Vice President For Academic Affairs (EMIRATI)

Salt; Sharjah; On-site; AED 450,000 - 750,000; Full time

Job summary

Salt in the United Arab Emirates seeks a VIP President - Academic Affairs to shape academic strategy, strengthen institutional quality, expand programmes, and lead faculty and student success initiatives across a growing university.

The role provides university-wide academic leadership, translating strategy into priorities, governance, and measurable outcomes while guiding undergraduate and postgraduate development and ensuring regulatory alignment.

Qualifications

• Full Professor with a strong academic and research profile.
• Senior leadership experience within higher education, ideally at Dean/Provost or equivalent.
• Proven ability in academic programme development, governance, and quality assurance.

Responsibilities

• Provide university-wide academic leadership and translate strategy into priorities, governance frameworks and measurable outcomes.
• Lead development and expansion of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, ensuring quality and regulatory alignment.
• Strengthen accreditation readiness and uphold high standards across curriculum and policies.
• Oversee faculty effectiveness, recruitment, deployment, development and academic standards.
• Drive student growth and success through enrolment, retention and graduate outcomes initiatives.
• Advance research, industry engagement and digital transformation via external partnerships and data-driven decisions.

Education

Full Professor

Job description

We are hiring a VIP President - Academic Affairs for a senior higher education leadership opportunity in the UAE.

This role is ideal for an accomplished academic leader who can shape academic strategy, strengthen institutional quality, expand academic offerings, and lead faculty and student success initiatives across a growing university environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide university-wide academic leadership, translating institutional strategy into clear academic priorities, governance frameworks, and measurable outcomes.
• Lead the development and expansion of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, ensuring academic relevance, quality, and alignment with regulatory expectations.
• Strengthen institutional and programme accreditation readiness while maintaining high standards across curriculum, academic policies, and quality assurance.
• Oversee faculty effectiveness across recruitment, deployment, performance, development, and academic standards, building a strong and high-performing academic community.
• Drive student growth and success by supporting initiatives related to enrolment, retention, academic experience, progression, and graduate outcomes.
• Advance research, industry engagement, and digital transformation across academic operations, encouraging stronger external partnerships, innovation, and data-driven decision making.

Requirements

• Full Professor with a strong academic and research profile, including recognised publications, citations, research leadership, and relevant scholarly achievements.
• Extensive senior leadership experience within higher education, ideally at Dean, Vice President, Provost, or equivalent executive academic level.
• Strong experience in academic programme development, curriculum governance, institutional planning, faculty leadership, and university-wide academic operations.
• Proven knowledge of accreditation and quality frameworks, with UAE CAA experience and exposure to national or international accreditation highly preferred.
• Demonstrated success contributing to university growth through programme expansion, student recruitment and retention, research development, and institutional improvement.
• Fluency in both Arabic and English, with strong strategic leadership, stakeholder management, industry engagement, and digital transformation capability.

What Makes This Role Strong

This is an opportunity to influence the academic direction of a growing institution, shape future programmes, strengthen quality and accreditation, and play a central role in long-term institutional development.