usually come on the IND's highly skilled migrant (kennismigrant) permit, which only a recognised sponsor can apply for. Universitair Medisch Centrum Utrecht is listed in the IND public register of recognised sponsors for labour and highly skilled migrants (register updated 5 October 2026, checked 21 October 2026). In 2026 the salary must be at least €5,942 gross a month if you are 30 or older, or €4,357 if you are under 30, excluding holiday allowance; the fee is €423 and the IND decides within 90 days.

• BIG registration for the permit. The IND states that if you will practise a profession listed in Article 3 or 36a of the BIG Act, you must be registered (or conditionally registered) in the BIG register. For doctors in specialist training the salary only has to reach the minimum wage, but the training must be recognised by the RGS or another listed committee.

• A certificate of conduct (VOG). UMC Utrecht asks new staff for a Dutch certificate of conduct; if you do not live in the Netherlands, you request it from your country of origin, and the cost can be claimed back once you are employed.

1. 1

   Check your profession and start BIG recognition

   If your job is a BIG profession, use the BIG register's advice wizard and apply for a certificate of professional competence through mijn.bigregister.nl. It is free, but it takes months and may end with extra training, so start well before you apply for jobs.
2. 2

   Get your Dutch to the required level

   Plan for the language certificate the BIG register asks for: B1 for nurses, B2+ for doctors. Certificates must be no more than two years old when you apply.
3. 3

   Find a vacancy at UMC Utrecht

   Search the vacancies at careersatumcutrecht.com. Set a job alert if nothing fits yet. Read each advert for the Cao umc scale, the hours and whether BIG registration is required.
4. 4

   Apply online

   Apply through the vacancy with your CV and motivation letter. Mention your BIG status (registered, in progress or not yet started) and your Dutch level, because both decide whether you can start in a clinical role.
5. 5

   Work with the International Service Desk

   Once you are accepted, UMC Utrecht passes your details to the ISD, which handles your visa and permit. Reply quickly to its emails, register early for short-stay housing and arrange your certificate of conduct.
6. 6

   Start under supervision

   If your BIG registration is conditional, you work your first 3 months under the supervision of a BIG-registered colleague in your profession, then send the signed supervision form to the BIG register.

• All general scales (1 to 18)

  €2,744 to €13,171 a month

  Cao umc appendix A, from scale 1 step 0 to the top of scale 18, 1 July 2026.

• Salary scales for nurses (8aM, 8M, 9aM, 9M)

  €3,626 to €5,845 a month

  Cao umc appendix Aa, 1 July 2026. Which scale applies depends on how the nursing job is graded.

• Doctors not yet specialists, including residents (scale 11a)

  €4,642 to €6,393 a month

  Cao umc appendix B, steps 0 to 10, 1 July 2026. Covers aios and anios.

• Medical specialist (MS scale)

  €7,727 to €9,136 a month

  Cao umc appendix C, 1 July 2026.

• University medical specialist (UMS scale)

  €10,032 to €14,265 a month

  Cao umc appendix C, 1 July 2026.

• Holiday allowance

  8% of annual salary

  Cao umc article 4.5.

• Year-end bonus

  8.3% of annual salary

  Cao umc article 4.4.