Managing Director

About the new Rotterdam City Museum

In 2021, the municipality commissioned a project initiator and program developer to provide recommendations on a new vision for the city museum. This resulted in the report *Ook van Jou!*, which outlines the vision for a new, ambitious city museum for Rotterdam, operating on a professional basis and located in an attractive setting, featuring highlights from the Rotterdam Collection.

Working with a wide range of partners in the city and in collaboration with residents, communities, and creators, the museum showcases different perspectives on the city. In this way, the museum strengthens residents’ engagement and enhances visitors’ experience of the city. The plans and vision for the future can be found in the two reports on the Ookvanjou.nl website: You too! (2021) and Toward a New City Museum (2022).

The Rotterdam Museum Foundation is developing this new role for the city museum; to this end, the Supervisory Board was renewed and expanded in 2023. The next step is to recruit an executive director (also known as a transition manager). This is an exciting and challenging task.

One thing is certain: in the coming years, we must build on the museum’s magnificent collection, a dedicated organization, and the city’s enthusiasm for an ambitious urban museum. At the same time, there is still no permanent home for the museum, nor has funding been secured at the level required to realize these ambitions.

The next four years will be crucial for rolling out the plans and building support for our ultimate goals. A pioneering spirit, decisiveness, a compelling vision, and the ability to bring people together will therefore be essential in the coming period.

About the role

Profile Aspect I: Content and Business
By opting for a role that combines content and business, we are looking for someone with experience in both areas: the content expertise needed to make the new Rotterdam City Museum visible, vibrant, and innovative again, and the business acumen required to capitalize on opportunities and forge fruitful partnerships.

Profile Aspect II: Ambitious and Collaborative
The executive director must commit to the vision outlined in the reports “Ook van Jou” and “Toward a New City Museum for Rotterdam.” And he must be able to engage a wide range of stakeholders, partners, and creative professionals in the city in this ambition, which can be characterized as the combination of an attractive public museum with exhibitions and presentations and a broadly rooted, socially engaged museum.

Profile Aspect III: Leadership and Transformation
The CEO is also tasked with expanding the organization and leading a transition. We therefore prefer candidates who have experience leading and guiding transformation processes.

About the person

• A unifying leader with vision.
• A passionate networker with a focus on collaboration.
• A politically and administratively sensitive individual.
• A forward-thinking change manager with the ability to set the agenda.
• An empathetic leader with persuasive skills.
• (Business) Entrepreneur.

In short: a visionary connector, a team player, and a diplomatically and substantively savvy networker. Someone who is socially and administratively astute. And at the same time, a go-getter with guts and a builder. The ideal candidate has a deep commitment to—or is willing to develop one for—Rotterdam’s unique and multifaceted story. Someone who understands that this requires actively involving the entire city in your museum.

About the assignment

The Executive Director is responsible for implementing the museum’s new strategic direction. This requires organizational skills and the ability to flesh out the outlines set forth in the reports *Ook van jou* and *Naar een nieuwe Stadsmuseum*.

This requires gaining the support and buy-in of the organization, the city government, and the residents of Rotterdam, while maintaining a careful balance between substance and pragmatism, between ambition and connection, and between transformative power and the power of gradual change.

About the duties and responsibilities

As Executive Director, you are responsible for the museum’s programmatic development, playing a crucial role in further refining and implementing the plans that have been drawn up. You are the driving force behind renewal and innovation within the museum, with the ambition to present the collection and exhibitions to a large and diverse audience in a way that is deeply rooted in the community and socially engaged.

Working closely with the management team, you will drive organizational development and create an environment where employees have the opportunity to grow, take responsibility, and develop a sense of ownership.

You have a keen eye for social developments and trends in the areas of digitalization, sustainability, and diversity and inclusion. You also recognize the role that the museum, as a cultural organization, plays in society. You actively encourage the organization to take a leading role in these areas—and you take the lead yourself.

Procedure

• The new Rotterdam City Museum is being assisted in this process by the executive search firm Colourful People.
• For more information about this position, please call or email Winfred Voordendag, senior partner at Colourful People. He can be reached at 06-28284706 and/orw.voordendag@colourfulpeople.nl
• Please submit your application usingthe application form on the Colourful People website.
• The deadline for responses is March 31.
• There will be discussion sessions on Monday, April 15, and Monday, April 22, 2024.

Sales calls are not appreciated.