Vice President - Academic Affairs

Genesis Executive; Abu Dhabi; On-site; AED 200,000 - 320,000; Full time

Job summary

Genesis Executive represents a renowned educational institution in the UAE seeking a male bilingual Arabic-English leader to serve as Vice President - Academic Affairs. The role oversees academic strategy, program development, accreditation, governance, and institutional policies to drive growth and excellence.

The ideal candidate has extensive UAE higher education leadership experience, a strong research profile, and a proven ability to build industry partnerships, lead large faculties, and

Qualifications

• Senior leadership experience in higher education, preferably Dean/VP level.
• Proven track record in designing and launching new academic programs.
• Strong UAE CAA and accreditation experience across programs and institutions.
• Experience in curriculum development, governance, and policy.
• Proven ability to drive student growth, enrollment, retention and success.
• Established research record with leadership, grants or outputs.
• Experience managing large faculty teams and professional development.
• Strong industry relationships and academia–industry partnerships.
• Strategic planning, KPI development and quality enhancement expertise.
• Exposure to digital transformation of academic services and data-driven decisions.

Skills

Higher Education Leadership

Academic Program Development

Accreditation

Academic Operations

Student Growth

Research Profile

Faculty Leadership

Industry Exposure

Strategic Leadership

Digital Transformation

University Growth

Job description

Job description

Our client is a renowned educational institution based in the UAE. They are in need of a male bili ngual (Arabic and English) leader to meet the below requirement for the position of Vice President - Academic Affairs.

Job Requirements

• Higher Education Leadership: Extensive senior academic leadership experience, preferably at Dean, Vice President or equivalent level.
• Academic Program Development: Proven experience in designing and launching new academic programs, including undergraduate and postgraduate programs.
• Accreditation: Strong experience with UAE CAA and national/international accreditation, program accreditation, and institutional accreditation.
• Academic Operations: Strong experience in curriculum development, faculty workload/allocation, performance management, academic planning, governance, and institutional policies.
• Student Growth: Demonstrated experience contributing to student recruitment, enrollment growth, retention, student success, and overall institutional growth.
• Research Profile: Strong and established research record, including publications, citations, research leadership, grants, and ideally patents or other research outputs.
• Faculty Leadership: Experience managing and developing large faculty teams, including recruitment, performance management, professional development, and academic quality.
• Industry Exposure: Strong relationships with industry and experience developing industry-academia partnerships, experiential learning, employability initiatives, and external collaborations.
• Strategic Leadership: Demonstrated experience in institutional strategic planning, KPI development, governance, quality enhancement, and driving university-wide initiatives.
• Digital Transformation: Exposure to digital transformation of academic and student services, data-driven decision-making, and academic management systems.
• University Growth: Experience in a growing or transforming higher education institution would be highly valuable, particularly where the candidate has contributed directly to student growth, program expansion, accreditation, and institutional development.

UAE Experience is preferred: Strong preference for candidates with substantial UAE higher education experience and a good understanding of the local regulatory and accreditation environment.