Assistant Dean, Academic Administration

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

Job summary

Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business seeks an Assistant Dean of Academic Administration, a central role in faculty life. This position emphasizes trust, judgment, and relational credibility over formal authority, acting as a reliable guide through policy for faculty and academic leaders across a complex university.

The incoming leader will inherit an experienced team and must sustain excellence while building a more distributed, transparent, and data-informed operation.

Qualifications

• Experience in administrative and financial management in higher education.
• Strong leadership and communication skills.
• Ability to navigate complex policies and procedures.
• Experience with faculty governance and academic administration.
• Adept at using data to inform decisions and improve processes.

Responsibilities

• Direct staff and provide leadership to achieve goals and the vision of the organization.
• Interpret and implement human resources policies for faculty supervision.
• Develop strategic plans for programs and manage resources across units.
• Oversee internal academic and administrative policy development.
• Administer finances and budgeting across all sources for annual cycles.

Skills

Faculty governance

Budget oversight

Staff leadership

Policy interpretation

Relationship building

Data-informed decision making

Education

Bachelor’s degree

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.

Responsibilities

Core Duties:

• Direct staff and provide leadership to achieve goals and visionof the organization. Responsible for hiring and retaining staff, careercoaching, personal development for direct reports and accountable forthe performance of employees.

• May independently or in collaboration with human resourcesmanagers, direct faculty supervisors and managers in the interpretationand implementation of human resources policies, procedures andprograms.

• Independently initiate and create strategic plans fororganization or program(s) managed. Make recommendations that may impactthe unit's academic and research capabilities. Identify and resolvestrategic issues of substantial significance that affect the overallfunctioning beyond the immediate unit, consult and advise seniorleadership. Oversee allocation of all resources.

• Manage the direction of internal academic and administrativepolicy development for programs and administrative operations.

• Oversee and/or manage the finances across all sources for theannual budget cycle, including developing, monitoring, analyzingforecasting and reporting to ensure the financial success of theorganization.

• Manage and coordinate grants and contracts for the department.Ensure compliance with institutional and external requirements.

• Advise senior management on programmatic and policy development.May provide input to university leadership on institutional academic andadministrative policies and guidelines.

Minimum Education:

Bachelor’s degree

Minimum Experience:

seven years of relevant experience in administrative and financialmanagement, or combination of education and relevant experience.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Demonstrated leadership and supervisory, planning and changemanagement skills.

• Excellent planning and organizational skills.

• Excellent communication skills. Able to influence people, solveproblems, troubleshoot, think creatively and resolve conflicts.

• Advanced financial expertise in accounting budget planning, andfinancial forecasting.

• Advanced expertise in grants and contractadministration.

• Advanced analytical and problem solving skills Strong knowledgeof industry standards and/or regulatory requirements.

• Strong negotiation and effective interpersonal skills.

• Attention to detail and accuracy.

• Advanced expertise in business and management computerapplications and databases.

• Subject matter expertise for area(s) of responsibility.

• Ability to multi-task and manage deadlines.