Director: Business Engagement and Executive Education
Position summary
Introduction
Job description
The Graduate School of Business and Leadership (GSB&L) seeks to appoint a Director: Business Engagement and Executive Education, a senior leader entrusted with shaping and driving the School’s executive education and short course enterprise. In close consultation with the Executive Director and Dean of the School, the Director provides strategic leadership for the entire executive education portfolio, ensuring that the GSB&L is positioned as a premier provider of executive learning locally and regionally. The role carries substantial autonomy in determining strategic direction, setting priorities, and ensuring that all offerings are academically rigorous, market relevant, and financially sustainable, while remaining aligned with the School’s broader academic and institutional strategy.
Central to the role is the cultivation and stewardship of partnerships with business, government, and industry. The Director serves as the School’s principal ambassador in these engagements, identifying opportunities, negotiating collaborations, and converting relationships into sustainable, high impact programmes. This external facing mandate is complemented by an internal leadership role that spans programme design, client engagement, faculty coordination, and quality assurance. The Director oversees the full lifecycle of executive education and short course provision, ensuring that each offering meets the highest standards of academic integrity, operational efficiency, and client value. The Director maintains oversight of accreditation and quality processes, including the interface with QPA, supported by the Manager for Short Courses.
The Director leads the business development and sales functions of the executive education unit, setting revenue targets, guiding market strategy, and ensuring that the School’s portfolio remains responsive to emerging needs. The Manager for Executive Education provides operational support in these areas, but strategic authority rests with the Director, who determines the scope, scale, and direction of the School’s executive learning initiatives.
Beyond the GSB&L, the Director plays a pivotal role in strengthening the School’s integration with the wider University. The incumbent is responsible for establishing and deepening links with the Colleges, enabling the expansion of executive education and short course services across the institution. This University wide remit positions the Director as a key architect of professional and executive learning at UKZN, ensuring that the GSB&L serves as the central hub for such activity.
The Director reports directly to the Executive Director and Dean of the GSB&L and works closely with the Deputy Vice Chancellor for Teaching and Learning on matters of academic quality, programme innovation, and institutional alignment. As a member of the GSB&L Leadership and Management Team, the Director exercises delegated authority on behalf of the School and contributes to fulfilling Senate and Council mandates relating to external engagement, academic quality, and income generation
Minimum requirements
- A relevant Master’s Degree
- A minimum of ten years’ experience in a training or education industry
- Significant experience, a minimum of 5 years, of growing a training business through concluding successful collaborations
- A good track record of a successful and sustainable approach to business development, working with colleagues and external stakeholders to deliver successful partnerships locally
- A successful profile recognised in business or an educational environment
- Strong financial acumen with proven experience in budgeting, forecasting, and revenue management for programme-driven operations
- Detailed and expert knowledge in how to identify and convert collaborative market opportunities into successful partnerships
- Ability to prepare proposals and present such proposals to external bodies
The closing date for receipt of applications is 23 April 2026
The successful incumbent, if an internal appointee, will revert to their substantive post at the end of their five-year term of office.
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The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) is committed to meeting the objectives of Employment Equity to improve representivity within the Institution. Preference will be given to applicants from designated groups in accordance with our Employment Equity Plan.
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- Please read the advertisement carefully. We do not consider applicants who do not meet the minimum requirements.
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