Assistant Dean, Academic Administration

Stanford University; Palo Alto (CA); Hybrid; USD 220,000 - 287,000; Full time

Job summary

Stanford Graduate School of Business seeks an Assistant Dean of Academic Administration, a central figure in faculty life, trusted for policy guidance and a consistent source of truth across a complex university.

The role stewards the full faculty experience from appointments to promotions and sustains the operational core of academic leadership, including governance, budgets, and external representation. A strong emphasis on data, discretion, and collaboration underpins success.

Responsibilities

• Steward the full faculty experience across appointments, teaching assignments, leaves, sabbaticals, promotions and tenure, ensuring workflows and policy guidance are consistent and transparent.
• Sustain the operational core of academic leadership by partnering with Senior Associate Deans, overseeing faculty governance processes and budgets, and representing the school with external offices.
• Lead and develop a distributed team, build staff self-sufficiency, and surface sharper, data-informed insights for senior leaders.

Job description

Introduction

Stanford’s Graduate School of Business (GSB) has built a global reputation for its immersive and innovative management programs, groundbreaking research, and commitment to developing leaders who create positive impact. We bring together students, alumni, staff, faculty, and a global community to generate new knowledge, transform how business is taught and practiced, and prepare innovative, principled, and insightful leaders who change lives, change organizations, and change the world.
Success at the GSB is defined by The GSB Way, our commitment to shared purpose, community, and excellence in all that we do. We seek individuals who elevate themselves and those around them through academic candor, generous collaboration, and curiosity and rigor in solving meaningful problems. At the GSB, impact means taking ownership, contributing to our community, and advancing the school’s mission.

Job Summary

The Stanford Graduate School of Business seeks an Assistant Dean of Academic Administration, a role at the center of faculty life at one of the world’s leading business schools. What distinguishes this position is not formal authority, but the trust, judgment, and relational credibility to be the person faculty and academic leaders turn to first: a reliable guide through institutional policy and a consistent source of truth across a complex, research-intensive university.

The work spans the full scope of faculty and academic affairs, from faculty lifecycle administration and faculty governance to academic leadership support, in a decentralized environment where influence matters as much as position. The incoming leader will inherit a stable, experienced team with deep institutional knowledge; their charge is to sustain that excellence while building a more distributed, transparent, and data-informed operation.

At its core, the role is anchored in two areas:

• Steward the full faculty experience. Serve as the primary institutional resource for faculty across the entire lifecycle (appointments, teaching assignments, leaves, sabbaticals, promotions, tenure, compensation, and benefits) while ensuring that workflows, information, and policy guidance remain consistent and transparent across the organization.

• Sustain the operational core of academic leadership. Serve as the primary administrative partner to the Senior Associate Deans, overseeing faculty governance processes including the Faculty Advisory Board, Academic Area Reviews, and Senior Faculty Meetings, while administering the associated budgets and representing the school with the Provost’s Office and peer institutions.

The ideal candidate brings deep fluency in faculty culture and academic personnel administration, earned in a research-intensive or decentralized academic environment. They show up as a facilitator and service partner: curious about finding solutions, skilled at navigating complexity without friction, and trusted to handle highly confidential faculty and institutional matters with professionalism and discretion.

They are equally strong as a team leader: building distributed accountability, developing staff self-sufficiency, and creating the conditions for a capable department to operate without depending on any single person. They bring financial and data acumen, and a genuine curiosity about how emerging tools and better information can surface sharper insights for senior leaders and expand what a high-performing team can accomplish together.

Additional Details

Budgeted Salary: The expected pay range for this positions is $220,156 - $287,216.

Work Schedule: Hybrid workweek typically at least 4 days onsite.

To be considered, applicants must submit both a resume and cover letter.