Interim Director of Legal Affairs

To the management team of the JZ Executive Board and the staff, you are a unifying, inspiring, and visionary leader. You know how to lead in an inclusive manner and serve as an important role model in this regard.

In short, your role involves:

• Leading the Legal Affairs Department, continuing the organizational changes already underway, making recommendations for improvements to the legal function as needed, and contributing to the department’s cost-saving goals.
• Ensuring that the city handles disputes and conflicts effectively and operates within legal frameworks.
• Support the City of Amsterdam in its top priority of fostering a culture of integrity, inclusivity, and social safety, so that all employees feel heard, valued, and recognized, and can fully develop and utilize their talents.

Here's what you do on an average day

• You will provide day-to-day leadership to the JZ management team and focus on results while prioritizing inclusion, social safety, trust, and collaboration;
• You will advise the mayor, the municipal secretary, and the Municipal Management Team on cross-departmental, politically sensitive, and strategic matters;
• You ensure that JZ employees provide high-quality advice;
• You will advise the GMT on proposals for improvements to the legal function and contribute to the implementation of the DJZ cost-saving plan.

This is where you get started

Working for Amsterdam means working for approximately 900,000 Amsterdammers. We ensure that Amsterdam is and remains an attractive capital—a place where it’s pleasant to live, work, and go to school, with room for entrepreneurs and visitors. We work for Amsterdam alongside some 19,000 colleagues who continually challenge themselves and grow, working together with Amsterdammers to do what’s best for the city. Together, with pride, and above all, with a passion for the city.

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 working population. So, whoever you are: you’re more than welcome here!

DJZ is part of the municipality’s Administration and Organization cluster. DJZ serves as legal counsel to the Executive Board, the mayor, the municipal council, and the municipality’s senior management. It primarily provides advice and represents the municipality in litigation regarding strategic legal, politically sensitive, or cross-departmental issues, and it also drafts regulations. Furthermore, it oversees the quality of legal work within the municipality. This is achieved through, among other things, advisory services, legal review, identification of issues, policy framework development, recommendations, and monitoring. DJZ does not operate in isolation but works in close collaboration with other organizational units and the city districts.

DJZ’s task is to work with the Legal Office (which is responsible for providing legal advice to the management teams and city districts) to establish the best possible front-line legal function by examining the division of responsibilities and work processes and advising on proposed improvements and their organizational implications.

DJZ consists of 45 permanent employees and a varying number of temporary employees. DJZ comprises the Public Law Department, the Private Law, European Law, and In-House Counsel Department, the Data Protection Officer, and the secretariat.

What you bring

The City of Amsterdam is committed to inclusive leadership and a management team that sets a good example and fosters a safe, ethical, and inclusive work culture.

As Acting Director of JZ, you will have:

Knowledge/experience:

• A completed law degree at the academic level; experience in the legal profession is preferred;
• Demonstrable experience in the legal policy field of public administration;
• At least 5 years of experience in management and advisory roles within a medium-sized or large administrative organization.
• Has relevant experience with political and administrative processes within a larger municipality.
• Experience with change processes aimed at fostering an inclusive, innovative organization and culture.

Skills:

• Thinking and acting inclusively: as a leader in an inclusive organization, you think and act inclusively, value a diverse work environment, and create a socially safe environment. In doing so, you care for employees regardless of their identity. You ensure equality in the workplace and are open, empathetic, and approachable. You are a good listener, reliable, and predictable, and you build trust by embracing vulnerability in yourself and others. You recognize employees’ talents and the importance of talent development.
• Providing direction: You are capable of strategic and policy-oriented thinking with a long-term perspective. You can set a clear course and focus on creating value and achieving results. This means you have a broad view of all the challenges and developments in the city and are decisive and proactive. You have a keen sense of how to ensure that administrative and governance relationships and processes run smoothly, are solution-oriented, and
• Strategic thinking/analysis: You possess strong analytical skills, can break down complex issues into manageable parts, and can interpret the political landscape during times of turmoil; you ask critical questions and can identify legal risks.
• Collaboration: Effective collaboration is essential for promoting integrity within the City of Amsterdam. You will seek to collaborate with various stakeholders, both within and outside the organization. You will do this by fostering an open culture of communication and leveraging the expertise of various team members and/or stakeholders.

In addition, you have an excellent understanding of bureaucratic and administrative dynamics, you are able to navigate conflicting interests, and you can maintain your independence in your role as interim director.

What we offer you

• This is a temporary position for a period of 3–6 months, working 4–5 days a week.
• The position is classified in pay grade 17.
• Flexibility when it comes to your work hours and location. With the Amsterdam Digital Workplace, you can log in wherever and whenever you want.
• A laptop and a cell phone.

Apply for this job

The City of Amsterdam is being assisted in this process by the executive search firm Colourful People. If this position interests you, please contact Rene F. Burgler, Esq., senior partner at Colourful People, at r.burgler@colourfulpeople.nl or by phone at 06 28 57 54 36.

In addition to your resume, please include a cover letter explaining, in no more than one A4 page, why your work experience and skills are a good fit for this position.