A role of academic influence and strategic impact

Academic Dean – Sunway University

As Academic Dean, you will serve as the lead academic of the campus and the senior representative for Lancaster University within the Lancaster–Sunway partnership. Based at Sunway University in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, you will report to Lancaster University’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor Global (Digital, International and Sustainability).

Your primary remit will be to lead and implement the agreed co-strategy to build on the success of our long-standing teaching partnership and to advance activities across three major themes: teaching, research, and engagement. You will be accountable for its successful delivery through agreed KPIs, bringing creativity and vision to the development of the partnership so that new shared value is realised for both universities.

You will lead and inspire a committed academic team, fostering a culture of teaching excellence, research ambition, and professional growth. You will also hold responsibility for Lancaster’s dual degree programmes at Sunway, ensuring the quality of teaching, promoting existing provision, and supporting the development of new opportunities across the portfolio. As the senior academic postholder at Sunway, you will oversee quality assurance processes, including exam boards, appointment of external examiners, and compliance with Lancaster and Malaysian regulatory frameworks.

Your role will extend beyond campus. You will work with Sunway senior management on strategic planning, chair the Partnership Management Group, and provide regular reports to the Pro-Vice-Chancellor Global. You will initiate, maintain, and strengthen relationships across both universities, and with external stakeholders including industry, government, alumni, and professional bodies. You will also contribute to Lancaster’s regional strategy, support the growth of research initiatives such as the Future Cities Research Institute, and promote the partnership across Malaysia and South East Asia.

As Academic Dean, you will play a visible role in student recruitment, graduations, and alumni engagement, raising Lancaster’s profile and assisting in the recruitment of students to both Sunway and Lancaster campuses. You will also mentor Lancaster staff resident at Sunway and support their professional development. In this role, you will join Lancaster’s global network of transnational Academic Deans, collaborating on thematic priorities, sharing best practice, and building a cohesive, supportive, and globally connected academic community that embodies Lancaster’s values and advances our international ambitions.

Person specification

We are seeking an accomplished academic leader who brings credibility, strategic insight, and a collaborative ethos to this important role. You will have a strong track record in transnational education and the ability to foster excellence across teaching, research, and institutional development. Specifically, we are looking for someone who can demonstrate:

• A record of providing strategic vision and leadership for a major international partnership, with a proven track record of developing and implementing innovative initiatives and securing institutional support to realise them.

• Substantial academic experience gained at an internationally recognised university.

• Proven ability as an academic leader with the management skills to work effectively and achieve results within a complex matrix environment, including clear examples of delivering significant impact through multi-stakeholder collaboration.

• Deep understanding of transnational education, including regulatory and accreditation processes, curriculum design, and assessment approaches, with the ability to articulate a clear methodology for quality delivery.

• Experience of successful external engagement and institutional profile building, using leadership, communication, and cultural intelligence to foster joint working, deliver meaningful outcomes, and build reputational confidence.

• Excellent influencing, administrative, communication, and presentation skills, with the ability to represent Lancaster University overseas at a senior level.

• Ability to develop new programmes of study at undergraduate and postgraduate level that respond directly to market demands.

• An established record of high-quality research, including research supervision.

• The ability to champion and uphold institutional reputation, for example support student recruitment, graduation events, or alumni engagement.

A full job description and person specification is available on the Lancaster University recruitment portal.

Recruitment statement

We want to provide you with full information at an early stage to enable you to make an informed decision as to whether you are committed to pursuing this position and to outline the University’s expectations of all candidates taking part in our recruitment process.

Once you have reviewed the information below, and in fairness to everyone concerned, we would ask that you give serious consideration to proceeding further with this process if you think you may not accept the position should it be offered to you.

The role will be located on the Lancaster University Sunway Campus is based in Petaling Jaya (PJ) in Kuala Lumpur and there is a requirement that the successful candidate will live within reasonable commuting distance of the campus. If this might involve a re-location for you, it is of course important that you consider how the move might affect anyone who may accompany you (for example, early consideration may need to be given to local schooling, housing and other employment opportunities where other family members are involved, as early as possible). We will support you as much as possible with this and are happy to discuss any concerns you may have.

We would ask you to agree to undertaking a positive, open, and transparent dialogue with us throughout the recruitment process, raising questions and any concerns as early as possible.

Lancaster University engages in a variety of domestic and international benchmarking exercises to ensure we are extremely competitive in the levels of reward and recognition we provide, therefore we are confident that any offer made will be strong and competitive.

Contract and contact:
If you are happy to continue in your application for the position in light of the above expectations, we would very much look forward to hearing from you.

This post is offered on a 3 year contract with the ability to extend to 5 years subject to performance reviews. We are happy to discuss time allocation for continued pursuit of academic research interests of up to 20% of your working week.