Inspiring team leader

What will you be doing?

As a team leader, you manage skilled experts who conduct inspections and oversee operations on a daily basis. Employees work independently at various locations and have a strong sense of responsibility. You ensure that you stay in regular contact with them. You understand the context in which your employees do their work, even when working remotely. You are constantly working to improve processes and support employees so they can do their jobs even better. You have a clear vision for the future and involve your team in exploring new directions. It is important that you know how to provide guidance, build support, and at the same time listen to the needs of your employees. One of the exciting challenges for you as a team leader, for example, is facilitating task variety and encouraging consistent work practices.

In addition to your own team, you are part of your department’s management team. During departmental meetings, you raise issues that are important to your own team and collaborate with fellow team leaders on department-wide topics. For example, each team leader is responsible for a number of specific areas of focus that they address on behalf of the entire department. You analyze where improvements can be made in existing work processes and address these in a constructive and appreciative manner. Together with your fellow team leaders, you are responsible for the department’s results and cover for one another when absent. Building connections and collaborating are therefore key aspects of your role as a team leader.

Do you have management experience and an interest in food safety, animal health, and animal welfare? Are you uniquely capable of bringing calm and direction to a team of passionate experts at various levels? And do you enjoy analyzing (team) processes and taking them to the next level? If so, we’re looking for you!

If you’d like more information after reading this job posting, please check out this link. Leading red meat inspection: guide your team | NVWA | Government of the Netherlands - Working for the Netherlands

Has reading this job posting made you so excited that you’d like to apply? If so, please include answers to the questions below in your cover letter, along with your resume!

1. What appeals to you about this management position?
2. Describe a recent success in which you were able to build a close-knit team.
3. What challenges have you faced recently when it comes to balancing your time and attention between your roles as a team leader and a member of the management team? How did you resolve those challenges, and what insights have you gained from that experience?
   

Job Requirements

As a team leader, you provide leadership by offering direction, calmness, and attention. You communicate fluently and clearly at various levels and connect easily with those around you. You are able to deploy professionals with diverse talents based on their strengths. You also have an eye for (cultural) differences and similarities. You lead from an inclusive perspective. You have a keen sense of what is happening in your environment and within the organization. Furthermore, you switch quickly between content, process, people, and organization, and you are able to think and act across teams. You are expected to have more than a general interest in the field of work of the teams and the Slaughter Inspection Directorate. You identify with our core values of reliability, transparency, independence, and professionalism, and demonstrate this in your attitude and behavior. 

In addition, we would like to see the following: 

• University-level work and thinking skills, such as those demonstrated by a completed degree program.
• Demonstrable experience and/or an affinity for the veterinary sector.
• Management experience as a team leader and/or manager overseeing independent professionals, preferably working remotely.
• Ideally, you have experience working in an organization that oversees and/or deals with logistics processes.
• You live within (or just outside) the triangle formed by Utrecht, Zwolle, and Arnhem, or in the provinces of Brabant, Limburg, or southern Gelderland.

Skills:

• Managing a group
• Employee Development
• Networking
• Reflecting

The NVWA is committed to building a workforce that reflects the diversity of society and places great importance on an inclusive hiring policy. We therefore encourage everyone to apply, regardless of cultural background, age, gender identity, religion, disability, or sexual orientation.

Terms of Employment

• Salary level: Grade 12
• Monthly salary: Min. €4,691 – Max. €6,907 (gross)
• Employment status: Fixed-term employment contract with the possibility of conversion to a permanent contract
• Contract duration: 1 year
• Minimum number of hours per week: 32
• Maximum number of hours per week: 36

Other terms and conditions of employment

In addition to an onboarding program tailored to your role and extensive training and/or coaching opportunities to support your professional growth, we also offer the following employee benefits:

Individual Choice Budget

You will receive an Individual Choice Budget (ICB) equal to 16.50% of your gross annual salary. You can choose to have your ICB paid out, for example, on a monthly or annual basis, or you can use it to purchase additional leave hours. In addition, you can use your ICB to purchase a (electric) bicycle for commuting tax-free, set up your home office, pay off your student loan with tax benefits, up to a maximum of €2,000 per year or even make your home more sustainable. To encourage this, the federal government offers an employer contribution in addition to the IKB.

Vacation days

If you work 36 hours a week, you are entitled to 144 vacation hours and 64 IKB leave hours per year. Do you work more or fewer hours? In that case, these hours are calculated proportionally. And if you don’t need as much vacation time? Then you can also choose to have your 64 IKB leave hours paid out or added to your IKB saved leave.

Travel Expense Reimbursement

You will receive a commuter pass that allows you to travel by train in second class for your commute. Do you bike to work? If so, you will receive a travel allowance of €0.21 per kilometer cycled. If you have a field-based role, you may also be eligible for an electric company car in many cases. You may use this car based on the additional tax liability plus a copayment I also use it for personal purposes.

Leave Policies

The government offers various leave schemes for different situations, such as (supplementary) maternity leave (up to 5 weeks with 100% pay), parental leave (up to 9 weeks with 100% pay in the first year and an additional 75% for 4 weeks), care leave, and adoption/foster care leave.

Pension

The Dutch government offers an attractive pension plan through ABP, the General Civil Service Pension Fund. Read more about the ABP pension plan here.

Additional allowances and reimbursements

For some positions at the NVWA, it is necessary to work outside regular office hours or to be on call. However, these requirements are offset by additional allowances or compensation. For example, we offer an on-call and standby duty allowance and an irregular shift allowance.

Details

• Applications will be considered in accordance with applicable agreements, including the Central Government Collective Labor Agreement and the NVP Application Code.
• A Certificate of Good Conduct (VOG) is required to work at the NVWA.
• If the position involves a fixed-term employment contract with the prospect of becoming permanent, the permanent contract is initially preceded by a one-year contract. Provided the employee proves to be suitable, the contract is generally converted into a permanent contract of indefinite duration after one year.
• Is this a job opening for a fixed-term contract with the possibility of becoming permanent, but do you already have a permanent position as a civil servant? If so, you will retain your permanent position.
• If the position is initially a fixed-term role, it will not be reopened if the role can be made permanent within the organization and the (initially) temporary position was filled by an internal employee with a permanent contract.
• Online screening—for example, through search engines or social media—can be part of the selection process.
• A competency test and/or an assessment may be part of the selection process.
• A comprehensive A or B screening by the General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD) may be required for certain positions at the NVWA, including those in the Intelligence and Investigation Service (IOD).
• Recruitment agencies are asked to refrain from contacting us regarding this job opening.

More about the Manager job category

The Central Government Performance Framework helps employees and managers establish performance and development goals during performance reviews and provides insight into career opportunities within the federal government.

For more information, visit the Central Government Job Classification System 

More about your future department

As a team leader, you will be working in one of the Red Meat Inspection departments within the Slaughter Inspection Division. Slaughter Inspection is responsible for conducting (veterinary) inspections and assessing both live animals and (batches of) slaughtered meat. These inspections are carried out at businesses within the meat sector. These businesses must adhere to strict rules during the slaughter process. There are also regulations governing the layout of these facilities. 

Our staff ensure compliance with food safety regulations (meat and meat products) and monitor animal health and welfare in the meat processing industry. For example, the slaughter of animals is subject to strict regulations. Prior to slaughter, animals must be properly housed, cared for, and adequately stunned. Our inspectors monitor compliance with these welfare regulations.
In addition, compliance with regulations is monitored at companies and locations, where necessary in collaboration with other inspectors or government agencies.

Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA)

In the Netherlands, we take it for granted that the products we use and everything we eat are safe. We expect animals to be treated well, even if they are destined for slaughter. We want to be able to consume fruits and vegetables without a second thought, and other products are “naturally” fine too. We want to be able to walk in nature without worry and buy toys for our children without suspicion. As consumers, we simply rely on that; for us, it goes without saying.

But we sometimes forget that companies work hard every day to maintain those high standards. That it isn’t always easy for business owners to comply with all applicable laws and regulations. We also forget that the government oversees this. Safety sounds so simple, but it isn’t.

What does the NVWA do?
The staff of the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) work hard every day to maintain that standard. Through dialogue with businesses in the hospitality sector, slaughterhouses, plant cultivation, and other producers, the NVWA monitors food and product safety, plant health, and the welfare of animals, nature, and the environment. We do so in accordance with national and international laws and regulations. We operate on a basis of trust, but we take firm action against businesses that do not adhere to the rules. In the interest of society.

We closely monitor where the greatest risks lie and where oversight is most urgently needed, so that we can inform consumers and others in a timely manner. The NVWA also plays a key role in export inspections and in the import of products into Europe.

What does the NVWA stand for?
The NVWA is responsible for overseeing animal welfare, animal health, food safety, product safety, tobacco and alcohol prevention, plant health, and nature and the environment.

The Dutch government strives to be an employer that every employee—regardless of age, gender, sexual orientation, ethnic background, or disability—wants to work for. Addressing social issues in diverse teams makes us more effective and innovative. That makes the work meaningful and challenging.

The NVWA is an agency of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security, and Nature (LVVN) and the Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Sport.

Interested in applying?

The Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) invites you to apply on their website. Clicking the button below will take you away from this site and directly to the application form. The government values a diverse and inclusive organization. Working in diverse teams makes us more effective, more innovative, and makes the work more enjoyable. Everyone is therefore invited to apply.