Head of Secretariat for the Institute of Law, University of Southern Denmark

Do you want to lead a professional and capable secretariat and develop the administrative support of a growing institute?

The Legal Institute at the University of Southern Denmark is seeking a head of the secretariat who can ensure stable operations and develop the secretariat. The institute's activity has grown, and development in organization, structures and technologies affects the administration's tasks. Growth and changes require clear priorities, coherent workflows and a sustainable organization. You will have personnel responsibility and the mandate to prioritize, set direction and translate decisions into practice.

Development takes place in close collaboration with the secretariat staff and a broad management group, and you will become the institute director's close sparring partner.

The secretariat handles finance, HR, research- and management support, and other administration. The staff have high professionalism and work with freedom under responsibility.

Your tasks

You will be responsible for the daily management of the secretariat. In the first period there will be a focus on bringing the secretariat together, clarifying interfaces, and further developing the organization so that it continues to match the needs of a growing institute. The goal is a coherent, reliable, and dynamic secretariat with a clear link to and support for the institute's core tasks. Your most important tasks will be to:

• ensure continued stable operations and clear priorities, and contribute to concrete administrative tasks
• lead the staff and strengthen competencies and collaboration
• clarify responsibilities and create coherence across the organization
• support the institute's core tasks
• promote well-being and a sustainable working life.
• bring the secretariat's perspectives into the management group
• as part of the management group work to ensure the institute succeeds with its strategy and goals

Your qualifications

You lead closely with the staff and create the framework for professionalism, independence and high quality. At the same time you are decisive, follow up and handle challenges in a timely manner with a view to the institute's goals. We expect you to be a clear and trust-based leader with strong relational and organizational understanding, and that you:

• have documented experience in people management
• have solid administrative experience from a complex organization, ideally a university or another public institution
• have insight into finance, HR, administrative processes and experience with organizational development
• can reconcile operations and operational management with strategic development
• understand the interaction between administration, management and academic environments and follow agreements to the letter
• proficient in Danish and English at a high level.

It is an advantage if you have experience from a similar position. Your educational background may vary; crucial is that your professional competencies match the content of the position.

We offer

The position gives you the opportunity to shape the secretariat's organization and the institute's administrative support. You will lead competent staff and, as a member of the management group, have direct influence on the institute's development.

About the Legal Institute

The Legal Institute is part of the Faculty of Social Sciences. With around 65 permanent staff and a number of part-time teaching staff on SDU’s campuses in Odense and Esbjerg, the institute combines a strong legal research foundation with an internationally oriented and cross-disciplinary research profile. The institute offers the classical legal educations, both as full-time and part-time studies, as well as the programs HA(jur.) and Cand.merc.(jur.).

In addition to these core programs, the institute contributes legal expertise to international and cross-disciplinary programs across SDU. The institute secretariat currently consists of nine staff and a number of student assistants.

Contact and application deadline

Further information about the position can be obtained by contacting the institute director Ole Hammerslev at telephone 65 50 27 06, mobile 24 96 14 32 or e-mail [email protected] .

The application deadline is Friday, October 23, 2026 at 23:59:59.

We expect to hold the first round of interviews on Tuesday, November 10, 2026 and the second round on Thursday, November 19, 2026. In connection with the interview there will be a task to be prepared in advance.

Employment terms

The position is a permanent full-time role at 37 hours per week, with expected start date January 1, 2027 or as soon as possible thereafter. There may be meetings and other activities at the university's other campuses and outside normal working hours.

Employment takes place in accordance with the collective agreement between the Ministry of Finance and AC.

Salary is set in accordance with the applicable collective agreement and based on objective and gender-neutral criteria, including the contents of the position, responsibilities and requirements for qualifications. As an applicant you have the right to information about the starting salary and salary range for the position. This information can be obtained in connection with the recruitment process. SDU does not collect information about applicants' previous salaries.

Applications must include a cover letter, CV and diploma. All documents submitted should not include a CPR number – if present the CPR number must be crossed out.

All attached files must be in Adobe PDF format.

Syddansk Universitet wishes to reflect the surrounding society and therefore encourages everyone to apply for the position regardless of personal background.

About SDU

Syddansk Universitet is set up to create value for and with society. Whether our contribution comes in the form of excellent research, innovative solutions, education or learning, we shall make a positive difference for society and contribute to a sustainable future. We do this by cultivating talent and creating the best environments for research and learning. It is therefore essential that SDU retains, develops and recruits talent.

At the same time we must ensure consistently high quality in all our activities – and that can only be achieved with the right people. It is the university's researchers, teachers, students, leaders and technical-administrative staff who form the foundation of our success.