Vice President - Academic Affairs

Confidential Company; Ajman; On-site; AED 400,000 - 700,000; Full time

Job summary

Confidential Company seeks an experienced full professor to lead academic programs and drive accreditation, governance and strategic growth. The role emphasizes program expansion, student success, and industry partnerships in the UAE context.

The candidate should have a strong research record, experience managing large faculties, and a history of digital transformation in academic settings. UAE-specific regulatory insight is preferred.

Qualifications

• Fluent in Arabic and English; strong communication and interpersonal skills.
• Proven senior leadership in higher education with Dean/VP-level experience.
• Experience designing and launching undergraduate and postgraduate programs.
• Strong UAE accreditation experience (CAA and other accrediting bodies).
• Deep expertise in curriculum design, governance, workload planning, and policies.
• Track record in student growth, recruitment, retention, and success.
• Established research portfolio with leadership, grants, and outputs.
• Experience managing large faculty teams and development.
• Proven industry collaboration and employability initiatives.
• Strategic planning, KPI development, governance, and quality enhancement.
• Experience with digital transformation of academic services and data use.

Responsibilities

• Design and launch new undergraduate and postgraduate programs.
• Lead accreditation processes with UAE CAA and other bodies.
• Oversee curriculum development, faculty workload, performance management and policies.
• Drive student recruitment, enrollment growth, retention and success.
• Develop and nurture industry partnerships and experiential learning.
• Lead institutional strategic planning and governance initiatives.
• Drive digital transformation of student services and academic management systems.
• Support growth of research activities, publications and grants.

Skills

Bilingual fluency

Academic leadership

Program development

Accreditation expertise

Curriculum development

Faculty management

Industry partnerships

Strategic planning

Digital transformation

Research leadership

Education

PhD or terminal degree

Job description

• Bilingual: Fluent in both Arabic and English.

• Gender/Age: Male, ideally between 40-50 years old.

• Academic Rank: Full Professor.

• 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.

Desired Candidate Profile

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.