Application Open:
Full-Time
Job Purpose:
Reporting directly to the President, the Vice President of Operations will play a pivotal role in advancing the President’s strategic agenda for MBZUAI, ensuring that the university’s growth is supported by robust, agile, and forward-thinking operational systems.
MBZUAI is seeking a visionary, dynamic, and results-oriented Vice President of Operations to facilitate the university’s rapid and strategic growth. This includes supporting the Provost Office, the Research Office, and other critical academic and research units as the university expands, while maintaining operational excellence and ensuring the seamless delivery of world-class academic and research programs.
This role combines the agility of a start-up with the governance and stability of a world-class research university. The VP of Operations will lead a university-wide digital and AI transformation of core corporate services, develop operational systems that enable innovation at scale, and actively contribute to shaping MBZUAI’s global vision of becoming the Stanford of the Middle East and a cornerstone of the Abu Dhabi AI District.
Key Responsibilities:
Strategy:
- Translate the university’s bold vision into a unified operational and financial plan.
- Lead the design and implementation of agile and data-driven administrative infrastructure.
- Serve as the operational partner to academic and research leadership, ensuring the institution is equipped to attract and retain top faculty, launch transformative initiatives, and maintain world-class standards.
- Introduce and champion a Business Partner Model that embeds operational expertise within academic and research planning teams to improve responsiveness, clarity, and execution.
- Enable MBZUAI’s global presence as vibrant academic platforms that support AI talent mobility and international collaboration.
Institutional Planning and Delivery:
- Partner with senior leadership to turn strategic goals into executable annual plans across all entities of the university.
- Establish dynamic budget and resource allocation frameworks that enable planned growth and strategic agility.
- Anticipate future infrastructure and space needs, planning proactively across academic, research, and administrative dimensions.
Digital and AI Transformation:
- Spearhead a university-wide transformation of administrative services through automation, AI adoption, and digital tools.
- Modernize internal systems (finance, procurement, HR, facilities) to be responsive, user-centered, and scalable.
- Build operational dashboards and data infrastructure to enable real-time decision-making.
Operational Leadership and Business Services Oversight:
- Lead and integrate IT, Finance, Procurement, General Services and Campus Facilities into a cohesive, high-performance operations engine.
- Drive continuous improvement, service excellence, and accountability across all support functions.
- Ensure administrative services are aligned with the pace and scale of innovation expected in a leading AI institution.
Business Partner Model and Cross-Functional Integration:
- Establish a Business Partner function to serve as the operational liaison between academic/research leadership and corporate service departments.
- Ensure business partners are embedded at the planning stage of new initiatives, enabling early identification of operational needs (e.g., space, hiring, IT, procurement) and frictionless execution.
- Facilitate structured coordination between departments, corporate services, and enabling functions to eliminate silos and enhance service delivery.
- Equip business partners to “speak both languages” translating academic goals into clear operational requirements and vice versa thereby bridging the current communication gap between the Provost/Research Offices and Corporate Services.
- Drive a service-oriented, proactive, and consultative culture across all administrative interactions with the academic enterprise.
Governance and Institutional Agility:
- Blend startup-level agility with the governance structure appropriate for a globally ambitious university.
- Establish governance processes that are efficient, transparent, and adaptable to institutional growth and change.
- Foster productive faculty participation in governance ensuring diverse ideas and perspectives are incorporated in a focused decision-making and constructive manner.
Academic and Faculty Support:
- Reinforce MBZUAI’s commitment to a US-style education model where faculty are at the center of academic excellence.
- Develop systems and structures that reduce administrative burden on faculty and promote faculty success.
- Support an inclusive governance culture that enables innovation and debate while maintaining clarity of direction and speed of execution.
Other Duties:
- Carry out all other duties as reasonably directed by the university President that are commensurate with these functional objectives.
Academic Qualifications:
- A master’s degree in finance, accounting, business administration, or a related field.
Professional Experience:
Essential
- 10+ years in senior leadership roles spanning operations, strategy, or institutional advancement, ideally at the intersection of academia, innovation, and technology.
- Deep understanding of academic governance and research ecosystems.
- High EQ, excellent communication skills, and the ability to navigate complex stakeholder environments.
- Proven track record in building agile yet robust administrative infrastructure in high-growth environments (universities, R&D labs, or tech firms).
- Experience in leading large-scale digital transformation initiatives and process innovation.
- Global mindset with experience operating across cultures and geographies.
- Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills, with keen attention to detail.
- Demonstrated Experience in stakeholder relationships that serve an organization’s strategic purposes.
- Experience successfully leading, managing, motivating, and empowering teams.
