Director- Business School (5 year fixed-term contr, Port Elizabeth

CORE PURPOSE OF JOB The Nelson Mandela University Business School is recognised globally and rated among 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 recognised for its innovative learning, 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 will be expected to lead 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 should be a transformative 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 through cutting‑edge technologically enhanced learning, teaching and research, integrating the Business School’s core focus areas more deeply with business and industry in the Eastern Cape and South Africa, and positioning the Business School as one of the leading business schools in Africa. The Director reports to the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences and is responsible for the strategic positioning of the School and the leadership of its academic and executive education programmes.

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, 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 thereby ensuring optimal deployment.

Development and execution of successful marketing strategies for 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.

CORE COMPETENCIES

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 humanising 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.

REQUIREMENTS

A relevant doctoral qualification plus at least seven years of relevant senior management experience, of which a minimum of five years has been in an academic leadership role in the higher educational environment with an emphasis at a postgraduate 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 that would preferably warrant appointment at least at an associate professorial level.

Commercial/corporate business experience and acumen will be an added advantage.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY 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, 29 May 2026.

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