Strategic and hands-on center manager for CSI (Fælleshåb and Skovbakken)

Do you want to lead two specialized homes - and create the best possible framework for the people who live here? Then you might be Middelfart Municipality's new Center Leader for the Center for Specialized Interventions.

At the Center for Specialized Interventions we are looking for a center leader who has heart in the work with people with disabilities. You are genuinely focused on the citizens' lives, possibilities and self-determination and can translate this commitment into clear leadership direction, high professional quality and a stable everyday life at the residences Fælleshåb and Skovbakken.

In Middelfart Municipality we work from the vision “Room to grow – space to live.” In the welfare area this means that we want to create good conditions for people to live a good life on their own terms – even when they need help and support.

As center leader you will stand up for this approach in the ongoing development of Fælleshåb and Skovbakken. You will help ensure that citizens meet with presence, professionalism and a holistic perspective, and that everyday life provides opportunities for development, participation and security.

Your task

CSI was established on 1 April 2025 as a common organizational framework for the two residences Fælleshåb and Skovbakken. The center is therefore still a relatively new community of tasks. We have worked purposefully to seize the opportunities of the new organization, and the first traces of a shared structure and direction have been laid.

As center leader you must ensure continuity in this work. You must follow decisions through to the end and ensure that the professional and organizational initiatives are fully implemented and have a lasting effect - to the benefit of the citizens at Fælleshåb and Skovbakken.

We seek a center leader who

• is visible and accessible at both residences and has a curious approach to residents, relatives and colleagues,
• leads strategically while also taking action when a concrete situation requires it,
• sets a clear professional direction based on the citizens' needs, wishes and right to a dignified life,
• ensures high professional quality in a 24-hour area with multiple professional groups and complex tasks,
• creates continuity and follows decisions through to the end so the development of professional quality becomes stable practice,
• strengthens collaboration between Fælleshåb and Skovbakken while also recognizing that the two residences may have different needs,
• gives the department heads freedom and real managerial space while being close with clear expectations, support and sparring,
• unites the engaged leadership team around common goals, systematics and learning across,
• is a bearer of proper, transparent and mentalizing collaboration with citizens, relatives and colleagues,
• keeps a firm grip on operations and budget while developing and profiling the specialized disability field.

What you should be able and willing to do

You have solid leadership experience from a complex welfare area. We would like you to have experience from the disability field and an in-depth understanding of leading around-the-clock operations. It is important that you know the area's professional, human and operational conditions - and that you know this is where you want to dedicate your engagement.

You can set strategic direction and translate it into concrete practice together with colleagues. You work systematically, follow up and create clarity about responsibilities, decisions and progress. At the same time you are present and accessible: you listen, stand firm and act when needed.

You navigate confidently in a politically governed organization and manage to translate political decisions and strategic goals into professional quality, sustainable operations and meaningful solutions for citizens. At the same time you have an eye for future challenges and opportunities in the disability field and can drive development in close interaction with politicians, partners and the organization.

You have a strong financial understanding and ability to create coherence between professional quality, safe operations and a balanced budget. Above all, you are driven by creating good lives and good frameworks for people with disabilities. Citizens’ quality of life, self-determination and well-being are your natural starting point.

What you will be part of

CSI is the framework for the two residences, Fælleshåb and Skovbakken, with dedicated staff and leaders who every day work to ensure professional quality, create safety, development and quality of life for the citizens.

The leadership group consists, in addition to you as center leader, of three department heads with great commitment, high professionalism and a need for both freedom and common direction.

In the establishment of CSI, a number of tracks have been laid for developing the organization, and your task will include creating continuity and anchoring. At the same time you will join the center leadership group in the Social and Psychiatric Department, where we work on cross-center development. Within the department there is an important agenda, dealing with the development of our day-to-day employment, which has great significance for residents at Fælleshåb and Skovbakken.

Employment terms

The position is full-time and paid according to the applicable collective agreement.

You report to the head of Social and Psychiatry and participate in the Social and Health Administration's leadership community. Your responsibility includes the overall professional, personnel, financial and organizational leadership of CSI.

Start no later than 1 January 2027.

If you want to hear more about the position, you are welcome to contact the head of social and psychiatry, Michael Metzsch, via email [email protected].

Application

Submit your application and CV no later than 30 October 2026 via Middelfart Municipality's recruitment system.

The first interviews are expected to be held on 12 November 2026, the second interview on 23 November 2026. Candidates going to the second interview must complete a candidate test and, for the second interview, work with a concrete case.

Profile description

Profile description – Center Leader.

• Introduction

Middelfart Municipality seeks a strategic and present center leader for the overall management of the two specialized residences Fælleshåb and Skovbakken. The center leader must, as a leader, have the heart in the work with people with disabilities and be genuinely committed to citizens’ lives, possibilities and self-determination. The task is to translate this engagement into clear leadership direction, high professional quality and a stable everyday life - and at the same time ensure continuity and progress in the continued development of the Center for Specialized Interventions (CSI).

• About Middelfart Municipality

Middelfart Municipality is a well-managed and ambitious municipality with a quick path from thought to action and a culture characterized by trust, cooperation and high professionalism.

We work from the vision "Room to grow - room to live". In the welfare area this means that we want to create good conditions for people to live a good life on their own terms - even when they need help and support.

As center leader you will stand up for this approach in the ongoing development of Fælleshåb and Skovbakken. You will help ensure that citizens meet with presence, professionalism and a holistic view, and that everyday life provides opportunities for development, participation and security.

In the social and psychiatric area we work to strengthen the quality of the core task and create a robust and sustainable organization that can meet the current and future citizens' needs. This requires professional curiosity, cross-cutting collaboration and the courage to develop practice as needs change.

Middelfart Municipality is a smaller municipality where we rely on each other across areas and organizational levels. It provides good opportunities for close collaboration and for translating decisions into action.

As a leader you will be part of a workplace with high job satisfaction, strong social capital, great professionalism and an informal tone. We prioritize a good working environment and expect our leaders to take responsibility for the whole and contribute actively to the joint leadership space.

• Organizational context

The center leader reports to the head of social and psychiatry and works closely with the other leaders in the Social and Health Administration. The position includes the total professional, personnel, economic and organizational leadership of CSI. The center leader leads through the department heads but must also be visible and accessible at Fælleshåb and Skovbakken with a curious approach.

• About the Center for Specialized Interventions

The Center for Specialized Interventions (CSI) was established on 1 April 2025 as a shared organizational framework for the residences Fælleshåb and Skovbakken. The residences have 32 and 24 residents respectively. The purpose of the shared organization is:

• To strengthen professional communities and create a solid foundation for continued development.
• To identify and realize professional synergies, which increase quality for citizens with a need for highly specialized pedagogical and/or health-related interventions.
• To create greater robustness in both residences and ensure the quality of the services and provisions to which citizens are admitted.
• To realize relevant administrative synergies.
• To establish a mutually binding leadership partnership between Fælleshåb and Skovbakken.

At Fælleshåb, in recent years we have worked to strengthen both the health-related and social-related quality, including through educational programs and closer daily coordination between the four houses. As part of the establishment of CSI an extra department head was hired, so there are now two department heads, each responsible for two houses and a number of cross-center tasks.

At Skovbakken since autumn 2024 there has been work on a quality program to raise health-related and social-related quality and support a good working environment. As part of a capacity adjustment, the city council in August 2025 decided to close one of the residence's four houses. The last resident has moved out of the now-closed house, and the use of the nine apartments and the common area is being clarified. The Skovbakken department head is supported by two coordinators in the health-related and the social-related area.

At both residences, priority is given to a good and trusting collaboration with citizens' relatives. The collaboration takes place both in ongoing individual dialogue and in joint meetings on new initiatives and actions. At Skovbakken, collaboration is also formalized through the well-established relatives’ association Skovbakkens Venner.

• Purpose of the position

The purpose of the center leader position is to ensure high quality in the core task and good, stable frameworks for the citizens' everyday life. The center leader must create continuity in the direction that has been set, follow decisions through and ensure that professional and organizational initiatives are implemented and have a lasting effect. At the same time, the center leader must support professional development, well-being and coherence across CSI.

The center leader is the leader of leaders and must be able to create a common direction through others. This entails that:

• Provide clear frames, clarify responsibilities and support the department heads in their leadership space.
• Give department heads freedom and real leadership space - and at the same time be a present, accessible and clear sparring partner.
• Unite the leadership group around common goals, systematics and learning and at the same time be aware that Fælleshåb and Skovbakken may have different needs.
• Tasks

As center leader you shall

• Set strategic and organizational direction with a focus on citizens' good lives, professional quality and coherence.
• Create continuity, follow decisions through and ensure the implementation of agreed initiatives.
• Support the professional development of interventions based on citizens' needs, wishes and self-determination.
• Lead and develop the department heads and unite the leadership group around a common direction.
• Be visible and accessible at both residences and have knowledge of the citizens, colleagues and everyday life at the sites.
• Support a proper, transparent and mentalizing collaboration with citizens, relatives, leaders and staff.
• Use data and professional insight to qualify decisions and development.
• Prioritize competence development, learning and a good working environment based on the core task.
• Balance professional quality, safe operations, strategic development and a budget in balance.
• Actively contribute to the Social and Health Administration's overall leadership community and profile the specialized disability field.
• Competencies

The center leader must combine strategic leadership with presence in daily practice. It requires a leader who can lead upwards, downwards and sideways, create clarity and direction and build trusting relationships. The center leader must be able to stand firm, act when needed and at the same time work mentalizing, curious and involving.

Educational background

Relevant higher education.

Relevant leadership education, preferably at diploma level or higher.

Professional background

Strong experience with leadership in a complex welfare area. Experience from the disability field is highly valued, just as experience with or in-depth knowledge of leading around-the-clock operations and interdisciplinary staff groups.

Personal

Strategic outlook and ability to translate direction and decisions into stable practice.

Strong economic and budgeting understanding.

Curious, present, clear and trust-building with a mentalizing and relationship-building approach.

• Further information

The recruitment process will include interviews on 12 November 2026 with the possibility of a second interview. The selection committee consists of the head of social and psychiatry and the center’s MED committee. That is, the three department heads and representatives of the employees.

On Middelfart Municipality's website, www.middelfart.dk, you can find information about the municipality, its political and administrative organization and relevant policies, visions and leadership framework.

Join our dedicated team and help make a difference!

Middelfart Municipality would like to be known for an attractive and flexible workplace with a healthy working environment, good leadership and many opportunities for development. Based on our life-phase policy, we will do our best to meet your wishes and needs. We are a municipality where there is little distance from idea to action. You can read more about our workplace at job.middelfart.dk

Considering applying for a job in Middelfart Municipality? You may also be considering moving here. Contact our relocation consultant Anne Marie Klausen at phone 2240 0049 or [email protected] and hear what Middelfart can offer you and your family. Read more at www.opdagmiddelfart.dk