BKCN General Commander

Job description

The department has currently been in place for 15 years. A wonderful moment for you to join, to give substance to the further development of the department. This focuses on a shared and connecting organisation, from the three establishments on Bonaire, St. Eustatius, and Saba. Each establishment has a Local Commander (two on Bonaire). As the General Commander you oversee the whole and you provide integral management to the department. Together with the management team and the staff, you continue building on a department that is optimally prepared for its duties. And you stand for safe communities by preventing, limiting, and tackling risks.

 Job responsibilities

• As a connecting manager, you give direction to the further development of BKCN as a shared and connecting organisation. You provide continuity within the organisation in the area of deployability, professionalism, personnel policy, and professional competence of staff;
• You focus on an adequately operating fire department. You provide transparency towards the communities regarding fire-fighting and disaster prevention and crisis control, and you manage the arrangements stipulated in the fire-fighting plans and you implement them. You do this in close consultation with the Public Entities and the Island Governors;
• You aim for sustainable operational management that permanently enables BKCN to give substance to the performance of its duties. To this end, you give direction and implement the organisational objectives and strategy development. In this regard, you implement the management plan 2024-2027 and you give direction to the management plan 2028-2031, which is to be co-created by you;
• Where required, you actively participate in crisis teams during the prevention of disasters and crises, and you contribute to the deployment of BKCN during disaster prevention and crisis control;
• You solidify and intensify the cooperation with the fire-fighting organisations of Curaçao, Aruba and St. Maarten and partners in the Caribbean Netherlands. You also aim for possibilities of entering into or intensifying cooperation with parties in the Netherlands.

The organisation

The Fire Department Caribbean Netherlands (Brandweerkorps Caribisch Nederland; BKCN) is the fire department for the islands of Bonaire, St. Eustatius, and Saba. BKCN is part of the Ministry of Justice and Security (Justitie en Veiligheid; JenV) and is responsible for the performance of fire-fighting duties on the islands and at the airports. The Minister of JenV is the department manager of BKCN. The employees of the fire department are employed by the Rijksdienst Caribisch Nederland, and the General Commander is the competent authority of the employees. The organisation has approximately one hundred employees. Our people work from three establishments on Bonaire, St. Eustatius, and Saba. Each establishment is managed by a Local Commander, there are two Local Commanders on Bonaire. Together with the Local Commanders, the Technology and Logistics Coordinator, and the Operations Adviser you form the Management Team of BKCN. As the General Commander you are responsible for the complete (integral) management of BKCN.

Job requirements

• You have an academic level and at least a Higher Professional Education (HBO) diploma;
• You demonstrably dispose of excellent management skills;
• You are experienced in supervising complex (change) tasks within a dynamic, political-administrative, and preferably multi-cultural environment;
• You are experienced in the safety domain, and you preferably earned your merits in the fire-fighting profession, both in the all-round and in the policy area. As a result, you are well able to stimulate the craftsmanship and the further development of the fire department. You preferably dispose of the Chief Fire Officer (HBM) diploma or the Chief Head of Service (HOVD) diploma of the Netherlands Institute for Public Safety;
• You have experience as a Chief Head of Service;
• You preferably followed training in the area of crisis control and disaster prevention, e.g. Master of Crisis and Public Order Management (previously MCDM);
• You have knowledge of and experience with the control-related aspects of management, e.g. finance, risk management, operational management, and HR;
• You are a good listener, you have an eye for the Caribbean context of fire-fighting and for the various interests of the three islands;
• You have good communication skills in the Dutch and in the English language, both in the spoken and in the written word. Speaking Papiamentu is preferred;
• You have affinity with the Caribbean.

Competencies

• Cooperative orientation;
• Political-administrative insight and awareness;
• Sense of relationships, political awareness;
• Social orientation;
• Planning, organisation, and coordination;
• Communication skills;
• Vision development and propagation;
• Courage.

What do we offer?

• An appointment in accordance with the Rechtspositiebesluit Ambtenaren BES (BES Civil Servants (Legal Status) Decree);
• Your employment is basically for one year with the intention of converting this into an open-term appointment in the event of satisfactory performance. A secondment of three to five years is also part of the possibilities;
• As the General Commander of the fire department, you are placed in scale 14 of at least $6,613 and at most $8,037 of the Regeling Bezoldiging Rijksambtenaren BES (Civil Servants (Remuneration) Scheme BES);
• Holiday allowance (8.33% of the annual income);
• A 13th month (8.33% of the annual income);
• A pension provision placed with Pensioenfonds Caribisch Nederland (PCN);
• 182 holiday hours in case of a 36-hour working week;
• A removal scheme for candidates who respond from outside the island.

Procedure

An assessment, case and/or reference check may be part of the selection procedure.
This vacancy is opened simultaneously internally and externally, in the course of which the following order is considered in the selection:

• Official RCN staff on the BES Islands (internal);
• Residents of the Caribbean part of the Netherlands (external);
• Other candidates (external).

Particulars

• It involves a full-time position where you work 36 hours a week. Your deployment outside office hours may be requested, if so required by situations.
• Your work location is Bonaire, and you are regularly present on St. Eustatius and Saba.
• A civil aviation security screening is required for the position.
• The selection procedure consists of a letter selection and interviews with a selection and advice committee.
• It is possible to react to this vacancy up to and including 8 March 2026. The interviews will take place on Bonaire or in a hybrid form on 19 March 2026. The appointment takes place mid-2026.

Appointment requirements

• A Certificate of Good Conduct (VOG);
• A medical examination for admission to the pension fund (membership is compulsory, including a personal contribution);
• Dutch citizenship.

Good to know for those interested outside the Caribbean Netherlands

• The salary is in US dollars which is the official currency in the Caribbean Netherlands;
• The Caribbean Netherlands has its own tax regulations. The income exceeding the tax-free sum of $21,956 in 2026 is taxed in the first bracket, up to an income of $53,198, at 29.4%. In the second bracket, a tax rate of 38.4% applies.
• You are or will become a resident of the Caribbean Netherlands.

More information?

Information about the position can be obtained from Coen van Vulpen, representative of the department manager in the Caribbean Netherlands, email: Coen.vanVulpen@RijksdienstCN.com.

Digital application

You can send your Curriculum Vitae accompanied by a motivation to the Ministry of Justice and Security, email: m.b.haas@minjenv.nl.