HR Business Partner Manager

Utrecht is an attractive city to live, work, study, and enjoy leisure activities. Utrecht inspires, connects, develops smart solutions, and offers people and organizations opportunities to grow. The city is growing rapidly. We believe it is important that this growth does not come at the expense of the city’s character, and we strive to strike the right balance between growth and quality of life. We are working toward “healthy urban living for everyone.” The City of Utrecht takes a task-oriented approach by prioritizing the city’s social challenges.

The People and Organization division consists of the HRM and Facilities & Housing units. HRM comprises four departments: Services, Recruitment, HR Business Partners, and the Center of Expertise. In addition, there is a staff department called Group Support. HRM advises the organization on staffing Utrecht’s initiatives by identifying and retaining the necessary talent and prioritizing the sustainable employability of employees in all their diversity. HRM facilitates a healthy and inclusive work environment where employees can perform at their best. Together with the business units, it ensures that task-oriented work is recognized and embraced as a guiding organizational principle and that actions are taken accordingly.

The City of Utrecht is an inclusive organization that welcomes everyone and harnesses the power of its employees’ diversity to achieve better results for the city. Talent as a foundation, diversity as a strength. In addition to your qualities, talents, and motivation, you also bring your age, sexual orientation, background, or disability to the table. You are warmly welcome!

This is your role
As HR Business Partner Manager, you will focus primarily on the further development and positioning of the HR Business Partners and ensure that your team contributes to the stated objectives of HRM. The team is actively working to further define the role of HR Business Partner and establish it more firmly within the organization. The goal is to provide more strategic advice and delegate operational consulting requests to other HR teams, so that the team can concentrate on its role as a critical, analytical, and proactive discussion partner. Consulting takes place at both the tactical and strategic levels. The following elements are essential for this:

• The ability to deliver tangible value to initiatives and core processes; the HR Business Partner as a strategic partner to the Executive Team.
• Applying HRM expertise with a focus on workforce management (including strategic workforce planning) and, increasingly, organizational development.
• Skills such as active listening, the ability to influence others, assertiveness, and persuasiveness.
• The ability to develop and implement policies in collaboration with others; the HR Business Partner as a team player and collaborative partner.

We are looking for a results-oriented team leader with a vision for the field, who provides direction, builds connections, exerts influence, and leads the team in an inspiring way. This means that you:

• You will lead a team of approximately 20 professionals in a coaching style. Together with the team, you will determine how the HR Business Partners can best support the organization.
• You have a clear vision for the direction and future of the field, and you work with your team to ensure the ongoing development of your employees based on this vision. You align your vision with your Management Team colleagues to ensure a shared vision for HRM services. You also identify any issues in this area in a timely manner.
• ensures effective communication with the directors of the organizational units and that the team has a clear overview of HR matters through an up-to-date KPI dashboard. If not, you and your team will make adjustments to the process and content, and you will bring relevant issues to the attention of the theme leaders at the M&O Expertise Center.
• build a network so that clients know where to find you when an issue arises that they cannot resolve (on their own) with their HR Business Partner. You use this network to gather feedback on the performance of your cluster or organizational unit. Thanks to your direct lines of communication with the business, you can easily handle escalation discussions when necessary.
• You contribute to department-wide policy and ensure effective collaboration with your colleagues. You actively communicate relevant developments to your department and provide advice on how to interpret organizational changes and determine their implications for HR.

Here’s what we offer you
We want you to enjoy coming to work. That enjoyment comes from great colleagues, a pleasant work environment, and a job with meaningful work in one of the most attractive cities in the Netherlands. Together with you, we’ll ensure that all residents of Utrecht can live, work, and participate in a pleasant and healthy way.

Below is our selection:

• A 36-hour workweek with a gross monthly salary ranging from €4,849 to €6,461 based on 36 hours (pay scale 13). The exact amount will be determined based on your knowledge and experience. Placement on the temporary entry-level pay scale is a possibility.
• A one-year fixed-term employment contract with the possibility of conversion to a permanent employment contract.
• Excellent leave policies.
• An Individual Choice Budget (ICB) equal to 17.05% of your salary. You decide how to use this budget. For example, you can use it to buy extra time off, receive vacation pay, get a year-end bonus, or have everything paid out once a year.
• Plenty of opportunities for personal development through a variety of courses and training programs, as well as on-the-job learning through peer review, for example.
• Click here for an overview of all other employment benefits, such as travel reimbursement.
• In addition, working for the City of Utrecht offers many other benefits, such as exercising (online) with colleagues and participating in various networks and activities.

What we ask of you
To succeed in this role, you must possess vision and decisiveness, and you must be able to drive change within and alongside your team. You stand up for your people and, together with them, you will continue to shape the team’s development and positioning. You will effectively communicate the value of HRM across all levels of the organization. Your experience in HR, combined with your management experience, will help you in this. You are a true people manager who inspires trust and fosters connections. You are an inspiring manager who can both direct and provide coaching leadership. Through your leadership skills, focused on talent development and combined with your strategic thinking, you know how to empower employees and create impact within the organization.

In addition, you have:

• Academic level of work and thinking;
• Several years of management experience;
• Demonstrable knowledge or experience as a Business Partner, preferably in the field of HR at the strategic/tactical level;
• The ability to get things done, enabling you to achieve the desired results;
• Political and administrative acumen; you can quickly familiarize yourself with a municipal organization and understand the unique position and role of the council, the clerk, and the executive board.

Good to know:
Ifyou’re excited about the opportunity to work as an HR Business Partner Manager for the City of Utrecht, apply now. If you have any questions about the position, please contact Klaske de Jonge, Group Manager for People and Organization, at 06 – 43 39 65 81. If you have any questions about the application process, please contact Mieke van der Vlis, Recruiter, at 06 – 48 19 23 32.