Senior Policy Advisor, Sports Facilities

The position

As a Senior Policy Advisor for Sports Facilities, you will translate administrative goals into results by applying a broad perspective and sound business acumen. You will be able to collaborate on a programmatic level and inspire stakeholders at all levels to support the chosen policy direction. Sports and physical activity help address a wide range of issues, from health concerns to social challenges. In the role of Senior Policy Advisor for Sports Facilities, you will address the often complex physical challenges that arise in a growing city. Amsterdam has a large sports infrastructure comprising sports parks, sports halls, gyms, and swimming pools. Furthermore, we also aim to make public spaces as attractive and suitable as possible for physical activities. We want to be a well-rounded city, and that includes space for sports. To this end, the Municipal Executive has established a sports standard to ensure that the growth of sports facilities keeps pace with housing development. The candidate is expected to have knowledge of the opportunities and challenges associated with this. You will have an overview of everything happening in this area within Amsterdam, guiding and organizing, but sometimes merely adjusting or facilitating. Optimizing the use of Amsterdam’s sports facilities is one of the major challenges.

Your home base is the Sports Policy & Development Department, but you will work across departments and throughout the municipality. As a senior staff member, you will be able to serve flexibly as a coordinator on (other) major policy priorities and assignments within Sports and Parks, as needed. You contribute to a positive and high-quality sports environment in Amsterdam and seek collaboration and coordination with the departments of Social Services, Land and Development, Spatial Planning and Sustainability, and Municipal Real Estate. Key characteristics of your work include proactivity and an impeccable understanding of how a large public organization such as the City of Amsterdam operates.

Your work will focus on management and operational issues related to our extensive sports facilities. We typically manage our sports facilities in-house. It is a challenge to keep the quality of our swimming pools, sports parks, indoor facilities, and gyms up to date while also keeping them affordable. This involves the dilemma that, on the one hand, we want to enable Amsterdam residents to engage in sports and exercise as much as possible and support sports clubs in this regard, but on the other hand, we also want to allow commercial use to help alleviate costs. You will be involved in, among other things, the fee structure, policies for optimal operations, ownership of facilities, scheduling of rentals, and monitoring of occupancy.

Here's what you do on an average day

• Setting up and coordinating projects, programs, and activities;
• Coordination of the pricing policy for our entire diverse range of sports facilities;
• You will help develop the system for processing sports investment applications;
• You will act as a representative of Sport en Bos in coordinating substantive matters with our partners;
• Preparing administrative decisions, drafting administrative proposals, and ensuring the smooth operation of the administrative (coordination) process.

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!

Working for Amsterdam means working for more than 850,000 Amsterdammers. We ensure that Amsterdam is and remains an attractive capital city—a place where it’s great to live, work, and go to school, with room for entrepreneurs and visitors. And in this case, plenty of space for sports and exercise. We work for Amsterdam with about 19,000 different colleagues. They constantly challenge themselves and grow. To do what’s best for the city, together with the people of Amsterdam. Together, with pride, and above all, with a passion for the city.

The Sports and Forest Department has six divisions: Sports Policy and Development, Sports Halls and Parks, Swimming Pools, Sports Promotion, Sportpunt, and Amsterdamse Bos. Amsterdam’s sports ambition, as set forth in the Sports Vision 2025, focuses on promoting participation in sports and physical activity, creating attractive sports spaces, fostering vibrant and socially active sports providers, and positioning Amsterdam as a city of elite sports. The department is responsible for the management and maintenance of municipal sports facilities and the Amsterdamse Bos, policy development in these areas, support for elite sports, and support for recreational sports.

Within the Sports Policy and Development Department, you will work alongside policy advisors on a wide range of sports-related topics. Naturally, you will be involved in investment issues and the city’s growth, but your responsibilities will also include planning a number of projects in close collaboration with other municipal departments and external parties. The Sports Policy and Development Department consists of approximately 22 employees.

What you bring

For the position of Senior Policy Advisor for Sports Facilities, you must have:

• A high level of work and thinking;
• Extensive experience working in a political and administrative context (e.g., municipal government, federal government), preferably in the social sector;
• Extensive experience in leading the development and implementation of policy programs, including providing substantive guidance to the team;
• Knowledge and experience in policy advisory work, along with excellent writing and consulting skills; you have a modern approach to policy (less is more, developing policy in stages, making it visual, and working with the user rather than for the user).

You should have the following skills:

• Advisory skills: You are one of the key advisors to the alderman for Sports and Physical Activity. Because you always think two or three steps ahead, you are highly skilled at advising—and challenging—administrators;
• Analytical skills: You have strong analytical skills. You can distinguish between the main issues and the details, identify the task at hand, and determine the right approach. You can quickly develop a vision for how sports facilities can be used profitably (in terms of both social and financial returns).
• Writing skills: You have a way with words, whether you’re drafting policy letters, memos, or other administrative documents. Your writing is concise, to the point, and, above all, impactful.
• Persuasiveness: You’re brimming with ideas and know how to get others on board.

What we offer you

• As a Senior Policy Advisor for Sports Facilities, you will join our team for 28–36 hours per week and can expect:
• A gross monthly salary of up to €6,103 (pay grade 12) based on a 36-hour workweek. The exact salary will be determined based on your education, knowledge, and experience.
• A 12-month 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 contract.
• If you already have a permanent employment contract with the City of Amsterdam, you will retain it and be transferred.
• Opportunities for professional development and training. Our in-house training center, the Amsterdam School, offers a variety of training programs, professional development tracks, and on-the-job coaching to help you continue to challenge yourself.
• An individual flexible budget (IKB) equal to 17.05% of your salary, which you can use for things like 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, up to a 45-kilometer one-way commute, for the number of days you work in the office, and/or a work-from-home allowance of €2 net per workday that you work from home.
• A monthly contribution toward health insurance.
• 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.
• A cell phone and a work laptop.

Want to know more about our employment terms and conditions? Check out theAmsterdam Municipal Staff Regulations (PGA).

Apply for this job

• If this job opening interests you, please submit your application by January 17, 2023, using the application button.
• This job opening is being advertised internally and externally at the same time. Employees of the City of Amsterdam will be given priority in the hiring process.
• We would like to receive your cover letter, in which you explain, 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 begins immediately after the application deadline and consists of three rounds: a resume screening and two interview rounds.
• If your resume meets the job requirements, we would be happy to invite you for an interview.
• The interviews will take place in person during the third week of January at our office located at Jodenbreestraat 25 in Amsterdam.
• We require a recent Certificate of Good Conduct (VOG) from every colleague who joins our team.

We do not appreciate unsolicited solicitation from recruitment agencies, and such actions may result in exclusion from our other recruitment initiatives. We also consider the unsolicited submission of resumes by agencies to our employees to be solicitation. We will not review these resumes.

Do you have any questions about this job opening?

If you have any questions about the position and/or the application process, please contact: Henk Stokhof, Department Manager for Policy & Development, via emailat h.stokhof@amsterdam.nl and/or by phone at 06-20537361.