Professor and Academic Director; Post Level 5

Overview

Department Description/Departement Beskrywing

Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences

Stellenbosch Business School

Professor and Academic Director (Post Level
5) (Bellville Park Campus)

/019/0126

Stellenbosch Business School (SBS) is Triple Crown accredited (AACSB, EQUIS, and AMBA) - a distinction held by less than 1% of all business schools. SBS is internationally recognised for academic excellence, values-based leadership, and contextual relevance in both the African and international business environments. We are now welcoming applications for the newly established position of Academic Director.

Reporting directly to the Senior Director of SBS, the Professor and Academic Director is the custodian of the School s academic mission and strategy, responsible for advancing academic quality, innovation, international engagement, and thought leadership. The role involves leading academic operations, supporting international accreditations and rankings, and ensuring the delivery of a transformative learning experience aligned with SBS s strategic vision.

• Interpret and ope rationalise the academic components of the SBS and Stellenbosch University (SU) strategies.
• Facilitate academic strategy development and lead progress management over a five to ten year horizon, including teaching and learning, research, and programme innovation, ensuring social impact is embedded as a strategic dimension of programme design and delivery.
• Chair and shape the academic structures and decision-making processes required for responsiveness and agility.
• Lead and mentor the academic team to enable global academic excellence and high-impact research.
• Define and promote an inclusive, future-fit curriculum with articulation pathways, micro-credentials, and alignment to business and societal needs.
• Craft and enforce the academic goals of SBS s internationalisation agenda, strategic partnerships, and accreditation efforts
• Serve as the School s academic ambassador locally and internationally.
• Drive performance management, human capital development, and succession planning among academic staff.
• Work closely with marketing, operations, finance and human resources to ensure academic sustainability and strategic budgeting.
• Where required, actively engage in teaching, supervision, and scholarly research.

Shortlisted candidates will be given more detail on the above and the activities as they align with the University s strategy. The scope and weighting of Key Performance Areas will adjust over time to fit with the operational needs and academic ambitions of the School.

• PhD in an Economics and Management Sciences related discipline awarded by a recognised university.
• Senior experience and engagement with public or private organisations, consulting activities, and/or policy that demonstrate management, leadership, expertise and/or thought leadership.
• Evidence of academic leadership in a domain which may include a reasonable number of sole and/or first authored papers, evidence of publications in high impact or highly ranked journals, and the impact of the applicant s own work as reflected in h-indices such as Google Scholar, Scopus and Web of Science.
• Seven subsidy-bearing research credits based upon all credit-worthy academic output.
• Evidence of ongoing research productivity.
• International and national conference participation.
• Proven record of successfully completed PhD and Master s degree supervision.
• Evidence of international and/or national recognition as researcher (peer reviews).
• A teaching portfolio reflecting quantitative and qualitative teaching performance which displays evidence of the scholarship of teaching, as well as evidence of teaching- and learning leadership, relevant to the level of the academic rank.
• External service-rendering and social impact relevant to the academic rank.
• Three to five years  demonstrated track record of academic leadership.
• People management skills.
• Financial and operational experience in managing budgets and academic projects.

• Experience in steering academic strategy, programme innovation, and cross-functional collaboration.
• Understanding of the business education landscape, including global trends and industry engagement.
• Expertise in managing academic quality and supporting international accreditations (e.g. such as AACSB, EQUIS, AMBA).
• The ability to operate in a complex, multi-stakeholder, and multicultural environment.
• Experience in both formal academic programmes and executive education.
• High emotional intelligence and a collaborative, collegial leadership style.
• The ability to lead change.
• An entrepreneurial orientation.
• The ability to demonstrate an understanding of the South African and broader African higher education and socioeconomic context.

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The University is committed to employment equity (EE), and appointments will be made in line with the institutional EE Plan.

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