Dean of School of Architecture & Design

About the role

The Dean of the School of Architecture & Design will serve as the chief academic officer, providing strategic vision and operational leadership for the school’s architecture, interior design, and graphic design programmes.

Key responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership and operational oversight for faculty, academic programmes, budgets, and administrative functions.
• Lead faculty recruitment, evaluation, mentoring and professional development while fostering research, scholarship and creative activity.
• Maintain engagement with the Industry Advisory Committee and strengthen partnerships to support internships, experiential learning and graduate employability.
• Support studio‑based learning, student exhibitions, competitions, portfolios and professional practice opportunities.
• Represent the School in university leadership activities and ensure accurate public communications about programmes and achievements.
• Lead accreditation, quality assurance, assessment and continuous improvement initiatives in line with American higher‑education standards.
• Manage strategic planning, resource allocation and budget oversight.
• Oversee curriculum development, assessment, scheduling and accreditation for Architecture, Interior Design and Graphic Design programmes.

Required profile

• Ph.D. or equivalent from a recognised university and rank of Professor in Architecture, Interior Design, Graphic Design or a related discipline.
• Distinguished record of teaching, research, scholarship, creative activity and/or professional practice with international publications, exhibitions and conference participation.
• Proven academic leadership experience, preferably at Dean level or equivalent, with ability to lead strategic initiatives.
• Experience with accreditation, assessment, quality assurance and continuous improvement processes.
• Familiarity with credit‑hour and semester‑based academic systems and higher‑education administration (budgeting, HR, operations).
• Strong communication, stakeholder engagement and partnership‑building skills; English proficiency required, Arabic an advantage.