Head of Department for Unemployment Benefits, Flex Jobs and Cash Assistance

Head of Department for Center for Employment in Faxe Municipality We are seeking a leader for a department with a wide professional scope and the labor market as a common focal point. The department covers unemployment benefits, cash assistance for citizens over 30 years old, as well as flex jobs and unemployment benefits.

These are areas with different target groups, legislation and professional issues, but with a common task of supporting the citizen's connection to the labor market. Some citizens need a short and precise intervention, while others have a longer path, and this requires both professional judgment, clear prioritization and a view of the individual.

The position is also part of the joint management of the Center for Employment. It is important to us that we open our leadership space to each other, because the managers indeed have their own departments, but the centre's tasks are closely connected, and we believe this obliges us to contribute to the community.

The task The employment area is changing significantly in these years. There will be fewer process requirements, more municipal freedom, and a greater need for us to be able to stand by the choices we make.

This gives more room for professionalism, but also places clearer demands on leadership. We are therefore working on developing a practice where employees have real professional scope for action, while direction, framework and expectations are clear.

As a leader you must be close to the professional practice without taking it over. You must be interested in the assessments the employees make, the way they work, and what their efforts lead to. Data and results are part of the picture, but not the whole. We use them to learn more about practice and to identify places where we should adjust course.

There will also be ordinary operations. Deadlines must be met, the official tasks must be in order, the finances must add up, and employees must know what is expected of them. When something does not work, action must be taken. That part of the job naturally fills the role and is important.

Leadership in the center We expect you to take responsibility for your own department while actively and constructively contributing to the whole.

A decision made somewhere in the center can quickly have consequences somewhere else, and therefore we need leaders who notice the connections and bring them into the leadership group. It may be a professional challenge, a capacity problem, an inefficient workflow or an idea that might be used more broadly.

It comes naturally to you to bring challenges and questions into the leadership group, even when you do not yet have a solution. You engage in both your own and your colleagues' leadership tasks, take part in the joint leadership, and devote time and attention to questions that do not necessarily lie directly in your own department.

View on employment efforts There is a professional stance in the position.

We consider attachment to the labor market meaningful for the individual and as a central goal of employment efforts, but that does not mean that all people must meet in the same way.

The concrete professional assessment matters a lot to us. The citizen's situation, the opportunities in the labor market, and what we know about effective interventions must be able to meet in a decision that makes sense in the concrete case.

The labor market must be present in the professional practice, even when the path to work is longer. It requires that we maintain a focus on opportunities for integration into the work community while at the same time respecting that citizens' starting points and paths to it are different.

As a leader you must be able to see yourself in that starting point and want to stand by it in daily leadership.

Personnel management You will be a people manager, and we emphasize that you actually want that part of the work. You become the line manager for approximately [XX] employees and will have the opportunity to recruit a subject-matter coordinator at the start of your employment.

You must know your organization well enough to know what is happening in it, to follow the development of employees, to address problems and to create clarity when something is unclear.

Sometimes leadership is about giving space, other times about setting a clear boundary or making a decision that not everyone agrees with. There is not one correct position, and therefore we need a leader who can assess the situation and act on it.

The same applies to occupational health and well-being. We do not see these questions as something that lies beside the operation, but as part of the way you lead an organization.

Your own leadership We want a leader who can stand independently in the role and translate shared direction and decisions into practice in your own department.

There will be a common framework and some common decisions, but there will also be a significant leadership space to find the best way locally. This means that you take responsibility for how the direction is concretely implemented together with your employees and in interaction with the rest of the organization.

It is therefore important that you are curious about your own leadership, can reflect on your choices, and are open to counterarguments. We would like you to be able to adjust course when new perspectives or good arguments point to it.

We do not need a leader who always has all the answers in advance, but a leader who can balance openness and decisiveness and assess when there is a need for further investigation and when it is time to make a decision.

You must also be able to give your fellow leaders counterarguments in a factual and respectful way and be prepared to receive the same in return.

Development We expect that the recent years' development in the employment area will continue, and part of the work will therefore be to continually decide what we should hold fast to, what we should change, and what we perhaps should do away with altogether.

That work is not only done in the leadership group. Employees hold a large part of the knowledge we need, and their experiences from meeting citizens and systems must be used actively when we change practice.

The same applies to technology.

We already use AI and other digital solutions in our work, and we will use more. We are most interested in technology when it solves a concrete problem, frees up time, makes a workflow simpler, supports professionalism or gives the citizen a better experience.

You do not need to come with a special technical background. What matters is that you are interested in the possibilities and can lead the changes that follow.

Your background There are several paths into the position.

You may have experience from the employment area, and that will of course be relevant. You may also have leadership experience from another professional field if you have a good understanding of public administration, official tasks and working in a politically led organization.

We will especially pay attention to how you think about leadership. We expect that you have experience with personnel management and can handle both daily operations and longer-term development tasks.

You must be able to work with data and results without believing that numbers tell the whole story, and you must be able to create direction without needing to decide every detail. At the same time, you must be able to collaborate with other leaders in a way that the common task sometimes takes precedence over your own department.

Knowledge of employment legislation and the labor market will be an advantage. If you come with another background, you must be ready to quickly immerse yourself in the area.

Workplace The Center for Employment handles Faxe Municipality's employment efforts.

We work with citizens in different situations and with different distances to the labor market. We collaborate with companies, educational institutions and other parts of the municipality, and a large part of the task is solved across departments.

As a leader you will become part of the center's leadership team and report to the center chief.

You will have substantial responsibility and corresponding autonomy, and we expect you to use both. There will be things that already work well, which you must protect, and there will be aspects that we together must have the courage to change.

That is roughly the reality you will enter.

Practical If you have questions about the position, you are welcome to contact Center Chief Troels van Dijk at 23644502 (text before is an advantage).

The application deadline is Monday 9/11

First interview will be held on 18/11, and second interview on 25/11.

We use Praice as part of the recruitment process. If you are called to interview, you will receive a link to fill out before the interview.

The position is full-time with a start date of 1 January 2027 or by agreement.

Salary and employment terms are set according to the applicable collective agreement and the principles of local salary formation.

More information about Faxe Municipality on our website: www.faxekommune.dk