Office of the City Manager

City Manager

Cambridge's City Manager is the most senior official on the City's administrative team. The City Manager helps City Council and senior management develop and focus priorities in order to create programs that improve the delivery of customer service for all areas of the City's administration and operation.

Rob Axiak, MPA, BA (Hons)

Municipal Executive | Strategic Leader | Community Builder

Rob Axiak is an ambitious and aspirational municipal executive with more than 30 years of experience leading transformation and fostering high-performing organizations across Ontario. As City Manager for the City of Cambridge and former Chief Administrative Officer for the City of Welland, Rob is known for his forward-thinking leadership, collaborative style, and commitment to public service excellence.

He has led strategic and organizational renewal initiatives that strengthen governance, enhance community engagement, and build lasting partnerships across the community. Rob is recognized for uniting people around shared objectives, building trust between Council and staff, and driving meaningful progress that improves community well-being.

Rob holds a Master of Public Administration from Western University and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from Brock University. Married with two adult children and two adult stepchildren, he brings a grounded and people-centered approach to leadership, guided by integrity, optimism, and a belief in the power of community.

Service Areas

To support the City Manager, there are five General Managers responsible for specific City service areas, including:

  • Customer & Financial Services
  • Corporate Services
  • Community Services
  • Planning & Growth
  • Infrastructure Services

In addition to the General Managers, the following divisions support the City Manager:

  • Corporate Communications (provides strategic communications services)
  • Legal (provides legal services and advice to the City of Cambridge, guided by the Law Society Act, ultimately providing a preventative law function)
  • Administration - provides centralized support for divisions and acts as liaison with other departments

Values

The City Manager uses the following principles to guide the department's actions:

  • Establishment and maintenance of a cooperative and meaningful relationship with Council
  • Development and maintenance of leadership and collaborative workforce culture in accordance with the City's core values and strategic plan
  • Promotion of excellence in customer service through a culture of continuous improvement involving all employees throughout the organization
  • Promotion of internal and external team building designed to eliminate barriers to internal and external growth
  • Promotion of operational and financial efficiencies on a corporate-wide basis
  • Creation of a sustainable plan for the development of programs and growth opportunities designed to raise the profile of the City of Cambridge

Roles and responsibilities

The City Manager has the following expectations for the functions of the department:

  • Providing leadership to the organization that promotes and develops the City
  • Building stakeholder relationships in the community and on a regional, provincial and national scale
  • Designing a shared vision that incorporates Council's vision of the community
  • Achieving strategic objectives
  • Creating a high performance organization focused on quality and customer service
  • Providing all employees with a supportive work environment with the same concern, trust, respect and caring attitude shared with the citizens and stakeholders of the City of Cambridge
  • Implementing organization wide activities to ensure that the City acts ethically and in accordance with its risk appetite
  • Providing guidance to the Internal Audit function

The City's strategic plan is implemented by focusing on People, Place and Prosperity.