Head of the penitentiary service

The Penitentiary Service (SPNE) is looking for a

Head of the penitentiary service
SPNE134

The SPNE implements cantonal penitentiary policy and ensures the execution of detention and criminal sanctions pronounced by judicial authorities.
It brings together four entities: the service management, two detention establishments, and an office for the execution of sanctions and probation.

Your missions
Reporting to the Head of the Department of Security, Digitalization and Culture (DSDC), you hold a key position in the development and implementation of the cantonal penitentiary strategy and contribute to reflections and actions at the intercantonal and national levels.
At the head of the SPNE, you pilot the entire service on administrative, human and financial levels. You federate the different entities around common objectives and ensure the implementation of the missions for the execution of criminal sanctions of adults, in compliance with federal, cantonal and intercantonal legal provisions, with the objectives of public security and the protection of the community.
Finally, you guarantee supervision adapted to defendants and convicted persons, in a perspective of risk reduction and socio-professional reintegration.

Your profile
Holder of a university master's degree or training deemed equivalent, you have at least five years of experience in positions of responsibility. Your career demonstrates a real ease in evolving in contexts with multiple stakes.
Your expertise in the judicial field and more particularly in matters of execution of criminal sanctions, is accompanied by a marked interest in the psychosocial issues specific to the prison environment.
Your solid managerial skills and your ability to federate, combined with a strategic vision and an analytical mind, constitute valuable assets for piloting the service and large-scale projects.
Your interpersonal skills and your ability to negotiate complete this profile. Knowledge of German would also be appreciated.

Place of work: La Chaux-de-Fonds
Application deadline: 21 September 2026
Salary: Class 16
Start of activity: To be agreed

Additional information
M. Christian Müller, secretary general of the DSDC, tel. 032 889 61 00

👉 Working for the canton
Female applications are strongly encouraged for senior positions.

We offer you for this position

• A motivating and meaningful challenge in the service of public security.
• A rewarding mission at the heart of major societal issues.
• Flexibility in the management of your responsibilities.