Lead Operational Excellence & Control

Are you a senior professional who thrives on structure, governance and performance? Do you combine strategic oversight with a pragmatic mindset, enabling predictable, data‑driven and compliant operations? For the Corporate Real Estate Management & Facility Services NL (CREFS NL) department, we are looking for Head Operational Excellence & Control.

About CREFS
CREFS NL manages the full real estate portfolio and related facility services for ING offices in the Netherlands. Our mission is ‘to deliver a sustainable and empowering office experience that fosters connectivity, enhances ING’s attractiveness to employees and clients and drives business growth, always lean, cost-effective and high performing’.

We take pride in delivering excellence. With a long‑term vision as our compass, we make thoughtful, data‑driven decisions that move us forward. Our commitment to learning and improvement fuels a culture of curiosity and innovation — ensuring we stay ahead, stay relevant, and continue to shape meaningful experiences.

What drives us is not only what we do, but also how we do it. We believe that great work should also be enjoyable. We create an environment where collaboration, ambition, and fun go hand in hand — because people do their best work when they feel energized, valued, and connected.

Operational Excellence & Control
As Head Operational Excellence & Control, you lead the new pillar within CREFS NL and are accountable for strengthening department‑wide performance steering, governance and control. You manage a team of subject‑matter experts and set standards across Service Performance Management, Information Management, Monitoring & Control and Non‑Financial Risk Management. You design, embed and maintain integrated standards, processes and insights across these specialist domains to ensure predictable and compliant operations. You’ll become a member of the CREFS NL Management Team, we’re you enable effective decision‑making and the controlled delivery of strategic and improvement initiatives.

Your key responsibilities:

• Lead and coordinate specialist functions
  Build, lead and sustain a high‑performing team across independently positioned specialist support functions. Set a clear and motivating direction that empowers teams, strengthens ownership, and drives results. Through aligned priorities, trust, collaboration, and a mindset of continuous improvement, you connect people and processes to steer with confidence in a complex landscape.
  

The team consists of:

• Service Performance Management
  Manages the contract performance of suppliers and lead in collaboration with procurement and SME’s tenders and strategy for CREFS NL.
• Information Management
  Manages the IM tooling/assets and budget, development and strategy for CREFS NL.
• Monitoring & Control
  Responsible for managing the general ledger account and provides support to CREFS NL team for Po’s and accruals.
• Non-Financial Risk Management
  Responsible for identifying, monitoring and managing non‑financial risks within CREFS NL.
• Safeguard financial and risk process quality
  Safeguard financial and risk‑related process quality within CREFS NL. Serve as the central point of contact for RFC and DP processes within CREFS NL, ensuring alignment, consistency and timely execution in line with agreed timelines, governance standards and cross‑team dependencies.
• Drive operational excellence
  Establish, maintain and continuously improve integrated operational excellence within CREFS NL. Identify and propose improvements to end ‑toe nd performance, KPI hierarchies, governance frameworks and processes, and guide execution to ensure uniformity, quality‑ and control.
• Enable datadriven decision making
  Enable datadriven decision making by coordinating and aligning CREFS NL data and analytics into coherent insights, performance reporting and governance that support effective steering at MT level.
• Management Team
  Contributing to collective leadership, strategic alignment and prioritization. Bring independent judgement and an integrated perspective to Management Team discussions, supporting disciplined decision making and effective steering. Share accountability for the overall performance, direction‑ and results of CREFS NL.

We are looking for:
An energetic and enthusiastic senior leader with a sharp analytical view, capable of connecting people and processes to create clarity, consistency and effective steering in a complex environment. As such, you:

• Have experience leading multidisciplinary expert teams in a complex environment.
• Are able to balance independent and advisory support with operational pragmatism.
• Translate strategy into clear standards, processes and measurable outcomes.
• Are effective at Management Team level as an independent adviser, providing insight, reflection and challenge where appropriate.
• Have a strong understanding of performance steering, governance and control frameworks, and know how to embed these across multiple specialist domains.
• Have proven Information Management expertise, with experience in IM tooling and assets, budget ownership, development and strategy.

How to succeed
We hire smart people like you for your potential. Our biggest expectation is that you’ll stay curious. Keep learning. Take on responsibility. In return, we’ll back you to develop into an even more awesome version of yourself.

Furthermore, you have/are:

• A bachelor or master’s level background (preferably in Facility Management, Business Administration, Finance, Operations or Information Management), complemented by +10 years of relevant experience in Corporate Real Estate/Facility Services or Operational improvement roles.
• Strong organizational awareness by understanding governance structures, stakeholder dynamics and departmental interdependencies, and ensuring alignment between strategy, processes, performance and decision‑making across the organization.
• An analytical mindset with the ability to identify problems, analyze data, and make decisions based on them.
• Strong decision‑making and advisory skills, providing the Management Team with high‑quality, evidence‑based insights
• Proactive and curious. You are always eager to explore new ideas and perspectives.
• Demonstrate inspiring leadership by coaching and developing a multidisciplinary team, fostering trust, accountability, fun, and collaborative excellence.
• Strong strategic competence, with the ability to define long‑term direction, anticipate future developments and make well‑considered strategic choices.
• Bring proven experience in leading complex change and embedding strategy into sustainable ways of working, governance, processes and behavior.
• Fluent in both Dutch and English, with the ability to communicate clearly and effectively at all levels, both verbally and in writing.

Your work environment

• You will take on the role of Head of Operational Excellence & Control, leading a team of eight professionals and contributing at a strategic level as a member of the CREFS NL Management Team.
• You will report hierarchically to the Head of CREFS NL.
• We strive to work in a professional and collaborative environment, where adaptability and proactive communication are key to success. Continuous learning, creating value, and embracing differences are essential to how we work.
• We work with the ING Orange Code, a set of values and behaviors in which integrity comes first, and through which we make agreements that give substance to these principles.
• Your main base is Amsterdam.

Rewards and benefits
We want to make sure that it’s possible for you to strike the right balance between your career and your private life. Find out more about our employment conditions.

The benefits of working with us at ING include:

• A salary tailored to your qualities and experience (scale 13)
• 24-27 vacation days depending on contract
• Pension scheme
• 13th month salary
• Individual Savings Contribution (BIS), 3.5% of your gross annual salary
• 8% Holiday payment
• Hybrid working (50% office-based)
• Personal growth and challenging work with endless possibilities
• An informal working environment with innovative colleagues

About us
Curious about how ING empowers people and businesses to move forward? Discover what we do and what we can offer you.

Questions?
If you have any questions about the position, the team, or the organization, feel free to reach out to Anna Kirtley (Business Manager CREFS NL) via anna.kirtley@ing.com. Want to apply directly? Please upload your CV and motivation letter by clickin