Head of UNESCO Dutch Waterlines Site Office

The Dutch Waterlines were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in July 2021, as an extension of the Defence Line of Amsterdam. The Site Office for this heritage is tasked with preserving, protecting, and promoting this special heritage, consisting of structures, landscape, and water management. The site office works on behalf of a joint governing body in which deputies from involved provinces and a national cultural heritage service are represented.

The provinces are jointly responsible for this heritage as Siteholder and collaborate with other governments, social organizations, owners, and entrepreneurs. After five years of collaboration, the setup of the cooperation and organization was reviewed through an external study. This report yielded clear conclusions and recommendations. In general, the chosen setup still aligns well with the nature of the UNESCO task.

Roles, tasks, and responsibilities are well-defined but are not always applied consistently in practice. Within the different layers of the organization, there are varying expectations regarding ownership, responsibilities, roles, and tasks. An interim head of the site office is sought to address these conclusions and make the organization future-proof.

What you will do.

• You will ensure that client ownership, roles, tasks, responsibilities, and working agreements between the different layers in the collaboration are clearly described and executed.
• You will ensure clarity on the role/tasks and responsibility of the joint governing body, management consultation, line team, and site office.
• You will ensure that what the different layers understand by 'decentralized where possible, centralized where necessary' is clearly described and documented. It will be clearly established what provinces do themselves and what they do jointly in the site office.
• Together with the host province, you will ensure that the agreements in the service contract are reviewed and adjusted where necessary.
• You will investigate, with the help of colleagues from the four involved provinces, whether the current cooperation model (Common Arrangement) is still the most suitable, or if another form of cooperation is more appropriate and functional.
• You will examine what roles are needed within the site office to perform tasks effectively.
• You will support the Siteholder in fulfilling the tasks that come with World Heritage status.
• You will create support, both administrative and official, among cooperating provinces to protect the World Heritage, with an eye for provincial interests.
• You will manage the site office, consisting of approximately 4 people, and you will be the secretary of the Siteholder (joint governing body).
• You will be secretary to the Siteholder, thereby supporting and advising the board.
• You will be ultimately responsible for finances and P&C products.
• The activities belong to the regular duties of the Head of the UNESCO Site Office function within the organization. You will work alongside colleagues from the site office. The assignment will be carried out under the leadership and supervision, and under the hierarchical direction of the manager. The candidate must perform the duties personally. Free replacement is not permitted.