Waste and Circular Economy Advisor

• Employment: temporary with the option to extend
• Scale: 9
• Work Location: Hybrid, at least 50% on-site & always by mutual agreement
• Number of hours: 28–32 hours (depending on the candidates; variations in hours are negotiable)

Are you an organized manager with a good overview who knows where the containers are and how the contracts are structured?

The municipality of Aa en Hunze is looking for a strong, down-to-earth doer with organizational skills. Someone who understands waste management policy, but above all ensures that agreements are carried out. From managing contracts and grants to liaising with residents, field staff, and our waste processors. You know what needs to be done and you get it done.

In addition, you’ll play an active role in the further development and implementation of our circularity policy. You’ll contribute ideas on how we can prevent waste, reuse raw materials more effectively, and support local initiatives in this area. In doing so, you’ll help Aa en Hunze move toward a more sustainable and circular future.

What will you do?

In this role, you will be responsible for implementing the waste management policy in our municipality. Not by writing lengthy reports, but by ensuring that it works: on the street, within systems, and in collaboration with colleagues and external parties. You are a strong leader and must be able to switch easily between policy and operations.

You manage contracts, handle practical matters, monitor what’s going well (and what isn’t), and keep your colleagues well informed. You move effortlessly between City Hall and the field.

The advisor also monitors available grants in the areas of waste management and circularity, such as programs related to waste separation, reuse, circular initiatives, and the reduction of residual waste. The role involves identifying new grant opportunities, submitting grant applications in a timely manner and coordinating them in collaboration with colleagues from the finance and operations departments, and managing and reporting on ongoing projects.

This creates a clear division of responsibility within the chain: the consultant maintains an overview of where opportunities lie, ensures that applications are submitted on time and correctly, and monitors compliance with grant requirements.

Some of your duties include:

• Managing contracts with waste collectors and processors;
• Ensure effective coordination with the field staff and the service center, primarily by keeping the employees at the waste drop-off station informed and working closely with them;
• Identifying bottlenecks and ensuring they are resolved;
• Collaborating with residents, suppliers, and colleagues;
• Ensure that laws and regulations are in order and are being followed;
• Monitoring grants and ensuring timely applications;
• Identifying when an issue requires political or administrative attention;
• Identifying policy issues and taking the lead on them: you initiate the discussion, involve the right colleagues, and set the follow-up in motion;
• Advising the portfolio holder, the executive board, and the council.

You’ll be working on the Spatial Management team—an enthusiastic and dedicated team where collaboration is key. You’ll work alongside the Field Service, the Spatial Policy team, and Facilities. And sometimes with other municipalities when it comes to shared waste management issues. In this role, you’ll oversee what’s happening, but you’ll also be actively involved in the day-to-day operations.

What do we ask of you?

You are someone who:

• Works in a structured manner and maintains a clear overview;
• Remain steadfast, even when residents or colleagues express their emotions or ask questions;
• Thinking (and acting) in both practical and policy-oriented terms;
• Is able to balance different interests;
• Considers identifying and coordinating to be a matter of course;
• Know when something requires administrative attention.

In addition:

• Do you preferably have experience with waste management or contract management within a municipality or similar organization?;
• Are you good at planning, communicating, and collaborating?;
• Are you a leader and a connector who feels comfortable in a role that bridges policy and implementation?

Working for the Municipality of Aa en Hunze
The Municipality of Aa en Hunze is one of the largest rural municipalities in the Netherlands, with approximately 25,000 residents, 35 villages and settlements, and an area of over 270 km². All of this stretches across the sandy Hondsrug and the peatlands of the Veenkoloniën. If you work for the municipality of Aa en Hunze, you’ll join over 350 colleagues in doing work that matters. Our mission is to keep Aa en Hunze beautiful and to make it a little more beautiful every day. We work together with our residents on a wide range of social issues. In doing so, we’re open to initiatives, listen and adapt, connect, and support. We do this by increasingly reaching out “into the community” and maintaining contact with residents, organizations, and associations. This allows us to respond effectively to what matters most to our residents. Staying connected is at the heart of what we do.