Deputy Director with Responsibility for Innovation and Business Collaboration

WE ARE LOOKING FOR A NEW DEPUTY DIRECTOR FOR THE NATIONAL GEOLOGICAL SURVEYS OF DENMARK AND GREENLAND (GEUS).

As deputy director, you will have a particular focus on ensuring that GEUS' knowledge is translated into advice, innovation, and collaboration with businesses.

The position is desired to be filled from November 1, 2026, or as soon as possible thereafter.

If you are interested in helping to develop a broadly based and socially relevant research institution, we would love to hear from you. We offer an exciting, demanding, and developmental job at one of Denmark's best public workplaces, where you will collaborate with the other members of the management team, the executive group, and all staff, our department, several other state ministries, the Government of Greenland, as well as many external partners.

GEUS' knowledge and competencies are applied in areas of great societal importance – in public administration, in business, in educational institutions, and other research environments in the country.

Job content

Our new deputy director will, together with the managing director and the deputy director with special responsibility for authority service, form the entire management team responsible for implementing the strategy and the organization's daily operations.

The board of GEUS establishes the institution's strategic foundation in collaboration with the management and guarantees its professional integrity.

GEUS has significant professional strengths in areas such as geological mapping on land and at sea, monitoring and understanding of the hydrological system, both regarding groundwater resources and groundwater quality, climate development, the green transition, sustainable energy and raw materials, as well as earthquakes.

Your area of responsibility is to develop and strengthen GEUS's advisory services and collaboration with the business community, so that GEUS's knowledge is utilized as effectively as possible in societal development in Denmark, Greenland, and the EU.

You will also be responsible for ensuring strategic development in the area in dialogue with the state geologists (the office managers) and GEUS's research committee.

You will also be responsible for GEUS's ongoing research evaluations and action plans, and you will participate in the development of international cooperation.

Read more about GEUS' strategy, tasks, and organization at www.geus.dk

The position requires solid high-level management experience and experience in leading through others.

Your focus, together with the rest of the management team, is to develop the organization strategically. GEUS' state geologists report directly to the CEO. You will participate in personnel management through ongoing one-on-one conversations with parts of the management group, and personnel responsibility for some managers may be delegated to you.

The ability to maintain, utilize, and create a good network is important for the position.

We are looking for a visionary deputy director who can help ensure that GEUS' competencies are continuously developed and utilized in various sectors of the business community, and that GEUS contributes to national and international knowledge about and development of the geosciences.

At the same time, the deputy director, together with the managing director, the deputy director for authority services, and the institution's other leaders, must safeguard GEUS's status and integrity, thereby helping to ensure high-quality advisory services to the business community. The final distribution of responsibilities will take place within the entire management team.

About GEUS

GEUS provides research-based geological advice on a range of issues of great societal importance both in Denmark and Greenland. GEUS is an independent and internationally oriented research institution under the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Utilities (KEFM). GEUS has the status of a state enterprise with approximately 300 employees. GEUS's annual revenue is around 350 million kroner, which is roughly evenly distributed between budget appropriations and income from external research projects and consulting tasks. We carry out about 600 projects each year, which are organized in a project-oriented matrix structure across eight professional departments. Seven of these departments are located in our headquarters at Øster Voldgade 10 in Copenhagen, one department is situated on the campus of Aarhus University, and we have an office in Nuuk. We have extensive storage facilities and equipment for, among other things, fieldwork located in Taastrup. GEUS actively participates in the corporate community within KEFM, focusing on core tasks in collaboration with the ministry's other institutions.

GEUS performs a number of authority tasks for KEFM and for several other ministries, including the Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry of Education and Research, the Ministry of Business, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Prime Minister's Office, as well as the Government of Greenland.

GEUS is part of a binding collaboration in Geocenter Denmark with the Department of Geoscience at Aarhus University as well as the Department of Geoscience and Natural Management, the Natural History Museum of Denmark, and the Globe Institute at the University of Copenhagen. GEUS plays a significant role in the education of both master's and PhD students in the geosciences.

GEUS participates in international projects both in the EU (e.g., as part of EuroGeoSurveys) and outside Europe, particularly focusing on capacity building and research in parts of Africa and Asia.

Qualifications

The applicant must have a relevant technical/scientific background at least at the master's level, a good knowledge of geology and related fields, and have knowledge of the significance of these fields for businesses and societal development.

The applicant must have documented experience in management and business at a high level. Experience with strategic management and knowledge of the operation and development of medium to large companies/institutions is an advantage.

The new deputy director must engage in the development of GEUS in collaboration with GEUS' external partners.

As GEUS provides research-based geological advice on a number of issues of great societal importance both in Denmark and Greenland, the applicant must have insight into decision-making processes in a politically governed administrative system.

The applicant must also have the skills and insight to operate GEUS as a partially revenue-funded business and a vision for developing new business areas.

The position requires strong skills in building contacts and agility in dealing with both the research world and the business community – both nationally and internationally.

An open and outgoing nature and the ability to listen are also relevant qualities.

The applicant must also possess significant management skills and have insight into financing and economics.

The applicant must be decisive, outgoing, a good communicator, and have good collaboration skills.

It is expected that the applicant focuses on preserving and developing GEUS as an institution with a strong sense of community and an open culture.

Salary and employment conditions

Employment is in accordance with the framework agreement on contract employment of managers in the state in salary group 2, with the possibility of negotiating qualification supplements. The employment is for a fixed term of five years, with the possibility of extension for three years.

You must be able to obtain security clearance and maintain the security clearance throughout the entire employment process.

The employment area is KEFM with associated institutions. KEFM views diversity as an asset and encourages all interested parties regardless of gender, age, religion, or ethnic background to apply for the position.

Additional information

Further information can be obtained by contacting CEO Lars Nielsen, phone: 91 33 38 70, email: larni@geus.dk. Inquiries will be treated confidentially.

The application

The application must be accompanied by a CV, relevant exam papers, and possibly contact information for reference persons (max. 2).

You can submit your application by clicking the "Apply for the position" button. The application must be received by GEUS no later than Friday, August 14, 2026.

Applications received after the deadline will not be considered.

The application will be processed by a hiring committee. First round interviews are expected to be held in the second half of August.

In the recruitment process, tests will be used to assess the applicants' managerial competencies.