Advisor on the Business Climate

Your role

As a consultant , you will develop projects and policies that have an administrative and social impact in this region. This means identifying opportunities and economic developments in the region and translating them into action, connections, and relationships. This can be challenging, as there are sometimes conflicting interests. That’s why you, more than anyone else, know how to bring all these different parties together.

Areas of Focus

The topics you will be working on address current issues and help strengthen the region’s business climate. In this role, you will focus primarily on the theme of “space for work.” In addition, we expect you to be versatile within our department, including in the other areas of “labor market & education” and “SMEs and innovation.” You will tackle issues such as: how do we ensure sufficient physical space for businesses in the region? And how do we make workplaces more sustainable? How do we ensure there is enough talent for jobs that are important for sustainable economic growth? You will primarily work on project and policy development. You will do this in collaboration with your colleagues, municipalities, and other partners.

This is what a typical workday will look like

You start your Monday at the office with two direct colleagues to work together on a project to make an industrial park more sustainable. After that, you have a department meeting so you can stay up to date on your colleagues’ latest developments. In the afternoon, you’ll have lunch with your immediate colleagues and colleagues from the transportation department. After lunch, you’ll finalize a proposal for an important agenda item for the Economic Business Climate administrative meeting. You’ll coordinate this internally with the municipalities and the relevant alderman. There’s a deadline for submitting the documents, and you’ll make sure it’s met!

In short, this is a challenging position in which you will be responsible for advising on and implementing projects in 21 municipalities.

This is you

With your network and experience, you are able to translate complex issues into concrete projects and results. You are attuned to your surroundings, results-oriented, and thrive in the political and administrative arena. As a person, you are energetic, flexible, and have a knack for building relationships and understanding dynamics.

In addition:

• Are you a networker who can connect municipalities with one another?
• you have an understanding of the social and administrative context;
• Are you entrepreneurial, proactive, and able to easily build relationships with new and existing key stakeholders?

You also have access to:

• HBO+ level of work and thinking;
• At least 4 years of experience working with public organizations where conflicts of interest may be part of the job;
• an affinity for and experience with (spatial) economic issues at the local/regional level

If this sounds like you, we invite you to apply. Even if you don’t quite fit the bill yet but are still interested in the position, we’d still like to hear from you.

Our offerings

• A salary that reflects who you are and what you can do. We’d be happy to discuss the exact amount with you, up to a maximum of €5,725 (scale 11) or €6,470 gross (scale 12) based on a 36-hour workweek. Your starting salary will depend on your knowledge and work experience.
• A one-year contract. If we’re still happy working together after that, we’ll be happy to convert your contract into a permanent employment contract.
• The opportunity to grow and work toward your personal goals.
• 27 days of vacation per year based on a 36-hour workweek.
• Good ABP pension plan.
• An individual flexible spending allowance equal to 17.05% of the gross monthly salary.
• A loaner laptop and a phone allowance.
• Full public transportation reimbursement for commuting (2nd class) and business travel (1st class).
• A high degree of autonomy: you have the freedom to set your own work hours and can work in a hybrid model.

This is where you'll be working

You’ll be joining our Economic Business Climate department. Here, you’ll work alongside ten enthusiastic professionals, each with their own area of expertise. There’s also a lot of overlap between our work. We primarily focus on three key areas: “Aligning Education with the Labor Market,” “Strengthening SMEs and Innovation,” and “Revitalizing Work Locations.” Every two weeks, we discuss current issues, upcoming challenges, and how we can support one another during our team meetings.

Our organization

The Rotterdam-The Hague Metropolitan Region is a voluntary joint arrangement among 21 municipalities. As an extension of local government, we have been granted the status of a transport region by the national government. This means we have statutory responsibilities in the area of traffic and transportation. For example, we formulate regional traffic and transportation policy. And as the contracting authority for regional and urban public transportation in the Rotterdam-The Hague Metropolitan Region, we grant concessions to transportation companies. We also provide subsidies for various traffic and transportation projects and for the management, maintenance, and replacement of public transportation infrastructure. For this purpose, we receive approximately €600 million per year directly from the national government.

In addition, it is our responsibility to improve the business climate in areas such as work locations (industrial parks, retail, offices), economic innovation (field labs, startups), and the alignment between education and the labor market. To this end, we receive a contribution—€6.8 million in 2023—from the 21 municipalities.

Do you have any questions?

Do you have any questions or would you like to learn more about the position? Please contact Monique van Buul, Interim Manager of Economic Business Climate, at 06 13 23 36 46 or m.vanbuul@mrdh.nl. Please do so no later than Wednesday, December 20.

Is this position really the right fit for you?

We look forward to receiving your application, including your resume, no later than December 30, 2023, addressed to M.L. van Buul via email: werkenvoor@mrdh.nl.

Good to know

• Please note that the first round of interviews will take place on Wednesday, January 17, or Thursday, January 18, and the second round on Monday, January 22, or Tuesday, January 23.
• We are advertising this position both internally and externally. Internal candidates will be given priority.
• A Management Drives profile is part of the application process. We ask that you complete a questionnaire for this purpose.
• An assessment may be part of the application process.