Head of Department at the Center for Prevention and Communities

Head of Department in Center for Prevention and Communities

Do you want to be at the forefront of bringing together and leading a new department with 17 experienced and professionally strong prevention consultants with diverse health backgrounds? And are you eager to help shape the future preventive efforts for the elderly in the City of Copenhagen?

We are in the midst of an exciting development of both our organization and the preventive efforts for the elderly. As head of the newly established Center for Prevention and Communities in the Health and Care Administration (SUF), you will play a central role in bringing five teams together into one department and creating a clear common direction.

At the same time, you will have the opportunity to influence the development of the preventive efforts at a time when the new elderly law provides new frameworks and opportunities to think about prevention and communities together.

Your leadership role

One of your first and most important tasks will be to unite five existing teams into one new department. The prevention consultants have so far been organized under the municipality's five home care units and will going forward have a shared organizational, professional, and physical framework, possibly with satellite functions in the city. The prevention consultants have strong professional competencies within citizen-oriented prevention for the elderly, high engagement and a high degree of independence, as well as experiences from different work cultures.

In addition, you will have a large strategic leadership task to link the preventive efforts to the center's other work with public health and communities. You will do this in close collaboration with the center's other leadership group and by incorporating the experiences and professionalism that already exist. This includes being able to listen and lead through dialogue while also being clear when priorities need to be set, decisions made, and a common direction created.

You will be responsible for personnel management and for creating good conditions for well-being, collaboration, and professional development. In addition, you are responsible for the department's professional and strategic development as well as for stable operations, including capacity management, finances, monitoring, and ongoing evaluation.

A preventive effort in development

Today the effort primarily consists of preventive home visits, preventive conversations, collective events, and other activities for older citizens.

Municipalities have, with the Elderly Act section 4, gained greater freedom to organize prevention in new ways. This provides the opportunity to further develop the effort based on citizens' needs and the politically decided frameworks.

We work, among other things, to strengthen opportunities for participation in communities, prevent loneliness, and bridge to existing services and local communities. This is done in collaboration with relevant actors in and outside the municipality, including civil society. Through preventive conversations, for example, citizens who need guidance are helped to find relevant opportunities and services.

There is ongoing political, strategic, and professional focus on strengthening the effort for the target group, and there will be development projects in the department, across the center and in collaboration with other parts of the municipality and external actors.

About you

You have several years of experience in people management and a strong interest in leadership and staff development. As head of department, you are approachable, curious, and clear, and you can create direction even when daily life is busy.

We especially value that you

• can bring people together around a common task and create buy-in in a workforce with high professionalism and independence
• can set strategic direction, lead change, and translate overarching decisions into practice with attention to involvement, progress, professionalism, and experience
• have strong relational and process competencies and can balance the need for stable operations, professional development, and employee involvement
• collaborate well across professional disciplines and organizational boundaries and navigate confidently in a politically steered organization
• have knowledge of the target group and experience with prevention, health promotion, or the elderly sector, including an understanding of the broad concept of health
• can make the effort visible and exploit potential for collaboration with relevant actors, including within the municipality and civil society

We anticipate that you have a relevant higher education. Your educational background may be health-related or fall within another area relevant to the task. The decisive factor is the combination of your leadership competencies, your organizational understanding, and your motivation for the field.

A strong leadership community

The Center for Prevention and Communities is a newly established center in the Health and Care Administration and is created as part of a reorganization of the administration, which aims to bring the administration closer to citizens, closer to operations, and closer to partners. The center's main tasks include strategic development in the public health area, development and operation of citizen-centered initiatives and services, and the promotion of communities across civil society, local communities, other administrations, and other relevant actors.

As head of department, you will be part of the center's new leadership team. Together with the other department heads and the center manager, you will share responsibility for the center's overall task and for developing collaboration and the shared direction across the center.

In the Health and Care Administration, our leadership foundation is based on trust in employees' professionalism combined with clear direction, prioritization, and follow-up. We also have a strong focus on leadership development and on giving our leaders a good start. As a new leader, you will receive a structured onboarding program and a mentor, and you will become part of a leadership environment with ongoing sparring and development of your leadership. Read more here about development opportunities and everyday life as a leader in SUF.

Employment terms

Salary and employment terms according to the applicable collective agreement and negotiated based on qualifications. Start date December 1, 2026. References and a background check will be obtained when offering employment.

Want to know more?

If you want to hear more about the position, you are welcome to contact the Chief of Public Health Katrine Schjønning at 30 34 56 32.

We expect to hold 1st interview on Thursday, October 22, and 2nd interview on Wednesday, October 28. If you proceed to the 2nd interview, you must be prepared to complete a test process and participate in an individual feedback session on Teams prior to the 2nd interview.

Apply via the link no later than Sunday, October 18, 2026

We look forward to receiving your application.

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