Executive Director for the Master of Professional Accountancy Program

UC San Diego Academic Jobs; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 175,000 - 275,000; Full time

Job summary

UC San Diego invites applications for the Executive Director for the Master of Professional Accountancy (MPAc) Program. The role provides administrative oversight for all operational and curricular development, aiming to attract top students and achieve strong employment outcomes.

The ideal candidate has 10+ years in accounting with high-level management, a terminal degree in Accounting/Finance/Economics, teaching experience, and the ability to network with national and international business

Qualifications

• At least 10 years of high-level administrative management in accounting.
• Terminal degree in Accounting, Finance, or Economics, or equivalent.
• Experience with teaching or development of graduate-level courses.

Responsibilities

• Administration of program planning and development, supervision of staff, and liaison with public/private sector partners; teaching duties may be required.
• Coordinate cross-functional work with Marketing, Recruitment/Admissions, Financial Aid, Career Services and Corporate Relations to optimise student outcomes.
• Lead internal reviews, coordinate AACSB Assurance of Learning activities, and assess curriculum relevance to program objectives.

Skills

Leadership

Administration

Analysis

Education

Terminal degree in Accounting, Finance, or Economics

Masters/PhD in Accounting, Finance, or Economics

Job description

Position overview

Position title: Executive Director for the Master of Professional Accountancy Program

Salary range: A reasonable salary range estimate for this position is $175-275k. The posted UC academic salary scales (2026-27 academic salary scales) set the minimum pay determined by rank and/or step at appointment. " Off-scale salaries", i.e., a salary that is higher than the published system-wide salary at the designated rank and step, are offered when necessary to meet competitive conditions See the following table for the salary scale for this position [table 34]

Application Window

Open date: October 5, 2026

Next review date: Sunday, Oct 25, 2026 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)

Final date: Sunday, Jan 3, 2027 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)

Applications will continue to be accepted until this date, but those received after the review date will only be considered if the position has not yet been filled.

Position description

The Rady School of Management’s Master of Professional Accountancy (MPAc) program is a self-supporting program that admitted its first cohort of 33 students in 2019 and has steadily built up to an annual cohort of around 80 students. The MPAc program provides rigorous, hands-on training to prepare students to work as accounting professionals. Through a curriculum composed of quantitative, analytical, legal and regulatory coursework, graduates of the program will be prepared to lead accounting, auditing, tax, and consulting initiatives for accounting firms, corporations, small businesses, non-profit organizations, governments, and individuals.

The Academic Administrator / Executive Director will provide administrative oversight for all operational and curricular development activities for the MPAc Program. Preparing our students for employment as professional accountants requires intimate knowledge of the profession, including the current accounting skills and quantitative profile that our students must develop to be competitive in the marketplace. An effective Executive Director will possess a unique blend of academic expertise, familiarity with industry practice, and broad network of industry contacts - particularly with accounting firms - in order to facilitate graduate employment outcomes and liaise with local and global companies. By bringing together academic excellence, knowledge of industry demand profiles, and industry contacts at the highest level, the Executive Director will ensure that we attract the very best students, achieve outstanding employment outcomes, and further add to the program’s reputation.

Responsibilities

• Administration of program planning and development: development of proposals for extramural funding of campus programs, assessment of program and constituency needs, implementation of innovative program changes, evaluation of program activities and functions, creativity and originality in program development and usage of resources, supervision and leadership of staff, serving as a liaison with other agencies and institutions in the public and private sectors, academic advising, co-curricular programs, supervision, course assessment activities, and an extensive amount of logistics surrounding the program. This position also includes teaching duties in accordance with the Program's needs.
• Interaction with other functional areas: such as Marketing, Recruitment /Admissions, Financial Aid, Student Programs and Services, Career Services and Corporate Relations. This position is also responsible for ensuring the highest levels of student satisfaction and for developing and maintaining effective, streamlined channels of communication among and for students, faculty and program staff.
• Continuous Program improvement: organize and serve on internal ad hoc and scheduled reviews. Reviews will occur in response to regular feedback from students, alumni and employers, as well as corporate/industry involvement, events and expectation analysis. The program director will coordinate the required AACSB Assurance of Learning activities and in response to assessment results, consider the appropriateness and effectiveness of the curriculum for achieving program objectives and learning goals.

Program

https://rady.ucsd.edu/programs/master-professional-accountancy/

Qualifications

Basic qualifications

• At least 10 years of experience in the accounting world providing high-level administrative management, including planning, leadership, and analysis.
• Terminal degree in Accounting, Finance, or Economics, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Experience with teaching or development of graduate-level courses.

Preferred Qualifications

• Masters of Professional Accountancy, PhD, or equivalent degree in Accounting, Finance, or Economics.
• An ability to network with national and international business and academic contacts.
• Experience with academic degree programs.
• An ability to to successfully address the educational and academic needs of the student population, including reviewing, developing and updating curriculum and instructional strategies to ensure successful outcomes for all students.
• Excellent communication skills and cross-cultural abilities to maximize effective collaboration with a diverse community of campus and external colleagues.

Application Requirements

Document Requirements

• Curriculum Vitae - Your most recently updated C.V.
• Cover Letter
• Statement of Teaching
• Statement of Research (Optional)
• Teaching Evaluations (Optional)
• Misc / Additional (Optional)

Reference Requirements

• 3-5 required (contact information only)

Please provide contact information. Letters will be solicited for final candidate and will not be checked without prior notification.

Help contact

[e-mail]

About UC San Diego

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or other protected status under state or federal law.

As a university employee, you will be required to comply with all applicable University policies and/or collective bargaining agreements, as may be amended from time to time. Federal, state, or local government directives may impose additional requirements.

The University of California prohibits smoking and tobacco use at all of its university-controlled properties.

The UC San Diego Annual Security & Fire Safety Report is available online at: https://www.police.ucsd.edu/docs/annualclery.pdf. This report provides crime and fire statistics, as well as institutional policy statements & procedures. Contact the UC San Diego Police Department at [phone] if you want to obtain paper copies of this report.

As a condition of employment, the finalist will be required to disclose if they are subject to any final administrative or judicial decisions within the last seven years determining that they committed any misconduct, are currently being investigated for misconduct, left a position during an investigation for alleged misconduct, or have filed an appeal with a previous employer.

"Misconduct" means any violation of the policies or laws governing conduct at the applicant’s previous place of employment, including, but not limited to, violations of policies or laws prohibiting sexual harassment, sexual assault, or other forms of harassment, discrimination, dishonesty, or unethical conduct, as defined by the employer.

UC Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment Policy: [https://policy.ucop.edu/doc/4000385/SVSH]

UC Anti-Discrimination Policy for Employees, Students and Third Parties: [https://policy.ucop.edu/doc/1001004/Anti-Discrimination]

Job location

San Diego, CA