Head of Civil Society Affairs

The Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society (MUCF) is a government agency that develops knowledge about the living conditions of young people and the conditions of civil society. Our vision is an open and inclusive Sweden with good conditions for youth and civil society.

MUCF has been tasked by the government to work towards achieving the goals of youth policy and civil society policy. We do this by developing, collecting, and disseminating knowledge and contributing to the coordination of state initiatives. We collaborate with authorities, municipalities, regions, and civil society organizations and distribute state grants.

As of January 1, 2026, the agency's mandate will grow as we take over the responsibilities currently held by the Swedish Agency for Support to Faith Communities (SST) and the responsibility for state tasks within minority policy. This means that MUCF will become an even more important actor in strengthening democracy, promoting participation, and contributing to an inclusive society.

MUCF has offices in Växjö and from January 2026 also in Stockholm.

Description

The Department for Civil Society Affairs has about 25 employees divided into two units: the Center for Faith Community Affairs and the Unit for Civil Society and National Minorities.

Responsibilities

As the head of the department, you are responsible for tasks related to civil society policy, national minority policy, and faith communities.

You have personnel, operational, budget, and work environment responsibility for the department's unit managers and the overall operations. You lead the department's managers and create good conditions for them to exercise their leadership and achieve their goals. You take responsibility for employer policy and apply it for the benefit of the operations.

You are responsible for the department's planning, priorities, and resource allocation and follow up on the operations. You ensure that working methods and processes maintain high quality and support the agency's overall development. You drive the department's long-term development by improving working methods and internal structures and making visible how the department contributes to the agency's overall development.

You are part of the agency's management team, where you actively contribute to the agency's strategic governance, decision preparation, and long-term development with a holistic perspective and shared responsibility.

The role involves representing the agency in internal and external contexts.

The position may involve travel within Sweden.

Qualifications

We are looking for someone who has:

• an academic degree in a relevant field
• at least 5 years of managerial or leadership experience
• experience in leading managers or complex operations at a strategic level
• experience in operational development and strategic management work
• experience in structured planning, follow-up, and quality assurance
• excellent ability to express yourself in speech and writing in Swedish.

It is meritorious if you have experience of:

• working within government operations
• leading or participating in management team work
• budget or financial management at a higher level
• complex collaboration with multiple internal and external actors

As a person, you work goal- and result-oriented, both in the short and long term, and have the ability to independently drive and take responsibility for development at both the departmental and agency level. Your working style is characterized by structure and good organizational skills, as well as a habit of following routines and ensuring order and quality in the work. In your leadership, you show courage by making well-founded decisions and standing behind them, even when the decisions are complex or affect several parts of the operation.

To succeed in the role, you need to be trustworthy, communicative, and able to create good relationships and collaborations, both internally and externally. A secure and stable leadership with good judgment is important, as well as the ability to serve as a role model and work according to the state value base with respect for the equal worth of all people.

You lead through the department's unit managers, and you create conditions for them to exercise clear, stable, and development-oriented leadership. This means clarifying goals and expectations, following up on the department's direction and results, and contributing to a good and coordinated work culture. The role requires a holistic perspective, the ability to weigh different needs, and actively contribute to the agency's strategic priorities and a coordinated and common direction.

Conditions

Location: Stockholm
Probationary employment may be applied.

MUCF aims to harness the qualities that a balanced gender distribution and diversity bring to the organization. At MUCF, we care about good employee participation. This means that you as an employee take responsibility for your work, contribute to development, and participate in a good work environment.

You can read about our recruitment process here (https://www.mucf.se/om-oss/jobba-hos-oss/var-rekryteringsprocess).

We use e-recruitment to streamline and ensure the quality of the recruitment process. As a candidate, you are responsible for ensuring that the information provided is truthful and accurate and that it is submitted to MUCF no later than 24:00 on the last application day. The information is processed and stored in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

In preparation for the recruitment process, we have made decisions regarding recruitment channels and marketing. We therefore kindly ask for no contact with media sellers, recruitment sites, and similar.

Warm welcome with your application!