Head of Department for Preventive Efforts for the Elderly at the Center for Prevention and Communities

Do you want to lead and unite 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 older people in Copenhagen Municipality?

We are in the midst of an exciting development of both our organisation and the preventive efforts for older people. As head of department in 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 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 effort in a time when the new Elderly Act provides new frameworks and opportunities to think prevention and communities together.

Your leadership task

One of your first and most important tasks will be to consolidate five existing teams into one new department. The prevention consultants have until now been organized under the municipality's five home care units and must in the future have a common organizational, professional and physical framework, possibly with satellite functions in the city. The prevention consultants have strong professional competencies in citizen-facing prevention for older people, great 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 entails, among other things, the ability to listen and lead through dialogue while also being clear when priorities, decisions, and a shared direction need to be created.

You will be responsible for staff management and for creating good conditions for well-being, collaboration and professional development. In addition, you will be 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 mainly consists of preventive home visits, preventive conversations, collective events and other activities for older citizens.

The municipalities have gained greater freedom to organize prevention in new ways with § 4 of the Elderly Act. This provides an opportunity to further develop the effort based on the citizens' needs and the politically decided frameworks.

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

There is sustained political, strategic and professional focus on strengthening the effort for the target group, and there will continually 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 employee development. As department head, you are present, curious and clear, and you can create direction, even when daily life is busy.

We especially emphasize that you

• can unite people around a common task and create followership in a workforce with high professionalism and independence
• can set strategic direction, lead change and translate overarching decisions into practice with a focus on involvement, progress, professionalism and experience
• have strong relational and processual competencies and can reconcile the needs of stable operations, professional development and employee engagement
• collaborate well across professions and organizational boundaries and navigate safely in a politically governed organization
• have knowledge of the target group and experience with prevention, health promotion or elderly care, including an understanding of the broad concept of health
• can make the efforts visible and exploit opportunities for collaboration with relevant actors, including the municipality and civil society

We envision that you have a relevant advanced education. Your educational background can be health-related or in another area relevant to the task. The crucial factor is the combination of your leadership competences, your organizational understanding and your motivation for the area.

A strong leadership community

The Center for Prevention and Communities is a newly established center in the Health and Care Administration and has been created as part of a reorganization of the administration 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-facing initiatives and services, and promotion of communities across civil society, local communities, other administrations and other relevant actors.

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

In the Health and Care Administration, our leadership foundation is built 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 daily life as a leader in SUF.

Employment terms

Salary and employment terms according to the applicable collective agreement and negotiated according to qualifications. Start on December 1, 2026. References and a criminal record check will be obtained upon offer of employment.

Want to know more?

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

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

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

We look forward to receiving your application.