Head of Office for Youth and Career Counseling 100%

04 March 2026
100%
Zürich

Job summary

Join the Amt für Jugend und Berufsberatung in Zurich as its new Chef. This role offers a dynamic opportunity to lead youth and career support initiatives.

Tasks

Lead and manage 1,200 staff in youth and career services.
Oversee legal mandates in youth assistance and career guidance.
Foster collaboration with authorities and drive organizational development.

Skills

Requires a law or business degree and extensive leadership experience.
Strong communication and networking abilities are essential.
Proven capability in managing complex organizational changes.

Is this helpful?

About the job

Head of Office for Youth and Career Counseling 100%

As part of the Education Directorate of the Canton of Zurich, the Office for Youth and Career Counseling (AJB) is responsible for services in the field of child and youth welfare as well as career counseling. The focus is on children, adolescents, and families. The head of the Office for Youth and Career Counseling is retiring. Therefore, a challenging position is to be filled by the end of 2026 or the first quarter of 2027.

Your area of responsibility
As the head of the AJB, you lead around 1,200 employees and are responsible for the office's business and the proposals to the directorate head and the general secretariat. In this role, you are part of the leadership team of the Education Directorate and take on a wide range of tasks. Together with your team, you are responsible for the implementation, management, and development of the statutory service mandate in the areas of child and youth welfare, career, study, and career counseling, as well as the allocation of training contributions (scholarships and loans). In these areas, you handle political initiatives, specialist questions, and consultations. You maintain close contact with authorities and committees, especially with technical commissions of the SODK (e.g., the KKJP board), and represent the directorate in working groups and committees. Finally, you are responsible for the organizational development of the office.

Your profile
For this key position, you bring a university degree in law or business administration, several years of leadership experience, and solid knowledge in the field of responsibility and administrative processes. You are capable of navigating the political environment and enjoy leading one of the largest offices in the Canton of Zurich with diverse professional and political tasks, as well as collaborating with other administrative units and various interest groups. You are familiar with accompanying demanding change processes and managing a complex organization. You convince with a transparent and trustworthy leadership style, excellent networking skills, strong communication, and assertiveness.

Our offer
Are you motivated to further develop work for young people in a dynamic environment? We look forward to receiving your complete application by no later than
March 7, 2026, by email to our external executive search partner and your mandate manager Oliver Berger (info@witena.com). The current office holder André Woodtli will be happy to answer your questions and provide information about the interesting prospects (043 259 96 03).

Additional information can be found on the internet at www.ajb.zh.ch.