Education jobs in Saudi Arabia

The Manager, Global Academic & Industry Partnerships is a strategic and operational role responsible for initiating, developing, managing, and strengthening the university’s portfolio of local and international industry-academic collaborations, and advancing the university’s network with academic institutions, industry partners, government agencies, and professional bodies.

This role is vital for enhancing the university’s global profile, joint academic ventures, and overall industry-academia engagement.

This role supports the strategic goals of the university in internationalization, academic excellence and external engagement, collaborating closely with academic and industry partners, NGOs, government and community.

Key responsibilities include developing and managing strategic relationships with external educational institutions to create and support collaborative academic programs and student opportunities, managing partnership lifecycles, negotiating agreements, ensuring compliance with academic and regulatory standards, and reporting on performance and goals.

This includes acting as a bridge between academia and industry, establishing strategic alliances with higher education institutions, research centres, and academic networks that enhance the university’s teaching, research, mobility, global visibility and societal relevance, and co-creating impactful collaborations.

The role requires strong relationship-building, project management, and stakeholder engagement skills to translate strategic partnership goals into impactful academic initiatives.

Formulate and execute strategies for building and sustaining global academic and industry partnerships aligned with the university’s priorities and agenda.

Contribute to the development of the industry-academia partnership strategic plan and identify new opportunities for growth.

Identify, evaluate and pursue potential partnership opportunities both locally and internationally, aligning with the university’s strategic goals.

Lead the end-to-end process of partnership development lifecycle, from initiation, negotiation, and formalisation of MoUs and MoAs, to review and renewal, and supporting the relevant parties in its implementation/execution.

Build, develop, and maintain strong relationships with partner institutions, academic departments, and other stakeholders.

Oversee a portfolio of partnerships, monitoring program delivery and ensuring alignment with university goals and partner expectations.

Collaborate with faculties and industries to design and implement programmes, projects, and academic and research collaborations.

Manage the operational planning and execution of collaborative programs, including student placements and curriculum integration, leading to impactful learning experiences, industry-informed curricula and graduate talent pipelines.

Coordinate academic mobility initiatives such as academic staff exchanges, study abroad, visiting scholars, student exchange and short-term mobility programs in collaboration with the mobility team.

Facilitate discussions and agreements for collaborative programmes arrangements, between both internal stakeholders and external parties to co-create value-driven collaborations.

Liaise with internal academic teams to align program outcomes and requirements with partners.

Support faculty and academic units in initiating and expanding collaborations in areas such as joint research, applied learning projects, academic exchange, dual degrees, articulation pathways, curriculum co-development, executive education, and continuing professional development programmes.

Support the embedding of real-world relevance and integration of industry perspectives into teaching-and-learning and curriculum design, guest lectures and professional development programmes.

Work closely with internal departments to ensure academic quality, programme equivalency, and regulatory compliance for partnership activities.

Enable collaboration between academic researchers and industry partners in joint research, teaching, consultancy, knowledge exchange, and innovation projects.

Collaborate with the Career Services to strengthen student placement opportunities and graduate employability pathways, locally and internationally.

Negotiate and draft agreements and contracts with partner institutions, with support from legal and other relevant departments.

Ensure all partnerships and academic activities comply with internal institutional policies, external quality assurance standards (including those from professional bodies) and accreditation requirements.

Maintain accurate records of all academic agreements and partnership activities.

Track, monitor, and evaluate the effectiveness and outcomes of academic and industry partnerships and collaborative programmes.

Report on key partnership metrics, including impact performance, research outputs, and student-related outcomes (e.g., graduate employment/employability), and contribute to institutional KPIs and rankings (e.g., QS).

Prepare partnership performance reports, proposals, presentations and provide briefings and updates to senior management.

Maintain an updated portfolio and database of academic partners and agreements, ensuring alignment with university policy and compliance requirements.

Act as the key liaison between the university and its academic and industry partners, institutions, government agencies, academic networks, internal departments, including academic units/faculties, and legal.

Represent the university in academic consortia, international networks, academic conferences, industry forums, and international education fairs.

Cultivate strong relationships with stakeholders including faculties, research centres, corporations, NGOs, and government bodies, fostering long-term, mutually beneficial relationships.

Coordinate visits from partners and institutions, and organize engagement events/activities such as advisory panels, and partnership showcases.

Build effective working relationships with Executive Deans, Heads of Schools and Department, Programme Directors and academic staff to identify partnership opportunities and ensure successful execution of collaborative projects.

Minimum a Bachelor’s degree in any related field such as business, education, international relations, or marketing.

Minimum 5 years of experience in higher education administration, partnership management, business development, industry engagement, corporate relations or internationalization roles.

Proven experience in managing cross-sector collaborations and international partnerships.

Experience working or studying abroad, and experience in the education sector is a significant plus.

Strong understanding of global academic landscapes, employability, research collaboration, program development, innovation ecosystems and international education frameworks.

Familiarity with global rankings, accreditation, global higher education trends, or academic quality assurance (QA) frameworks.

Excellent communication, negotiation, and presentation skills (verbal and written).

Strong project and relationship management skills.

Ability to work cross-functionally and build effective relationships with faculties, academic leaders, and international stakeholders.

Ability to analyze data and produce reports.

Strategic thinking and business acumen.

Intercultural competence, cultural sensitivity, and diplomacy.

Strong organisational and documentation skills.

Multilingual proficiency is advantageous.