Director: Business School (5 year fixed-term contract)

CORE PURPOSE OF JOB

The Nelson Mandela University Business School is recognized globally and rated amongst the top business schools on the African continent. The School is one of only a few in Southern Africa to have obtained international accreditation from AMBA (MBA programme) and EDAMBA (DBA programme).

The School is recognized for its innovative learning and teaching and engagement practices with emphases on executive education.

The Business School has recently undergone a significant refocusing to align it with the strategic intent of Nelson Mandela University as an African university in the service of society. The Director of the Business School will be expected to take the School into a vision forward and exciting phase in its development, sharpening the focus on regional, national and international student recruitment, programme portfolio innovation and development, enhanced visibility and presence regionally, nationally and globally, improved research performance and financial viability and sustainability.

The Director of the Business School should be a transformative and transformational leader who will ensure that the School fulfills a leading role in implementing the mandate of being a School and University in service to society, promoting academic excellence, able to integrate the Nelson Mandela University Business School’s core focus areas more deeply with business and industry in the Eastern Cape and in South Africa and positioning the Business School as one of the leading business schools in Africa.

Reporting to the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences, the Director is the executive head of the Nelson Mandela University Business School and is responsible for the strategic positioning of the School, nationally and internationally, and the leadership of the academic and executive education programmes of the School.

KEY PERFORMANCE AREAS

• Academic leadership and management including directing and coordinating learning and teaching processes and ensuring the overall quality of academic programmes.
• Lead research and innovation initiatives of the Business School including implementing its research strategy and ensuring quality of research outputs.
• Lead and direct commercialisation of the knowledge base and programmes of the Business School, whilst ensuring their relevance and quality.
• Human Resources optimisation through leading and managing Academic and Administrative Staff thus ensuring optimal deployment.
• Development and execution of successful marketing strategies of the academic programmes and to build, maintain and expand internal and external relationships and partnerships.
• Ensure stewardship and optimisation of financial and other resources.
• Conceptualisation, leadership and management of the Internationalisation strategy and processes for the School.
• Oversight of viable student access and success measures.
• Enable and advance economic viability and sustainability of the Business School.
  
  

• Business and Commercial acumen
• Proven transformative and transformational leadership and management skills suitable to a transforming environment
• Strategic and lateral thinking
• Proven ability to develop and lead academic strategic planning and to implement academic programmes
• Proven ability to manage functional teams, and to work as part of a senior management team
• Ability to function at policy and senior levels of management
• Excellent people management and development skills
• Sound financial management skills
• Excellent communication skills
• Complex problem solving, conflict management and decision-making skills
• Steeped in the philosophy and ethos of building and maintaining humanizing work environments
• Excellent marketing and networking skills
• Strong student focus including sound knowledge of academic administrative requirements in respect of the admission and enrolment of students
• Ability to facilitate learning and teaching at postgraduate levels
• Experience of successfully supervising masters’ and doctoral studies
• Proven experience of working, leading and/or collaborating on transdisciplinary academic initiatives
• Contributed to the creation of knowledge by virtue of published research in peer-reviewed journals, scholarly books and other texts
  
  

In order to be considered for appointment to this post candidates must possess:

• A relevant Doctoral qualification plus at least 7 years relevant senior management experience, of which a minimum of 5 years has been in an academic leadership role in the higher educational environment with an emphasis at a post graduate level,
• An in-depth knowledge of trends of learning and development in business and executive education at a higher educational level nationally and internationally,
• Must be an established academic leader with excellence in a relevant academic discipline, both from a learning and teaching as well as a research perspective, including research publications, which would preferably warrant appointment at at least at an associate professorial level,
• Commercial/corporate business experience and acumen will be an added advantage.

• Give expressed permission to undergo verifications of qualifications, publications, credit records and criminal records as well as any other verification deemed appropriate by the University.
• Deliver a 15-minute presentation, the topic of which will be communicated timeously.
• Provide details of at least two individuals who could provide professional references.

Applications must be accompanied by a recent and comprehensive Curriculum Vitae and a covering letter stating how applicants satisfy the requirements in respect of each of the Key Performance Areas and Core Competencies and the official Nelson Mandela University job application form.

An application which does not comply with the advert’s requirements will be regarded as incomplete. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for an interview.

Contact person: Ina van Rensburg
Tel: 041 504 4000
E-mail: ina.vanrensburg@mandela.ac.za

Terms of Appointment: This is a five-year fixed-term contract.

DISCLAIMER: Nelson Mandela University is a designated employer committed to pursuing excellence, diversity, inclusion, and redress in achieving its employment equity targets. Preference will be given to suitably qualified (Race and Gender) candidates in accordance with the University's employment equity targets. No applications will be accepted after the closing date Friday, 07 March 2025.