Educator / Pedagogical Assistant for the Youth Unit at Institution Midtfyn, Søbysøgård Prison

Dreaming of a job that develops you professionally and personally and where you can help create positive changes in young people’s lives? Then here is the opportunity for an exciting job, where you, with your professional skills, empathy, responsibility and initiative, engage in a developing interdisciplinary collaboration with among others teachers, pedagogues, social workers and prison officers. Institution Midtfyn, Søbysøgård Prison seeks a new colleague to take care of the pedagogical work in the youth unit. The position is a full-time position. The position is to be filled as soon as possible.

We have 2 youth divisions, where 15-17-year-olds serve their sentences. One division in open regime and one in closed. You will be attached to the open regime division, but during holidays and illness you will have to assist on the other division. The division has room for 5 youths, and the closed division has room for 7 youths.

Your responsibilities

We are seeking a pedagogical employee who is educated as a pedagogue/pedagogical assistant and/or who has documented experience from work in a 24-hour institution, preferably with at-risk youths. You master the ability to balance between creating followership and relationships on the one hand, and creating clear frameworks and maintaining structure on the other. You have experience with preventive work as well as handling individuals with behavioral and psychological challenges.

At the division, the youths serve their sentence in a pedagogical environment where clarity and structure are among the guiding elements for carrying out daily activities. Furthermore, emphasis is placed on a motivating and appreciative approach, where supporting the youth’s competencies and resources helps to create development for the youth toward a life of education and work.

In everyday life, the youths participate among other things in school/education, substance abuse conversations, sports, vocational activities and ADL training. Your primary task will be to create positive relationships with the youths and thereby enable you to work with the youths’ motivation to create changes toward a life without crime. This by training the youths in ADL, motivating them to engage in everyday activities, holding conversations with the youths and much more.

If you also have competencies within the leisure and hobby world, it is only a plus.

We offer

• An exciting position where there is room for creative ideas.
• An informal environment with room for humor, but with a respectful tone.
• An environment with high professionalism and integrity.
• Interdisciplinary collaboration with several different professional groups.
• A “both/and” mindset, where it is possible to focus on the prison’s operations, including security, and where development and change are also a focus area.
• Monthly treatment conference and supervision.
• Professional and personal development e.g., through participation in courses and continuing education.

You will of course receive an introductory program so that you become familiar with the prison and the inmates you will be working with.

We expect that you

• Are educated as a pedagogue/pedagogical assistant or have documented experience from a similar position.
• Can document your work in writing.
• Thrive in interdisciplinary collaboration with teachers, pedagogues, prison officers, social workers, etc.
• Can motivate the inmates and create good relationships.
• Are persistent and see opportunities, even when you meet resistance.
• Can work professionally with conflicts and behaviorally challenging youths.
• Communicate in an appreciative and valuing way and thrive in working with young people who are having difficulties.
• Are mentally resilient, able to set clear boundaries and maintain calm in pressure-filled situations.
• Enjoy being physically active.
• Are flexible and prepared for tasks in other divisions than the youth division.

We also expect that you are independent, energetic, service-minded, flexible and ready to engage in an exciting daily life where the task of helping the inmates progress toward a life without crime, including through education, is central.

Finally, we emphasize that as a person you can and will support a positive work environment by having a good mood and possessing strong team-working skills.

Salary and terms of employment

are according to the central collective agreement between the state and The Danish Teachers’ Union, and CO10 – Central Organization of 2010 and the collective agreement for pedagogues, etc., in the Danish Prison Service, or according to another relevant agreement depending on your educational background in relation to the job content.

The employment area is Denmark’s Prisons. The duty station is Institution Midtfyn, Søbysøgård Prison, Søvej 27, Nr. Søby, 5792 Årslev.

The working hours are distributed over day and evening shifts across all seven days of the week and are to be filled as soon as possible.

Who we are

Søbysøgård Prison, which is part of Midtfyn’s prisons and remand centers, has room for 181 inmates. 139 in the open prison and 42 in the closed prison. Midtfyn’s prisons and remand centers consist, in addition to Søbysøgård Prison, of Ringe Prison, the release prison for Kværndrup, as well as the remand centers in Assens and Svendborg. The staff in the prison cover various professional groups such as prison officers, pedagogues, social workers, teachers, skilled trades, warders, therapists, etc.

The youth divisions are composed of a multidisciplinary team consisting of prison officers, teachers, pedagogues, a warder and a social worker. There is also an external supervisor attached, who regularly conducts supervision and treatment conferences with the staff group. From here, the joint pedagogical effort is developed so that everyone pulls in the same direction. A special pedagogical effort is provided to have a structured and predictable daily life, where the youths experience calm and direction, and together with the staff can work on successes and toward a life without crime.

The division’s target group can face challenges in learning, behavior, as well as in cooperating relations and communities.

You apply for the position via the link

"Apply for the job.” Your application with CV must be

received no later than October 18, 2026.

Interviews are expected to be held on October 27, 2026.

It is a prerequisite for employment in the position that you, if called for an interview, consent to the Danish Prison Service obtaining and assessing information about you in the Central Criminal Register.

Before any possible appointment, we must receive documentation for your CV, e.g., employment certificates and exam certificates. If you are called for an interview, please bring photographic identification, e.g., passport or driving license.

The Danish Prisons Service sees diversity as a strength, and invites all interested candidates regardless of personal background to apply.

Further information

For more information about the position, please contact Unit Manager Jan Wetke Jensen at 7255 3714 or email: [email protected]

Application deadline: October 18, 2026

Location: Region of Southern Denmark