Vacant job

Do you want to help develop the rural areas of the future in Kalmar County?

The rural areas are a unique and vital part of Kalmar County, where many of the county's residents live and work. Well-functioning services are crucial for creating and maintaining attractive and vibrant rural communities. Services contribute to the opportunities to live, work, and run businesses throughout the county and are simultaneously an important part of society's preparedness and robustness.

We are now looking for a temporary Rural Development Officer responsible for the rural perspective in the regional development mission. As a key part of the work, you will coordinate networks with the County Administrative Board and municipal rural development officers, as well as actively participate in national-level networks with other regions and the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth. You are responsible for implementing the Regional Service Programme for Kalmar County 2026-2030 and participate in other ongoing initiatives related to rural development, both internally and externally. The role also includes processing support for commercial services in rural areas, a task carried out together with case handlers for business support in the unit. Together with Region Östergötland, you are also responsible for developing the archipelago in both regions by implementing the joint archipelago programme together with the actors in the Archipelago Council.

The work is carried out in close collaboration with colleagues at the Regional Development Administration, such as those working with urban planning, infrastructure, business development, and tourism. You also work in contexts together with colleagues in the base unit Project and Business Support.

The position is a temporary contract from September 2026 to March 2028.

About you

We are looking for you who have a university degree in social sciences, agronomy, or another degree that the employer considers equivalent, with at least 180 higher education credits.

You should have experience and interest in rural development work, preferably also an interest in urban planning from a rural perspective. Competence in process and project management, as well as experience in building collaboration between local and regional levels, is meritorious.

We are looking for you who are good at creating and managing relationships both within and outside the organization. The work requires that you can inspire and mobilize other actors. You take great responsibility for your tasks and plan, organize, and drive your work forward independently. It is crucial for the role to be able to work strategically with long-term and broad issues, as well as having good communication skills both verbally and in writing.

Your future workplace

The position is part of the Project and Business Support unit. The unit works with business support, support for various types of projects, and annual support for different parts of civil society. The unit is also responsible for EU-related issues and international collaboration. The group values an open and engaged approach and is often involved in each other's issues. Social interaction is important as we sit in an open landscape.

In regional development, we work with sustainable growth and development issues in Kalmar County. We do this by taking initiatives and coordinating efforts. We collaborate with actors within and outside the county in various areas such as public health, business, environment and climate, infrastructure, urban planning, rural areas, competence supply, culture, and library development. We create and participate in networks and also work with financing development initiatives aimed at benefiting the county's development. We contribute to adult education through our four folk high schools; Gamleby, Kalmar, Vimmerby, and Öland, which are part of the Regional Development Administration.

Region Kalmar County is responsible for healthcare, dental care, folk high schools, culture, public transport, and regional development. We are over 7,000 employees who all work together for a healthier, safer, and richer life for the county's residents. With us, you get many benefits and one of Sweden's best collective agreements. We meet people at all stages of life and have meaningful and developing work – every day.

Region Kalmar County offers all employees a 100% position. If you work part-time but wish to work full-time, an extension of the position may be offered at another workplace.

We want you to attach a CV, cover letter, and education certificates relevant to the position to your application. To ensure quality in the recruitment process at Region Kalmar County, we want you to apply for the position in our recruitment system and not via email or in paper format.

We are happy to receive calls from you who are interested in the job but decline calls from those who sell advertisements and recruitment services.