Behind Cambridge special events, like June’s Citywide Dance Party, there is significant planning, organization, and cross-departmental collaboration. This is where Rob Linke shines.
As an Operations Manager with the Department of Public Works (DPW), Linke is involved with several important City operations, including working in DPW's administration and planning division, helping coordinate special events as the DPW representative on the special events committee, and supporting the City’s outdoor permitting program.
“One of the great things about my job that I get to work with all the other divisions at the DPW and other City departments, particularly during the special event season,” Linke said.
For some events, this planning can be immense, as the City works to coordinate seating, trash, barriers, and other logistics.
“For instance, for the dance party, we have four divisions from DPW that are involved in various aspects of helping set up and provide support for the dance party,” Linke said. “There’s a lot of coordination, a lot of planning, meeting with other people, seeing what they want on the special events committee, and letting them know what we can and can’t do.”
This citywide collaboration is a key component of his work, as Linke often works closely with the traffic department and license commission, as well as with the police and fire departments. Beyond special events, Linke is also heavily involved with the City’s outdoor permitting program, and this part of his role has expanded since the pandemic, as outdoor seating at restaurants increased in prominence with new City policies designed to support it.
Alongside this expansion of outdoor dining came a multi-departmental effort to streamline the permitting process, involving DPW, Traffic, Licensing, Inspectional Services, and the Law Department. While this collaboration existed before COVID, Linke views this newfound sense of teamwork as a silver lining of sorts to the pandemic.
“What I found really great is, we all came together … and really became a city team. It really has been great and has really improved that side of the permitting process, working together as a big team,” he said.
Originally from Canada, Linke has degrees in education and history and worked in construction. After immigrating to the United States, he pursued a Master of Science in Project Management at Northeastern University, during which time he began working for the City.
“I actually started here as a co-op student when I was doing my project management degree. When a permit administrator position opened up here at the DPW, I applied for and I got it, and then I became permit coordinator and eventually got the operations manager role here,” Linke said. “So I have a construction background but I do have project management experience and certainly working on teams experience.”
During his time with DPW, one of Linke’s favorite projects has been helping facilitate the transition from paper to online permitting, an effort that also involved several departments.
“Trying to streamline the permitting process with other departments has been enjoyable as well. Being part of that process as well as trying to improve our process around special events and looking for inefficiencies and how to do stuff better,” Linke said.
More broadly, Linke loves the problem-solving aspect of his job, particularly when it comes to benefiting the Cambridge community, and he appreciates how central this drive to serve the community is to the City’s employees.
“I do enjoy helping people. Working at the DPW, we’re always solving problems, and people come to us with issues, and I enjoy solving problems and helping people,” he said. “Particularly, I like the people here, at the DPW, and across the City as well. Just great people here who care about the citizens of Cambridge, what happens in Cambridge, and I find that great.”
Outside of work, Linke enjoys woodworking, photography, and spending time with his family. He and his son began downhill mountain biking recently, and all of his kids play hockey, and he enjoys coaching the sport too.
Above all, Linke cherishes the sense of community he has formed with his co-workers.
“I’m proud of being part of the DPW team,” Linke said. “The people here at DPW are really great to work with.”
