Vacant job

The Swedish Council for Universities (UHR) is a government agency with a broad mandate within the education sector. We provide support and information to all who wish to pursue higher education and coordinate admissions to universities and university colleges. We are also responsible for the Swedish Scholastic Aptitude Test (Högskoleprovet), offer opportunities for international exchange, and assess foreign qualifications. UHR has approximately 300 employees in Stockholm and Visby. We are looking for you who, together with our knowledgeable staff, want to help develop our agency and contribute to our vision: Education, exchanges, development – for everyone who wants to move forward. We strive to be an attractive employer with an open work climate characterized by diversity and respect for everyone's equal value.

Are you an experienced and strategically oriented manager accustomed to driving complex development and long-term change work? Do you want to help build a new operation? We are seeking a Division Manager for our new Division for Examination Operations.

In recent years, the agency has been given an expanded and more complex responsibility for large-scale examination operations. The assignments include both the Swedish Scholastic Aptitude Test and the newly added government assignment regarding the Citizenship Test.

The Swedish Scholastic Aptitude Test is a central selection basis for higher education that annually creates opportunities for people to take the step into university studies. The Citizenship Test is designed to assess whether applicants for Swedish citizenship have basic knowledge of Swedish society and the Swedish language. Both assignments concern operations that are of vital importance to society, security-critical, and dependent on a high degree of coordination, legal certainty, and stability.

To create long-term conditions for governance, implementation capacity, and sustainable development, we are consolidating the examination-related assignments under a new common organizational home – the Division for Examination Operations – effective January 1, 2027. The Division will be responsible for leading, coordinating, and developing UHR's examination operations, covering the entire chain from test development and quality assurance to planning, implementation, and follow-up.

What you will do/be responsible for

As Division Manager, you will play a central role in building and shaping the new organization. You have overall responsibility for the operations and are expected to combine strategic leadership with operational implementation capacity. You are responsible for establishing capabilities, creating common working methods, and ensuring efficient and legally secure implementation of the examination operations.

You ensure cohesive governance and collaborate with other agencies and external actors. As Division Manager, you represent the agency in examination-related matters. The assignment includes contributing to the digital development of the examination operations.

As Division Manager, you operate from a holistic perspective on the agency's mandate and actively contribute to the agency's strategic development. You work for a long-term sustainable work environment and drive collaboration to achieve common goals.

The role includes:

• Leading the establishment of the division's structure, processes, and working methods
• Establishing and developing the organization, managers, and employees
• Ensuring efficient processes and deliveries with high quality and legal certainty
• Responsible for governance, follow-up, and results within the division
• Representing the agency in relevant national and international contexts
• Collaborating with internal and external actors to achieve common goals
• Monitoring external developments and translating them into operational development

As Division Manager, you are responsible for operations, budget, and personnel. You lead other managers, are part of the agency's management group, and report to the Director General.

You who apply have

• An academic degree relevant to the assignment
• Several years of experience working at the highest management level
• Several years of experience in operational development
• Experience in establishing and developing new operations
• Experience in governance, process development, and follow-up in complex organizations
• Experience in direct personnel responsibility and leading through managers
• Experience in process leadership
• Very good ability to express yourself in speech and writing in Swedish

Meritorious

• Experience of government operations
• Experience of collaboration with other agencies and organizations
• Experience of working in a politically governed organization
• Experience from work/employment within the university and higher education sector

To succeed in the role, you are a confident and clear leader with a strong focus on results. You combine strategic ability with drive and have a good ability to translate ideas into practice.

You are:

• clear and direct in your communication to lead dialogue and motivate your employees
• trust-building in complex contexts
• decisive and resilient
• relationship-building and empathetic in collaboration with others
• structured and delivery-secure

We place great emphasis on personal suitability. Welcome with your application!

What we do and offer

UHR's goal is to be an attractive employer where employees and managers work together for long-term development. We offer a professional and stimulating environment with good opportunities for personal development. We value a recruitment process free from discrimination and do not see additional adjustments as a hindrance.

The position is full-time with a start date by agreement. UHR applies a six-month probationary period. The location is Solna.

https://www.uhr.se/om-uhr/uhr-som-arbetsgivare/vi-erbjuder/ (https://www.uhr.se/om-uhr/uhr-som-arbetsgivare/vi-erbjuder/)

https://www.uhr.se/om-uhr/ (https://www.uhr.se/om-uhr/)

Apply and become one of us!

Welcome to submit your application in the form of a cover letter and CV in Swedish, marked with case number 2.2.1-01186-2026. The last date for applications is August 16.

If you have any questions about the recruitment, you are welcome to contact the recruiting Director General, Eino Örnfeldt, at [email protected]. Representative for Saco-S is Kerstin Martínez, tel 010-470 04 69 or email: [email protected], and for ST, Anneli Schönning, tel 010-470 05 76 or email: [email protected].

We answer questions during the holiday period, but response times may be slightly delayed between week 28 and 31.

The Swedish Council for Universities has made a gender analysis for this recruitment. We therefore decline contact with advertising salespeople or other sellers of recruitment services.