Operations Manager

The museum

Museum Van Loon is one of the most beautiful and most-visited historic houses in the Netherlands. This unique complex, comprising a canal-side mansion, interior, collection, garden, and coach house, is located on Amsterdam’s Keizersgracht. The collection was assembled over the centuries by the Van Loon family, Amsterdam’s regent family, and the house opened to the public in 1973. Museum Van Loon attracts approximately 80,000 visitors annually and is open 7 days a week from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. In September 2023, we will celebrate our 50th anniversary!

The museum is run by a small, dynamic team where hard work, camaraderie, and fun go hand in hand. It is a wonderful place to work, and each year the team develops a wide range of activities, including groundbreaking temporary exhibitions. Museum Van Loon also organizes the Open Gardens Days and the annual Opera in the Canal Garden. By telling multifaceted stories about the collection and family history, Museum Van Loon aims to be an open house with a welcoming atmosphere, where as diverse an audience as possible can feel at home.

We are currently seeking an Operations Manager to oversee the day-to-day operations of the museum and to manage the maintenance of the historic buildings.

The position

The Operations Manager is responsible for internal operations and the day-to-day running of the museum. She/he/they oversees the maintenance and security of the museum buildings, facility management, the museum café, and the coordination of commercial rentals at the museum, and handles part of the daily administrative work. Within the “Buildings” domain, this role involves the functional supervision of public-facing staff in day-to-day operations. They work closely with colleagues involved in public programming and events, have a distinctly practical mindset, and are communicative and solution-oriented, even outside the museum’s opening hours. The Operations Manager reports to the Director.

Our ideal candidate:

• has experience in at least two of the following areas: maintaining a historic building; facilities management (e.g., security, IT infrastructure, service contracts); operations management; and hospitality (experience gained within a cultural institution is a plus)
• gets along well with people, enjoys providing museum visitors with the best possible welcoming experience, ensuring that everything is taken care of down to the last detail both in front of and behind the scenes, while also ensuring the proper maintenance of the historic buildings
• is flexible, hands-on, a good communicator, and able to handle stress, even in our fast-paced environment where you’ll be working closely with our visitors and serving as their point of contact
• works quickly and efficiently, is proficient with Microsoft Office, scheduling software, and other software
• has at least a bachelor's degree and/or demonstrable work experience at this level
• has an affinity for art and heritage and the multifaceted diversity with which stories about these topics are told in the museum
• lives in Amsterdam or the immediate vicinity

Terms of Employment

Compensation is based on competitive primary and secondary employment conditions, in accordance with the museum’s internal job classification system. The 30-hour workweek is generally spread over four weekdays; however, work outside the museum’s opening hours or on weekends may be required. For more information about the position, please contact Director Gijs Schunselaar (gijsschunselaar@museumvanloon.nl). A cover letter and resume may be submitted to this same email address by Wednesday, July 26. The first round of interviews will take place during the weeks of July 31 and August 7. The second round of interviews will take place during the week of August 21, after which we aim to complete the hiring process by the end of August.