Cleaning Department Manager

The position

You’re tough on the work but gentle on the people! A safe work environment is important, and you create that through trust. This means you have a business-minded and professional approach, because the city must be clean. However, you achieve this by working together in a focused way and consulting with your team. The people in your department are allowed to make mistakes and learn from them. You are a strong leader who actively guides and ensures that agreements are followed through. With your leadership, experience, and big-picture perspective, you know how to bring calm to a dynamic environment.

You maintain a constructive attitude toward stakeholders and supply chain partners and ensure effective communication to reach agreements that will benefit the residents of Amsterdam. In this role, you are also the one who dares to take the initiative and, at times, tries out alternative approaches—always taking into account the political and administrative sensitivities that often come into play in these types of situations.

You are a modern, charismatic, and innovative leader with a forward-thinking vision for the deployment of staff in the department and for the modernization of public space management. You’re a people person! You’re highly adaptable in your communication style; you speak the language of the front lines and converse just as easily with management.

You will uphold the department’s current culture, which is characterized by openness, collegiality, respect, and commitment, with open communication and the exchange of feedback playing an essential role.

Here's what you do on an average workday

• As an integrated manager, you will lead 11 team managers (including 9 neighborhood team managers), a cleaning coordinator, a department secretary, and a management assistant. You will set performance goals with them and ensure they have everything they need to do their best work. You will draw on their strengths and help them excel.
• You monitor progress toward achieving the agreed-upon quality standards and make adjustments based on performance indicators.
• You are constantly focused on further professional development for the employees in your department. You prioritize fostering a sense of ownership, trust, collaboration, and a service-oriented mindset.
• You take ownership of the objectives of the Public Works Department and communicate this to your staff and the rest of the municipal organization.
• You are vigilant about integrity risks at every stage of the work processes. You hold yourself to strict standards of conduct, thereby setting a good example for your employees.
• You are a good communicator who articulates roles, tasks, and responsibilities in a clear and concrete manner.
• You will advise and support senior management on strategic policy and implementation issues. As a department manager, you will be a member of the Public Works Department’s management team.
• You are team-oriented and proactively engage in collaboration both within and outside your department; a key partner in this regard is the Waste and Raw Materials Division.

This is where you get started

We strive to be a great employer that ensures all our colleagues feel seen and valued. We embrace the differences among our colleagues; these differences lead to better results for both our organization and our city. We aim to build a workforce that reflects Amsterdam’s diverse population. So, whoever you are, you’re more than welcome here!

Employees of the Stadswerken department work for the beautiful city of Amsterdam. They manage public spaces, keep them clean and safe, maintain green areas, repair bridges and streets, and manage markets. They do this every day alongside more than 1,300 colleagues, delivering services in an innovative way. These are professionals, each of whom contributes to making Stadswerken a modern management organization.

Most of our colleagues work outdoors in Amsterdam’s squares, parks, and streets. To ensure that the work on the streets runs smoothly, other colleagues work behind the scenes on support, planning, coordination, equipment, and systems.

What you bring

• Demonstrable professional competence and intellectual capacity.
• Financial and business management knowledge, as demonstrated by education and work experience.
• Several years of experience at the strategic level in managing an operational organization.

Skills you bring to the table:

• Results-oriented and decisive: you focus clearly on progress and results. You know how to set priorities and overcome obstacles to ensure that goals are achieved, and you demonstrate tenacity in doing so.
• A focus on effectiveness and efficiency: you identify opportunities to improve organizational results.
• Empathy: You adapt your behavior to the situation and environment, and you are sensitive to different interests and feelings.
• Environmental awareness: You take environmental factors into account in your approach and anticipate them in a timely manner.

What we offer you

• A gross monthly salary of up to €8,023 (pay grade 14) based on a 36-hour workweek. The exact salary will be determined based on your education, knowledge, and experience.
• A one-year employment contract, with the possibility of a permanent contract thereafter if you do not currently have an employment contract with the City of Amsterdam, or if you have only a temporary contract.
• If you already have a permanent employment contract with the City of Amsterdam, you will retain it and be transferred.
• Opportunities for professional development and training. Our in-house training center, the Amsterdam School, offers a variety of training programs, professional development tracks, and on-the-job coaching to help you continue to challenge yourself.
• An individual flexible budget (IKB) equal to 17.05% of your salary, which you can use for things like additional pension contributions or extra days off.
• A pension plan with ABP, the pension fund for the public sector and education.
• A travel allowance of €0.10 per kilometer for travel by car, €0.15 per kilometer for travel by bicycle, and €0.21 per kilometer for travel by public transportation. This applies to a one-way commute of up to 45 kilometers and for the number of days you work in the office.
• A monthly contribution toward health insurance.
• A cell phone and/or laptop.

Want to know more about our employment terms and conditions? Check out the Amsterdam Municipal Staff Regulations (PGA).

Do you have any questions?

The Public Works Department is working with the executive search firm Colourful People on the recruitment and selection of the new Cleaning Department Manager. For more information about the position, please contact Hatice Türkmen (06-46081232).

Apply for this job

If this job opening interests you, please submit your application by October 18, 2024. You can apply by submitting your cover letter and resume via the "Apply" button below.

We would like to receive your cover letter, in which you explain, in no more than one A4 page, why your work experience and skills are a good fit for this position. Your cover letter will be taken into consideration during the selection process.

This job opening is being advertised internally and externally at the same time. Employees of the City of Amsterdam will be given priority in the hiring process.

The preliminary interviews are scheduled for October 23 and 24. The selection interviews are scheduled for November 1 (first round) and November 5 (second round).

We require a recent Certificate of Good Conduct (VOG) from every colleague who joins our team.