Academic Director

Woxsen University seeks an ambitious, research-oriented Associate Dean for the School of Liberal Arts & Humanities to lead a transformational agenda that grows high-quality scholarship, secures sustained external funding, and strengthens the School’s research culture — without sacrificing the School’s academic teaching core. The Associate Dean will combine strategic fundraising, faculty development, research program building, and operational leadership to elevate the School’s research profile, create stable revenue streams, and embed research-led teaching across curricula.

This is a hands-on leadership role: the ideal candidate will be an active scholar with a strong record of external grants and partnerships, experienced in building funding pipelines, mentoring faculty and PhD students, and aligning research strategy with excellent undergraduate and postgraduate teaching.

Key responsibilities

1. Strategic leadership & vision

• Co-create and execute a 3–5 year School Research & Funding Strategy aligned to Woxsen’s institutional priorities (moonshot themes, interdisciplinarity, impact).
• Translate strategy into annual operational plans, budgets, targets, and risk registers.
• Ensure research strategy amplifies the School’s strengths (e.G., humanities methodologies, public policy, digital humanities, cultural studies) and fosters interdisciplinary collaboration across engineering, business, and sciences.

2. Research funding & external partnerships (core focus)

• Design and implement a diversified funding plan: competitive grants (national/international), philanthropic gifts, industry/NGO contracts, consultancy, commissioned research, and paid executive education.
• Lead major grant proposals and consortium bids;
  coordinate internal resources to produce competitive submissions.
• Build relationships with government agencies, foundations, philanthropic donors, corporate partners, and cultural institutions to create multi-year funding commitments.
• Develop and operationalize seed-grant, matching fund, and endowment models that incentivize faculty grant-seeking and protect early-stage scholarship.
• Oversee contract negotiation, compliance, and post-award management in partnership with the University Research Office.

3. Faculty & research culture development

• Recruit, retain, and develop research-active faculty and visiting scholars;
  design hiring profiles that balance teaching excellence with fundraising potential.
• Create faculty development programs: grant-writing bootcamps, peer-review groups, mentorship for early career researchers, incentives for interdisciplinary teams.
• Implement workload models that protect research time (e.G., targeted teaching relief or course buyouts linked to grant success).
• Promote reproducible research, open access, research ethics, and strong supervision for PhD and MA research students.

4. Research outputs, impact & visibility

• Improve research quality indicators: publications in high-impact outlets, citations, books, translations, creative works, policy briefs, public humanities outputs, and public engagement metrics.
• Create mechanisms for impact capture: policy briefs, digital dissemination, media engagement, exhibitions, and community partnerships.
• Elevate the School’s national and international profile through conferences, visiting fellowships, and flagship research events.

5. Curriculum & academic core

• Ensure research informs curriculum design and teaching practices across BA/MA/PhD programs;
  promote research-led learning and graded research credits for students.
• Oversee integration of research opportunities into UG/PG curricula (capstones, practica, research apprenticeships).
• Maintain high standards for teaching, assessment, and student experience while enabling faculty research productivity.

6. Operational & financial management

• Manage and report on the School’s research budgets, grants portfolio, and restricted funds.
• Work with Finance, Legal, and Sponsored Programs offices to ensure compliance and transparent reporting.
• Recommend resource allocation (seed grants, travel funds, PhD scholarships) toward highest impact projects.

7. Governance, representation & service

• Serve on School and University committees related to research, promotions, and external relations.
• Represent the School to donors, funders, academic networks, government, and the community.
• Support accreditation and rankings activities by providing evidence of research quality and external income.

Essential qualifications & experience

• PhD in a relevant discipline within the liberal arts or humanities (or closely related interdisciplinary field).
• Strong record of scholarly publications and demonstrable research impact.
• Proven track record of securing external research funding (competitive grants, philanthropic gifts, industry contracts) — significant senior-role experience in leading multi-partner grants is preferred.
• At least 7–10 years post-PhD academic experience with progressive leadership responsibility (e.G., programme lead, research centre director, chair/Head of Department).
• Experience managing budgets, grants administration, and post-award compliance.
• Demonstrated ability to mentor faculty and PhD students and to shape research culture.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills;
  proven ability to cultivate external relationships and represent the School publicly.

Desired competencies & attributes

• Strategic thinker with bias for action and measurable outcomes.
• Entrepreneurial mindset: identifies funding opportunities, structures partnerships, and iterates quickly.
• Collaborative leader who can build cross-disciplinary teams and influence stakeholders across the university.
• Integrity and commitment to academic freedom, research ethics, and inclusion.
• Data-driven: uses KPIs, dashboards, and evidence to steer decisions.
• Comfortable with ambiguity and change management within higher education.