Head of the Council Secretariat Department in Odsherred Municipality

Odsherred Kommune is seeking a Department Head for the Council Secretariat. The department consists of the Secretariat, Legal and Communications as well as information security, fundraising and mail distribution. In addition, the municipality's citizen’s adviser is attached to the department.

The department, as a unified unit, is only a year and a half old, and in the meantime there have been municipal elections, and two of the direction's three members are “somewhat new” in the municipality. So there is still work to do to support the top management's new direction, drive and priorities. It also concerns getting professional workflows to flow even better and keeping an eye on the employees' internal and external relations.

For you as the upcoming department head, it offers a unique opportunity to shape the position and develop the municipality in a time of many cross-cutting societal reforms. The purpose of bringing the three teams together into one department under a department head was to:

• Ensure that all cases are handled correctly, timely and consistently with regard to professionalism, process, legal aspects and communication
• Strengthen the long-term development of the shared functions in relation to the management of and interaction with the rest of the organization
• Increase the leadership power around the mayor and directors and around the employees in the department's units
• Create a common culture in the department with a focus on efficient executive support, collaboration and well-being

These are still the success measures for the position.

Requirements for our new department head Odsherred Municipality is a municipality where decisions are often close to action, where almost everyone knows almost everyone, and where we thrive best with trust and good relations. This also applies to the department head's direct and daily role in relation to the mayor, the management and the chiefs. Formally, the department head reports to the center head, who reports to the municipal director.

The municipality seeks a leader who understands how to put the finger right on the pulse of the municipality. But we also want a leader who is self-aware enough to challenge and build on a culture that we admit we can benefit from planning, systematizing and prioritizing more and better. In bullet form, we are looking for a leader who:

• Has relevant experience in advising the management in a politically governed organization and can navigate in complex contexts with many different stakeholders and agendas
• Can combine the relational with the relevant, i.e. who thrives with many partners and the ability to articulate the essence of the task both verbally and in writing quite quickly
• Is analytically strong and has an eye for both the overarching lines and the crucial details
• Seeks progress in collaboration with others, for “the best solutions are created in partnership”
• Develops on the basis of secure operation
• Is motivated by developing others with a focus on results, feedback and job satisfaction
• Gets technologies to work in service of people, a topic particularly relevant in relation to AI
• Manages to align expectations of work division and to simplify workflows
• Is exceptionally good at communicating in writing and speaking – can quality-check case presentations, notes, reports, statements, evaluations, etc.
• Has a good overview and is able to prioritize for both themselves and others in a busy and ever-changing everyday life, where there is always something to investigate, evaluate, improve, disseminate
• Can find the balance between the targeted and insistent and the empathetic and humorous.

There are 23 employees in the Council Secretariat, some part-time, currently two apprentices and four in flexible jobs. Most have extensive experience and good knowledge of the municipality, which you can lean on at the start. One of the tasks that still occupies a lot is the case of Odsherred Forsyning. You will also be involved in that. We can discuss more at the interview.

The formal requirements for a leader of employees in Odsherred Municipality can be read in the municipality's leadership framework. See https://www.odsherred.dk/da/se-mere-om-kommunen/karriere-i-odsherred-kommune/vaerdier-politikker-og-medindflydelse/ .

In short, the goal of your employment is to lead the efficient mayor and director service based on good collaboration within the department and good cooperation with the rest of the center and the entire organization.

We offer We offer continuing education and competence development as a natural part of the position. This also includes training as an occupational safety manager if you do not already have it.

You will have rich opportunities to influence the job and the municipality, and there is an expectation of great independence, flexibility and responsibility.

There is also support

You will become part of the Center for Organization's leadership group, which consists of department and team leaders who meet on average 1-2 times a month, when we are not attending some of the same meetings (in meeting rooms and online) and run into each other at the same times at the town hall in Højby.

The center has a well-functioning center-MED committee (CMU) with representatives from all departments. Your department holds staff meetings with MED status, which you are responsible for.

As a department head, you are moreover a colleague with the leaders from the municipality's large leadership group, who all work for the municipality's best and become your collaborators in many ways. And employees in the municipality can share knowledge with competent colleagues in numerous fields.

To manage the finances there is help from a permanently attached financial consultant, and there are lawyers, HR and personnel consultants and employees in Procurement and Purchasing and many more to draw on.

Internally in the municipality we are currently quite focused on the many parameters that contribute to creating “The Attractive Workplace.” Some of the subtopics are good introductory programs, high leadership quality, balanced job requirements, opportunities for competence development and flexible working conditions. That work will be a natural part of the department head's responsibilities.

Salary and terms of employment Salary and terms of employment follow the applicable collective agreement and are based on an annual salary of DKK 820,000 plus pension.

The position is a permanent full-time position with no maximum length of service. It is also covered by Local Agreement for Flexible Working Time (4-day work week). This means that the working hours on average are 37 hours per week for full-time employees, of which the hours from Monday to Thursday are 32 hours on average. The remaining 5 hours to reach 37 hours can be worked outside the planned working time at the employee's discretion.

In practice, this means that you—and your employees—will most Fridays have the opportunity to take time off. However, this is also a leadership position where there are evening meetings, and where the email inbox or work mobile occasionally makes sounds in the evenings and on weekends.

Otherwise there are flexitime and flexible terms to benefit both you and your family and for the municipality as an employer. And there is a staff association, social offerings, canteen, vacation fund, art association, sports club, as well as freshly brewed coffee and chocolate in three strengths in the vending machines.

Application deadline and employment interviews The application deadline is Sunday, November 8, 2026. You can only apply for the position through the municipality’s website.

The selection committee consists of

• Team coordinator in the Secretariat Christina Themsen
• Chief consultant in Legal Tom Nicolai Knudtzon
• Team coordinator in Communications Anne Fisker
• Department Head in HR, Salary and Personnel Law Majken Kondrup
• Center chief Thure Jørgensen

The latter is the chair of the selection committee.

The selection committee will meet on November 11 and select candidates for the first interview round. If you are selected, you will hear from us immediately afterwards.

We typically conduct two interview rounds – the first interview round is November 17, and the second interview round is November 24. Both interviews will take place in Odsherred. Put these dates in your calendar now.

If the selection committee deems it useful, an HR consultant will conduct an MPA test of the two candidates invited to the second interview between the two rounds. There may also be a case to consider. And then the municipal director will hold a short meeting between the 1st and 2nd interviews with the candidates invited to the 2nd interview and participate in the 2nd interview.

We aim to hire from January 1, 2027.

If you have questions about the position, you are welcome to contact center chief Thure Jørgensen at [email protected] or 23 47 94 13. Write or leave a message and request a callback.

Tasks of the Council Secretariat The tasks of the Council Secretariat are many: mayoral service, directorate service; agendas and minutes for directorate and director meetings, management group meetings, Finance Committee and the Council; certain cross-cutting projects; cross-cutting access to information, mayoral inquiries; marriages; fundraising; constitutional ceremony; assistance to the head of business; elections and referendums; secretariat for the Grants Board, secretariat for the Fence Monitoring; participation in the municipality's overall emergency preparedness and the central crisis staff; legal advice to the entire organization, both across centers and within the individual centers; information security; mail distribution; administration of mold cases; archives; press handling, graphic tasks, internal and external communication.

And we will probably have forgotten something.

Center for Organization

The Council Secretariat is situated in the Center for Organization, which is one of two staff centers in the municipality. The other staff center is Center for Finance, which among other things handles budget, accounting, procurement and debt collection.

In addition to the Council Secretariat, the center consists of the departments Digitalization and IT; HR, Salary and Personnel Law; and Properties. The head of the three departments will be your leadership colleagues in the center. Altogether we are about 200 employees. About 80 work from the town hall and the rest work in Properties on the municipality's many properties.

You can read more about the municipality as a workplace at odsherred.dk, e.g. odsherred.dk/da/se-mere-om-kommunen/karriere-i-odsherred-kommune/.

Read more You can read more about the municipality as an area on facebook.com/odsherredkommune, instagram.com/odsherredkommune, linkedin.com/company/odsherredkommune, borgernet.odsherred.dk, visitodsherred.dk and geoparkodsherred.dk.