Head of Planning and Projects

CTR seeks head of Planning & Projects

Take a central leadership role in Denmark's largest transmission company for district heating. As head of Planning & Projects you will have managerial responsibility for the whole journey from the initial idea to the finished plant and set the direction for a project portfolio of large and complex projects that future-proof the heat supply to 340,000 homes.

With five capital municipalities as owners, you will hold an important position in the development of the district heating system, where new technologies, reinvestments and close collaboration with municipalities and other stakeholders will shape the projects in the coming years. The role is of great importance for both security of supply, heat price and the green transition.

The district heating sector is undergoing major changes, and the project portfolio is changing in character these years. CTR's strategy for the future supply includes, among other things, more decentralised heat production, and a significant part of the task today lies before a project is decided and can be managed by traditional parameters such as time, economy and quality. Ideas must be matured, owner municipalities must be involved, and a solid basis must be created for even making a decision on projects. In addition reinvestments in the transmission network are expected to occupy more in the coming years.

In this context we have thought carefully about what is critically important for CTR right now – and have not simply reposted the old role. We have looked at what the task requires and adjusted the organisation so that the idea phase, pre-project and implementation are gathered in one department, Planning & Projects, which spans the entire path from idea to commissioning.

Specifically, the idea phase moves into Planning & Projects, which also takes system ownership of CTR's planning and energy models, including EnergyPRO, planning basis and effect balance. This should provide clear responsibility and a better link from the first analyses and assessments of future capacity needs to project maturation, design, tendering, construction and handover to operations.

As head of Planning & Projects you will have personnel responsibility for five employees from the current project team and heat planning. You must bring together different professional disciplines in one department, set a clear direction and create clear roles and decision processes around the projects. You must also take responsibility for ensuring that the final collaboration interfaces come into place so there is coherence and good interaction across CTR. At the same time you will influence CTR's way of planning, prioritising and executing projects.

Leadership responsibility for the entire project process

You report to the executive management and will have the managerial responsibility to ensure Planning & Projects succeeds with a twofold task. The department must mature ideas and production possibilities in close dialogue with the owner municipalities, so that a basis is created for concrete projects. In addition, it must ensure that the projects that are decided are implemented within the agreed frameworks for time, economy and quality. The previous focus on project management is maintained, but the responsibility is expanded so that the department both creates the projects and conducts them.

In the early phases you will ensure that capacity needs, technical possibilities, economy, risks and local considerations are illuminated. New production projects affect both local interests, economy, security of supply and the overall district heating system, and it requires persistent dialogue and political understanding to create a common basis with the municipalities. As projects move forward, it is your responsibility that there are clear decision foundations, progress and quality.

CTR has established a project model, but roles, responsibilities and decision points must be clearer. Together with the executive management and your fellow managers you must translate the model into a governance that works in day-to-day operations and creates coherence throughout the project process. As system owner for planning and energy models you must also ensure clear governance for updating assumptions and a clear process for how the rest of CTR orders analyses and calculations.

Clear interfaces and close collaboration

Contract & Strategy, Operations and Maintenance will be your most important internal partners at CTR. Contract & Strategy handles CTR's heat contracts with heat suppliers and contributes with analyses and strategic development. Operations ensures that new types of plants can be implemented, and Maintenance contributes knowledge about the condition of plants and initiates the reinvestment projects that arise from CTR's Asset Management work. When tasks move, new interfaces arise.

You must clarify them together with your fellow managers and ensure that projects are developed and implemented in close collaboration between the relevant professional areas, with clear roles and a pragmatic approach where tasks naturally overlap.

CTR sources a great deal of analyses and project execution externally and does not have a large, self-sufficient project department. Part of your task will therefore be to build strong relationships with consultants and suppliers and clarify which competencies CTR should manage itself, which should be found across the organisation, and when external consultants, suppliers and partners should be used.

Your main tasks

You will, among other things

• lead and develop Planning & Projects with five employees, unify the department around a common direction and be an approachable leader with time for professional sparring and prioritisation
• foster strong collaboration with the owner municipalities and create the basis for new projects
• set the direction for and prioritise the project portfolio and strengthen project maturation so that technical possibilities, economy, risks and stakeholders are illuminated early
• have responsibility for heat planning, capacity needs and the analyses that form the basis for new projects
• have system ownership for EnergyPRO, planning basis and effect balance and deliver the planning and energy calculations that underpin project development and CTR's budgeting
• further develop CTR's project model and establish a clear governance model with clear roles, responsibilities and decision points
• secure progress and quality in both own projects and projects led by the department's project managers
• ensure a well-functioning collaboration with especially Contract & Strategy, Operations and Maintenance
• advise the executive management and the board with decision papers, portfolio overview and professional assessments
• clarify which competencies CTR itself should manage, and steer the collaboration with external consultants and suppliers
• maintain relations with relevant authorities, utility companies and other stakeholders

Your professional profile

You are first and foremost an experienced leader who can head both employees and a complex project portfolio. You have led professional specialists and know what it takes to unite different professional disciplines in one department. You have a relevant technical or academic education and can engage in qualified dialogue about technical issues without necessarily being the strongest specialist yourself. Your experience may come from a client organisation, the utility sector, a consultancy or another organisation with large technical construction projects, including the public sector.

We value that you have experience with

• people management of project managers, planners or other professional specialists
• strategic planning, project maturation and prioritisation of a project portfolio
• the client role as well as management of finances, risks, advisors and suppliers
• development of project governance, decision processes and organisational collaboration interfaces

Knowledge of planning and project development in a municipal or politically governed environment is a plus. Experience from energy or utilities is an advantage but not a prerequisite. What matters is that you understand the terms of a technically and politically oriented organisation with long-term investments and many dependencies.

Your personal and leadership profile

You are a clear and engaging leader who sets a clear direction and at the same time gets close to concrete problems. You take ownership of the whole, see the connection between heat planning, projects, economy and CTR's long-term development, and create progress across the organisation. Your employees experience you as a leader they can seek sparring from and who gives them space and responsibility.

We value that you

• create clarity about direction, priorities and responsibilities and make decisions when necessary
• bring together different professional disciplines and actively bring employees' knowledge into play
• develop your employees and create a good working community in the department
• follow decisions and tasks through to their conclusion, even when the responsibility is not fully clarified
• are persistent and maintain progress when projects and assumptions change
• can balance clear frameworks with pragmatic solutions across the organisation's needs
• have political understanding and build trustful relations with municipalities and other stakeholders
• thrive in a smaller organisation where you take responsibility for the whole, manage a broad task portfolio and contribute across.

A workplace with an important societal mission

CTR develops, operates and maintains the transmission system that delivers district heating to 340,000 homes in the capital region. Our task is to deliver safe and affordable district heating around the clock and, at the same time, contribute to the development of the energy system of the future.

We are just under 50 dedicated and professionally strong employees with different competences and experiences. Because we are a smaller organisation, we rely on close collaboration and ongoing knowledge sharing. With us you get a short path from idea to decision and the opportunity to have real influence on both the projects and the organisation that must implement them.

We focus on professional and personal development and a healthy balance between work and private life. Our employee satisfaction in 2026 was measured at 96 percent, and we are proud to be named one of Denmark's best workplaces.

We are located at Stæhr Johansens Vej 38 in Frederiksberg, close to the metro.

Salary and terms of employment

Employment is governed by the applicable collective agreement with KL and includes, among other things, the possibility for home working, a pension scheme, health insurance and other employee benefits.

Expected start date is 1 January 2027.

If you want to hear more about the position, you are welcome to send an SMS to the CEO Randi Skogstad at 4188 1881 or contact partner at Bridge Consulting Mia Hvilshøj at phone 2245 1576.

Recruitment process

The application deadline is 5 November 2026, and the selection meeting will be held on 6 November. The recruitment process consists of two interviews, to be held on 10 November and 19 November. Between the interviews there is a testing phase where you must set aside time to complete tests and participate in a follow-up interview at Bridge Consulting in Købmagergade 11, 1150 Copenhagen K.

We prioritise a good and transparent process and provide thorough feedback that can be actively used in your career, regardless of the outcome of the recruitment.

You can read more about CTR at www.ctr.dk .

We want to create equal opportunities for all and ensure a fair recruitment process. Please therefore refrain from attaching a photo in your application or CV.

At CTR we aim to create an inclusive and diverse environment where diversity is a strength, and we actively seek qualified candidates regardless of gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion, disability or age.