Project Manager (fixed-term – 3 years) for More good years of life – build stronger communities together with us

Do you want to help create better opportunities for more adults and seniors to find their way into meaningful communities? Can you mobilize local forces, build bridges between people and translate ambitions into concrete action? And would you like to lead an ambitious development project at the intersection of health, leisure, nature, culture, volunteering and local communities?

Then you may be our new project manager for More Good Years in Faaborg-Midtfyn Municipality.

Communities are far more than activities on a calendar. It is where people meet, relationships are formed, adults become engaged, seniors stay active, and local communities come to life and gain cohesion. Research clearly shows that strong social relationships and participation in meaningful communities have great importance for people7s well-being and health and can help prevent loneliness, illness and loss of function.

At the same time, communities play a significant role in public cohesion – not least in uncertain times. They create encounters between people, strengthen participation and belonging, and contribute to robust local communities and a society where people take responsibility for each other and for the common good.

It is precisely this agenda that you will become a central part of.

Project More Good Years

More Good Years is a multi-year collaboration between the Health Authority, Tryg Foundation and five Danish municipalities, including Faaborg-Midtfyn Municipality. The aim is to strengthen health promotion and prevention by enabling more citizens aged 55-75 to participate in and contribute to meaningful communities – both by mobilising resources from those who already thrive and by creating new entry points for those on the fringes of communities.

In Faaborg-Midtfyn Municipality we have a strong starting point. We have active local communities, engaged volunteers, a diverse association life, strong natural and cultural offerings and many local meeting places. For years we have worked ambitiously with the connection between leisure life, outdoor life, health, volunteering and local communities.

But we also know that not everyone feels part of a community. In Faaborg-Midtfyn Municipality up to about one in five of those aged 50-79 experience loneliness, and more people experience health as a barrier to participating in activities and communities. At the same time, we know that awareness does not always lead to participation. Some citizens know the local communities well but still feel distant from them and need an easier and safer way in.

In the More Good Years project we will bring together associations, volunteers, local councils and other local actors in a strong partnership. Together we will make it easier for more citizens to find their way into communities – both those that already exist and those that can be developed along the way.

The ambition includes, among other things

• making existing and new communities, activities and meeting places more visible and accessible
• creating stronger bridging from municipal health, training and rehabilitation offers to communities in daily life
• using nature, movement, culture, data and local knowledge to develop and qualify the effort.

The emphasis must lie with local forces and in the individual local communities – and be coordinated through the partnership steering group and three local sub-partnerships (north, center and south). The municipality7s role is not to create and run the communities themselves, but to be initiatory, facilitative and connecting, and to support the people and organisations that can make them grow and continue to live.

About the position

As project manager you will play a central role in translating the ambitions for More Good Years into concrete action. You will be responsible for the daily project management and for creating progress and coherence across a large and diverse landscape of actors. You will therefore need to work strategically with the long-term direction and be able to be present in the municipality, where relationships must be built, ideas developed and pilot actions started.

You must be able to keep a pulse on the situation and coordinate both internally towards the administration (e.g. in Culture & Leisure and Elderly and Health) and externally in ongoing dialogue with the municipality. To succeed, you must, as part of your project management function, be good at facilitating meetings, workshops and development processes with many different participants and perspectives. In other words, you must be able to support development and implementation of local pilot actions.

In addition, you must strengthen the bridging between municipal health, training and rehabilitation offers and local communities, and be able to work towards the political level and contribute to the strategic and political anchoring of the project.

Finally, you must document experiences, monitor the project7s development and contribute to learning and knowledge sharing locally and nationally.

Who are you?

We imagine that you

• have strong and proven project management competencies and can drive complex development processes from ambition to action. We also place great emphasis on your ability to simplify the complicated, set direction across disciplines and levels, and involve relevant internal and external partners.
• are a skilled and motivating facilitator who can create structure, energy and progress in meetings, workshops and collaborations. It is important that you can read moods and cultures and 7speak into7 the target group you meet.
• can mobilize and engage others without necessarily having formal decision-making authority – and without taking over or becoming a necessary part of their engagement.
• work independently, in a structured and persistent way and can keep direction in a complex everyday life with many actors and interests
• are curious about how data, research and local knowledge can be used to qualify development and decisions

It would be an advantage (but not a requirement) if you have experience from one or more of the areas: health promotion, prevention, civil society, volunteering, associations, local communities, sport, nature or culture.

Educationally we imagine that you have a long higher education degree – for example in public health, health, sport, political science, anthropology, sociology or similar. The decisive factor is the combination of your competences, experiences and your ability to create results together with others.

What do we offer you?

You will have the opportunity to lead an ambitious and politically prioritized initiative that concerns something fundamentally important: that more people get the opportunity to experience belonging, participation and meaningful relationships in their everyday life.

You will become part of the Culture & Leisure department, where we are around 25 employees with different professional backgrounds and competences.

The workplace is mainly in Faaborg. There is flexibility in working hours and home office after agreement with your manager. Since a substantial part of the work takes place with volunteers and local actors, there will be meetings and activities outside normal working hours – primarily afternoons and evenings.

If you do not already live on the South Funen, we will gladly help you settle. For us, communities are not only about the project, but also about the way we welcome new colleagues. We are happy to share our local knowledge – whether you are looking for the right local community, a good school, an association to join or just the best hairdresser.

And if you choose Faaborg as your upcoming workplace, you will also be next door to Vesterport Bakery – which many rightly consider among the country7s best.

Salary and employment

The position is a fixed-term project position for 37 hours per week over three years (2027, 2028 and 2029 – with possibility of extension) and with expected start on 1 January 2027 (actually Monday 4 January 2027).

Employment is subject to the applicable collective agreement and the expected salary level for the position is DKK 38,000-48,000 per month excluding pension, depending on education, relevant experience and competencies. The final salary will be set after negotiation with the negotiating party. The selection committee will include managers from Culture & Leisure and Health & Elderly, future colleagues and representatives of civil society.

Faaborg-Midtfyn is a geographically large municipality, and you must therefore have a driving license. Municipal loaner cars are available.

Want to know more?

If you have questions about the position, you are welcome to contact: Per Æbelø, head of Team Leisure (7253 7811 / [email protected]).

Submit your application no later than 23 October, at 23:59 via our recruitment system.

We expect to hold interviews on 3 November (first round) and 17 November (second round).

Faaborg-Midtfyn Municipality wishes to promote equality and encourages all qualified candidates to apply. We have smoke-free working hours.

We look forward to hearing from you – and to together creating more good years through strong communities.