Head of Department for the Client/Employer Area at Aarhus Ejendomme

Strong people leader with professional depth in process-, decision- and stakeholder leadership

Do you want to lead skilled and independent project managers who are at the forefront of some of Aarhus Municipality's complex construction and civil engineering projects – and are you motivated by making people and working communities succeed?

The Client Area in Aarhus Properties is looking for an experienced people leader who can combine an attentive and appreciative leadership style with professional judgment. You must create clear direction, strong working communities and good frameworks for the employees – while also being able to challenge and spar with project managers when projects, decision processes and collaboration relationships become complex.

We are in the process of developing our organization and the way we lead. We want to move responsibility and decision-making power closer to the task, strengthen the project manager role and create a leadership team that uses different professional strengths across functions.

You must make people succeed

As a department head you will have personnel and professional leadership responsibility for a group of project managers and employees with different professional profiles, competencies and experience.

You must know your employees and their tasks well enough to know when you should support, challenge, prioritize or act – and when you should step back.

We expect that you

• create clear direction, prioritization and frameworks for employees' task solving, well-being and development
• see the individual employee and actively work with feedback, recognition and development
• differentiate your leadership according to employees' experience, competencies and needs
• develop independence, judgment and initiative in the project managers
• take on the leadership role if conflicts escalate in the projects.
• have difficult conversations and act if something is not functioning
• create a strong working community where employees use each other's competencies.

You must be close enough to lead – without taking over.

The project manager owns and leads the project. As a department head you are a personnel and professional leader and the first leadership sparring and escalation level.

You must also be able to lead the professional expertise

You do not need to be the best project manager in the department or an expert in every part of the client role. But you must have sufficient client- and project-related depth to challenge professional assessments, ask the right questions and maintain judgment when projects come under pressure.

In this position we are particularly seeking a leader with strength in process-, decision- and stakeholder leadership. You must be able to strengthen project managers' ability to:

• drive complex decision-making processes and create momentum
• lead stakeholders with different needs and interests
• clearly align expectations and stand firm in the client role
• handle conflict, negotiation and pressure
• navigate across organizational and professional boundaries.

When conflicts arise, you should be able to help de-escalate them and create a basis for solutions – both in the projects and in cross-organizational collaboration.

You must be a bridge builder

Our projects succeed through collaboration across Aarhus Municipality. Therefore you must be a bridge builder who is curious about others' perspectives and seeks solutions with a view to the common task.

You must build strong and trusting relationships with the magistrate and welfare areas we build for, understand their core tasks and at the same time stand clearly in the client role. This means you must be able to listen and collaborate, but also handle disagreements and maintain necessary priorities when interests do not align.

As a department head you must also be able to navigate a large politically led organization and have an eye for when a problem has a strategic or political dimension that should be handled at another level of leadership.

You will be part of one shared leadership team

You report to the area manager for the Client Area and become part of the area's shared leadership with the area manager and the other department head.

We want a complementary leadership team. We do not all need to be able to do the same things, but we should know our own strengths, actively bring them into the leadership team and use each other’s competencies across.

You should also look beyond your own department. We prioritize projects, resources and competencies based on the overall project portfolio – not on "my and your projects". A problem should not automatically move up the management hierarchy if it can be solved better by bringing a colleague's professional strength into play.

The Client Area currently consists of 28 employees distributed across two departments, so you can expect a management span of about 10-15 employees.

Who are you?

We primarily place importance on your solid experience with people management and how you have concretely developed both people, culture and working communities.

We also imagine that you

• lead with proximity and appreciation and create followership and clear direction
• have experience in leading professionally strong and independent employees
• can combine trust and delegation with clear expectations and follow-up
• have solid understanding of project management and complex construction projects
• have particular strength within process-, decision- and stakeholder leadership
• can handle disagreement and conflict constructively and maintain judgment under pressure
• are a strong relationship builder and bridge builder with a view to the common task
• can navigate a large, politically led organization
• thrive in a leadership team where you actively use each other’s different strengths.

Your educational background

Your educational background is not decisive. You could, for example, be an engineer, architect, building constructor or have another relevant background. The decisive factor is the combination of leadership experience, project professional understanding and professional depth that enables you to lead and develop our project managers.

A client organization in development

You join the Client Area at a time when we are developing our organization, our construction management and the way we lead. We want a clear leadership chain where responsibility and decisions are close to the task.

Project managers must have room and responsibility to lead their projects, and department heads must be strong personnel and professional leaders who can support, challenge and handle the issues that require leadership involvement.

As part of the development, we must together clarify mandates and escalation paths so that it becomes clear which decisions are made where, and when an issue should be raised to the next level of leadership.

You therefore play an important role in developing both employees' independence, our culture and the shared leadership practices in the Client Area.

About Aarhus Properties as a workplace

Aarhus Properties is part of Technology and Environment in Aarhus Municipality and has the overall responsibility for ensuring that the municipality's many buildings function and develop. In addition to the Client Area, Aarhus Properties consists of Property Operations, Property Portfolio and the Management Staff. This provides a broad organizational framework around the client task and close collaboration across property areas.

We are a workplace with high professionalism, strong relationships and a culture shaped by cooperation, trust and development. We believe that the best solutions are created in collaboration, and we actively work to create good conditions for both professional and leadership development.

The workplace is in Aarhus Properties' premises at Bautavej 6 in Aarhus West. The workplace is activity-based, meaning that we typically do not have fixed desks, but work in home zones and choose the physical framework that best supports the current task.

Want to join the team?

Then click on "Apply for the position" to submit your application and CV no later than

November 1, 2026 . All fields marked with * must be filled. Only when you have received a confirmation by email have we received your application.

We expect to hold 1st interview on November 5, 2026 and 2nd interview on November 16, 2026.

For candidates progressing to the 2nd interview, a person profile and test will be conducted with follow-up interview with HR. There may also be a case or a reflection question prior to the 2nd interview.

Expected start date: January 1, 2027.

If you want to know more about the job, you are very welcome to contact area manager Henrik Rudfeld at phone 23 26 48 72.

Salary and terms of employment are determined according to the applicable collective agreement and based on relevant experience.

Read more about Technology and Environment, what you can expect from the recruitment process and our general salary and employment terms Become part of Technology and Environment (aarhus.dk)

We look forward to hearing from you!