Dean, School of Business

The Dean is the chief academic and executive leader of the School of Business and is responsible for defining its strategic direction, strengthening its global reputation, fostering academic excellence, and ensuring long-term institutional sustainability.

Working closely with the Vice Chancellor, Vice President, faculty, students, alumni, corporate partners, and international collaborators, the Dean will cultivate a culture of excellence that advances the School's standing in education, research, innovation, and societal impact.

The Dean is expected to inspire people, challenge convention, build world-class academic teams, and position the School among the leading business schools in Asia and beyond.

Purpose of the Role

The Dean will provide visionary leadership across every dimension of the School, including:

• Academic Excellence
• Faculty Development
• Research and Innovation
• Student Experience
• Industry Engagement
• Internationalisation
• Executive Education
• Rankings and Accreditation
• Financial Sustainability
• Governance and Institutional Development

The Dean will ensure that every strategic initiative contributes to strengthening the School's academic reputation, global visibility, and long-term competitiveness.

Strategic Leadership

The Dean will lead the development and execution of the School's strategic vision by:

• Developing and implementing a multi-year strategic plan aligned with the University's mission.
• Positioning the School as a globally recognised centre for management education and research.
• Building an agile, innovative, and high-performing academic culture.
• Leading transformational initiatives that respond to emerging trends in business, technology, AI, sustainability, and global management.
• Establishing measurable institutional goals with clear accountability and continuous review.

Academic Leadership

The Dean will provide leadership across undergraduate, postgraduate, doctoral, executive, and lifelong learning programmes to ensure that the curriculum remains rigorous, future-focused, globally benchmarked, and industry relevant.

Key responsibilities include:

• Driving curriculum innovation and continuous programme enhancement.
• Embedding experiential, interdisciplinary, and technology-enabled learning.
• Strengthening Assurance of Learning processes and academic quality systems.
• Expanding interdisciplinary programmes across business, technology, design, law, and public policy.
• Promoting pedagogical innovation and faculty excellence in teaching.

Faculty Leadership

The Dean will recruit, develop, mentor, and retain an outstanding faculty community committed to academic excellence.

The Dean will:

• Attract globally competitive scholars and practitioners.
• Build a transparent, merit-based performance culture.
• Support faculty career progression and leadership development.
• Foster collaboration across disciplines and research clusters.
• Encourage international mobility and scholarly engagement.
• Create an inclusive, collegial, and intellectually vibrant academic environment.

Research Excellence and Thought Leadership

The Dean will champion a research culture that produces internationally recognised scholarship with academic and societal impact.

Working in close partnership with the University's Research & Development Office, the Dean will:

• Increase publications in FT50, ABS 4/4*, ABDC A*, and top-tier indexed journals.
• Enhance research quality, citation impact, and global visibility.
• Promote interdisciplinary and industry-relevant research.
• Increase externally funded research projects and research income.
• Support publication of books with leading international academic publishers.
• Expand doctoral education and research supervision capacity.
• Strengthen research centres and global scholarly collaborations.

Student Success

The Dean will ensure an exceptional student experience by fostering an environment that promotes academic achievement, leadership, entrepreneurship, employability, global exposure, and lifelong learning.

Responsibilities include:

• Enhancing student satisfaction and engagement.
• Supporting career readiness and graduate employability.
• Strengthening entrepreneurship initiatives.
• Expanding international exchange and immersion opportunities.
• Increasing alumni engagement and mentoring.

Industry and External Engagement

The Dean will build meaningful partnerships with corporations, governments, start-ups, international organisations, and civil society to enhance the School's relevance and impact.

This includes:

• Corporate partnerships and advisory boards.
• Executive education and customised learning solutions.
• Sponsored research and consulting.
• Internships and experiential learning opportunities.
• Industry-funded research centres and innovation initiatives.

Internationalisation

The Dean will strengthen the School's global presence by expanding international collaborations and increasing cross-border academic engagement.

Key priorities include:

• Strategic international partnerships.
• Student and faculty mobility.
• Dual and joint degree programmes.
• International research collaborations.
• Global classroom initiatives.
• Recruitment of international faculty and students.

Rankings, Accreditation and Continuous Improvement

The Dean will lead all quality assurance and accreditation initiatives while driving sustained improvement in institutional rankings.

Responsibilities include:

• Maintaining and strengthening international accreditation standards.
• Ensuring continuous compliance with quality assurance frameworks.
• Embedding evidence-based continuous improvement.
• Enhancing global rankings through measurable institutional performance.
• Developing robust data-driven governance systems.

Financial Stewardship

The Dean will ensure the School's long-term financial sustainability by:

• Managing budgets responsibly.
• Driving revenue diversification.
• Expanding executive education.
• Supporting philanthropic initiatives and fundraising.
• Developing financially sustainable academic programmes.
• Optimising resource utilisation.

Governance and Institutional Leadership

The Dean will uphold the highest standards of academic integrity, governance, transparency, and institutional accountability.

The Dean will:

• Lead effective academic governance.
• Ensure compliance with regulatory and accreditation requirements.
• Foster ethical leadership and responsible decision-making.
• Promote diversity, inclusion, and institutional citizenship.
• Contribute actively to University-wide strategic initiatives.

External Representation

The Dean will serve as the principal ambassador of the School by representing Woxsen University nationally and internationally.

The Dean is expected to:

• Build influential academic and corporate networks.
• Promote the School through conferences, media, and public engagement.
• Develop strategic partnerships with leading universities.
• Strengthen alumni relations and philanthropic engagement.
• Enhance the global reputation and visibility of the School.

Qualifications

Essential

• Doctoral degree from a recognised institution.
• Eligibility for appointment at the rank of Professor.
• Distinguished record of internationally recognised research.
• Demonstrated success in senior academic leadership.
• Experience leading complex academic organisations.
• Proven record of strategic planning and organisational transformation.

Preferred

• International academic leadership experience.
• Leadership of AACSB, EFMD or EQUIS accreditation.
• Strong corporate and government engagement.
• Executive education leadership.
• Experience in fundraising, philanthropy, and global partnership development.