● Develop and Implement Policy: Create and implement strategic policies for vibrant neighborhoods, with a focus on improving the balance between housing, employment, and amenities in Amsterdam.
● Connect and Coordinate: Use your networking skills to bring together municipal departments and partners, and ensure that initiatives to revitalize neighborhoods are successfully implemented.
● Insight and Analysis: Use your knowledge of the city and the social landscape to identify trends and analyze data. Provide advice and manage projects to achieve strategic goals related to land use, employment, and public services.
The position
As an experienced policy advisor, you will play a key role in implementing strategic policies and resolving complex issues within the “Space, Work, and Amenities” initiative, with a focus on vibrant neighborhoods. You will work to strengthen these neighborhoods by creating an optimal balance between housing, employment, and amenities.
As part of the "Vital Neighborhoods" initiative, you will focus on maintaining and improving community amenities in Amsterdam. For example, you will ensure that local shopping districts are future-proof, that there is a good balance of amenities at the neighborhood level, and that you contribute to strengthening the city’s retail markets. In this way, you will help create a vibrant, well-rounded, and attractive city.
You will serve as the primary point of contact for the board and stakeholders. Using your interpersonal skills, you will bring together different parties and topics and foster collaboration. As a liaison between municipal departments, city districts, neighborhood organizations, and external partners, you will apply your strategic insight to develop policy initiatives that strengthen the urban economy. You play a central role in drafting policy plans, coordinating research and analysis, and leading projects aimed at improving urban space and amenities. You actively contribute to translating established policy into zoning plans, but you also draft concrete recommendations for various projects. You are capable of playing a role in various phases of policy development within and outside the Department of Economic Affairs and Culture. You provide input from an economic perspective and relevant economic policy frameworks. In addition to implementing policy, you may also be involved in policy development—ranging from hospitality and retail to commercial activities in public spaces.
Here's what you do on an average day
● Strategic Vision Development: You will contribute to the development of a vision and policies for vibrant neighborhoods. You will create policy plans and strategies that strengthen neighborhoods and ensure a good balance between housing, employment, and amenities. You will also make tactical decisions regarding the implementation of these policies and develop policy and management tools tailored to the specific challenges at hand.
● Coordination and Analysis: You will coordinate research and analyses on the needs and challenges of vibrant neighborhoods. You will monitor trends, collect and analyze data to assess the effectiveness of policies and initiatives. Based on this, you will draft policy proposals and reports and suggest improvements.
● Stakeholder management: You serve as the link between municipal departments, city districts, neighborhood organizations, and other key stakeholders. You engage stakeholders, foster collaboration, and ensure that initiatives aimed at revitalizing neighborhoods are implemented effectively.
● Project Management: You will lead projects aimed at strengthening and maintaining a healthy balance of commercial amenities in neighborhoods. You will monitor progress, make adjustments as needed, and ensure that projects contribute to strategic goals related to space, employment, and amenities.
● Advisory Services and Reporting: You advise management, executive teams, and the board on decisions and policies related to vibrant neighborhoods. You report on the progress and results of policies and projects. You identify trends and developments and, based on these, can propose improvements or present strategic options.
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!
The Department of Economic Affairs and Culture (EZC) supports the Amsterdam City Council and the district councils in their efforts to build a sustainable, innovative, and inclusive city and region that offers culture, employment, and a future for everyone. It focuses on all levels of scale: from the neighborhood to the metropolis and from the local to the international.
EZC’s policies and initiatives contribute to strengthening the sector’s long-term viability and fostering a robust cultural sector from the perspective of broad prosperity. EZC does this, among other things, by creating enabling conditions, formulating policies, providing advice on these policies, and ensuring their implementation. In addition, together with IN Amsterdam and Amsterdam Trade & Invest, we carry out a regional mandate to help the economy and society better benefit from international economic developments. In doing so, we strengthen the foundation upon which broad prosperity can develop and work toward sustainable and inclusive development for our city and the region.
In the areas of art and culture, we are working to build a resilient and adaptable cultural sector with a rich array of offerings throughout the city that everyone can relate to. For economic challenges, we are creating opportunities for entrepreneurs who contribute to a robust range of services, entrepreneurship that leads to a sustainable and inclusive city, innovative and impactful ecosystems, a sustainable and inclusive labor market, and sustainability and energy transition. We also contribute to this through our mandate for regional efforts in international acquisition and trade and the facilitation of talent. Within these challenges, we operate at the intersection of current bottlenecks and opportunities, as well as the more cyclical long-term trends we face. We do this in a challenge- and area-specific manner, in coordination with entrepreneurs, institutions, and other stakeholders, and in collaboration with other departments, district organizations, implementing organizations, the MRA, and provincial and national governments.
Task-Oriented Work:
At the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Culture (EZC), we take a task-oriented approach. This means you’ll respond flexibly and in short cycles to the needs and challenges of the “Space, Work, and Amenities” initiative, with a specific focus on strengthening vibrant neighborhoods. You will be part of a task force that addresses various issues. Your efforts and involvement will be aligned with current priorities and the work agreements you establish with your supervisor. The assignments may change, which may require adjustments to staff assignments. Your participation in an assignment team is flexible and aligned with the work agreements you make with your manager.
What you bring
For this position as an Experienced Policy Advisor for Vibrant Neighborhoods, you must have:
● Bachelor’s degree level: Preferably in Social Geography or a related field.
● Experience: At least 4 years of experience providing policy advice in a complex, political environment or similar setting, including policy development and collaboration with various levels of government.
● Network: an existing network within the spatial economic sector, or the ability to quickly build such a network.
● You have strong organizational and communication skills (at all levels and with all stakeholders). You are capable of making strategic business decisions, but you are also comfortable taking a practical and pragmatic approach.
● You are skilled at handling conflicts of interest, and diligence is your top priority.
You should have the following skills:
● Environmental awareness: Demonstrates a solid understanding of professional, organizational, social, and political developments, as well as other environmental factors, and knows how to effectively apply this knowledge to their own role or organization.
● Initiative: Takes action independently. Identifies opportunities and turns them into initiatives for improvement and innovation that contribute to better organizational performance.
● Focus on results: Using specific goals as a starting point for one’s own behavior and sticking to them until the goal is achieved.
● Persuasiveness: Uses personal influence to shape people and situations, with a focus on gaining acceptance and overcoming resistance. Communicates ideas clearly and confidently.
What we offer you
As an Experienced Policy Advisor for Vibrant Neighborhoods, you will join our team for 36 hours a week and can expect the following terms of employment.
● A gross monthly salary ranging from €5,008 to €6,777 (pay grade 12) 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 one.
● If you already have a permanent employment contract with the City of Amsterdam, you will retain it and be transferred
● Development and training opportunities. Our in-house training center, the Amsterdam School, offers a variety of training courses, development programs, and on-the-job coaching to help you continue to challenge yourself.
● An individual choice budget (ICB) equal to 17.05% of your salary, which you can use for purposes such as 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.
● For days you work from home, you will receive a work-from-home allowance of €3 net per workday.
● A monthly contribution toward health insurance.
● A cell phone and/or laptop.
● Hybrid work: In this role, you can work partly from home and partly in the office. We provide the necessary equipment to help you set up a safe and healthy workspace at home.
Want to know more about our employment terms and conditions? Check out the Amsterdam Municipal Personnel Regulations (PGA).
Apply for this job
● If this job opening interests you, please submit your applicationby September 15 at the latest using the “Apply Now” button.
● Please submit a cover letter explaining, 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
● The selection process includes an initial review of resumes and cover letters, followed by up to two rounds of interviews, depending on the number of applications.
● If your resume meets the job requirements, we’d be happy to invite you for an interview.
● The interviews will take place in person at our office located at Amstel 1 in Amsterdam.
● We require a recent Certificate of Good Conduct (VOG) from every colleague who joins our team.
Do you have any questions about this job opening?
For questions about the position, please contact Jalal Loutfi, MT Member for Economic and Physical Sustainability, at J.Loutfi@amsterdam.nl or call 06-19265518. For questions about the application process, please contact Melanie Nooij, Recruiter, at m.nooij@amsterdam.nl.
