Associate Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research & Academic Development

• Bring innovative perspectives contemporary research leadership and constructive challenge to RMITs College of Business & Law.

• Shape research academic development and impact across one of the leading business and law Colleges in Southeast Asia.

• Executive academic leadership role with underlying ongoing Academic Level E role.

About the role

RMIT is seeking an outstanding academic leader to join the College of Business & Law (CoBL) as Associate Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research & Academic Development (ADVC RAD). This is a significant executive leadership opportunity for a senior research leader who has operated in high-performing university environments and is ready to bring that experience perspective and ambition to RMIT. The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (DVC) is seeking a leader who can help the College review how things are done learn from external practice lift research performance and build the conditions for academic success across a large complex and internationally connected College.

CoBL is one of the largest business schools in the Asia-Pacific region with a distinctive combination of business and law disciplines deep industry connections major operations in Melbourne a business school in Vietnam and partnerships across Southeast Asia and beyond. The College sits at the intersection of business law technology and social impact creating a powerful platform for research that is applied collaborative and globally relevant.

Reporting to the DVC the ADVC RAD will provide strategic leadership for the Colleges research portfolio and lead the implementation of RMITs research strategy within the College. Uniquely the role will also lead a distinctive academic development mandate supporting staff capability academic career pathways promotion and progression to the professoriate.

As a member of the College Executive the successful candidate will work closely with the DVC Deans the College Executive the central Research and Innovation Portfolio RMIT Vietnam HDR leaders and academic communities across the College and University. The role requires a leader who can combine academic credibility with practical implementation discipline; someone who can build trust set direction raise ambition and help others succeed.

Key priorities

• Bring diverse leadership experience and external research practice knowledge to the way research and academic development are led across the College.

• Lead the Colleges research strategy performance agenda and annual strategic operating plans aligned to RMITs broader research priorities.

• Strengthen a high-performance collaborative and impactful research culture across business and law disciplines.

• Build College-wide research concentrations and cross-disciplinary activity aligned to major questions applied impact and the intersection of business law technology and society.

• Enhance research impact through partnerships with industry government international institutions and professional networks.

• Lead the Colleges academic development agenda including staff capability career development promotion readiness and progression to the professoriate.

• Oversee HDR strategy recruitment supervision quality timely completions and the positioning of HDR activity within the Colleges research objectives.

• Strengthen research governance grant evaluation reporting and the management of emerging research risks including AI intellectual property ethics and research integrity.

• Work across Melbourne Vietnam and RMITs international networks to build research capability academic success and regional impact.

To be successful in this role you will bring:

• Professorial standing a PhD and an internationally recognised research profile in a business or law discipline.

• Senior academic leadership experience at Dean Associate Dean Research ADVC PVC or comparable level.

• Evidence of leading research strategy research performance research governance HDR quality and impactful research outcomes at scale.

• Experience working in complex university environments ideally across more than one institution or operating model.

• Contemporary understanding of the research landscape including impact translation technology AI ethics intellectual property research funding and the future of business and law disciplines.

• Demonstrated experience supporting academic development career pathways promotion capability uplift and the development of the professoriate.

• The ability to build credibility with senior academic leaders while also engaging constructively with professional teams central portfolios and external partners.

• Strong international perspective with experience or networks across Australia New Zealand the UK Singapore Hong Kong or Southeast Asia highly regarded.

• A leadership style that is collegial inclusive and pragmatic but also clear decisive and performance oriented.

• The capacity to bring new ideas to RMIT while working constructively within a values-led collaborative university culture.

Please Note: Appointment to this position is subject to passing a Working with Children and National Police Check.

To apply

Please submit a maximum five-page relevant CV and maximum four-page covering letter addressing your interest and suitability for this position by clicking the Apply link at the top of this page.

For further information please see the Position Description or contact Ben Cass Executive Recruitment Manager via email for a confidential discussion.

Please note if you are viewing this advert from an external site please click apply and you will be redirected to RMITs Jobs website to access the Position Description at the bottom of the page. Due to recent upgrades position description links may not work on LinkedIn advertisements.

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RMIT is an equal opportunity employer committed tobeinga child safe organisation. We are dedicated to attracting retaining and developing our people regardless of gender identity ethnicity sexual orientation disability and age. Applications are encouraged from all sectors of the community and we strongly encourage applications from the Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander community.

In line with RMIT Universitys commitment to a safe respectful and inclusive environment from 1 January 2026 the University will also consider gender-based violence (GBV) risk factors as part of our recruitment processes. All applicants will be required to complete a genderbased violence declaration in accordance with the National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence. Preferred candidates will also be required to undertake relevant preemployment background checks including Working With Children Checks. Information provided will be treated confidentially and considered only for its relevance to the role and RMITs safety obligations.

At RMIT we are committed to supporting adjustments throughout the recruitment and selection process as well as during employment. We actively support and encourage people with disability to apply to RMIT (including alternate formats of application forms). To discuss adjustment requirements please contact Dani via or visit our Careers page for more contact information - are a Circle Back Initiative Employer we commit to respond to every applicant.