Director, Academic Affairs

Director, Academic Affairs

Job Overview

The Director, Academic Affairs provides strategic leadership for all academic operations, ensuring programmes meet the highest professional standards while aligning with industry trends, regulatory requirements, and global hospitality best practices. This role oversees curriculum development, quality assurance, staff performance, partnerships, and resource management to drive academic excellence and institutional growth.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership & Academic Governance

• Lead the development, review, accreditation, and implementation of academic policies and curricula to maintain rigorous professional standards and responsiveness to industry, regulatory, and global hospitality trends.
• Advise the Council on academic governance by preparing reports and policy matters with evidence-based recommendations.
• Provide technical input into the College’s strategic plan, vision, mission, and objectives.
• Chair directorate meetings and lead departmental teams to ensure coordinated execution of the mandate.
• Foster a corporate culture of ethical conduct, integrity, professionalism, and good governance in line with the Constitution of Kenya (2010) and the Corporation’s core values.
• Spearhead implementation of corporate governance principles, national policies, guidelines, and directives within the directorate.
• Develop and implement corruption prevention and mitigation strategies.
• Ensure implementation of College resolutions and audit recommendations.

Academic Programmes & Quality Assurance

• Oversee the formulation and execution of the annual academic calendar, ensuring coherent scheduling of teaching, examinations, industrial training, and student activities.
• Coordinate the recruitment and engagement of reputable external examiners to strengthen quality assurance, benchmarking, and academic integrity.
• Provide authoritative guidance on accreditation, standards compliance, and quality assurance, aligning with national regulatory bodies and international best practice.
• Oversee the Learning Resource Centre to ensure access to up-to-date learning materials, digital resources, and academic support services.

Scholarly Environment & Research

• Promote a vibrant scholarly environment by facilitating seminars, conferences, workshops, and professional development activities that enhance academic excellence and research culture.
• Lead and contribute to research, publications, and capacity-building initiatives to advance knowledge and strengthen the College’s academic standing.
• Collaborate with the Directorate of Research on institutional research agendas and knowledge-generation activities to support evidence-based decision-making.

Staff & Performance Management

• Lead performance management, monitoring, and evaluation of directorate staff, ensuring adherence to quality teaching standards and continuous improvement.
• Supervise, coach, mentor, and develop staff to foster a high-performing, motivated, and ethical workforce.
• Advise on recruitment, deployment, and staff development needs to ensure optimal staffing and talent growth.
• Conduct appraisals for direct reports.

Partnerships & Stakeholder Engagement

• Facilitate and oversee academic collaborations, partnerships, and linkages with local and international institutions to enhance programme relevance, innovation, and global competitiveness.
• Establish, nurture, and strengthen collaborations with Government agencies, development partners, the private sector, and other key stakeholders for synergy, resource mobilisation, and effective mandate delivery.
• Articulate the College’s mandate in national and regional stakeholder forums.

Budget, Resource & Risk Management

• Plan, monitor, and control directorate budgets and expenditures, ensuring prudent resource utilisation and sustainable academic service delivery.
• Provide strategic leadership in formulating, implementing, monitoring, and reviewing the directorate’s annual budgets, procurement and disposal plans, performance contracts, and annual reports.
• Approve the directorate’s budget, expenditure, annual procurement, and asset disposal.
• Lead resource mobilisation for the directorate.
• Develop, implement, and continuously improve the directorate’s risk management policies and frameworks for accountability, enterprise risk management, and business continuity.

Service Delivery & Reporting

• Develop, implement, and periodically review the directorate’s Citizen Service Delivery Charter to enhance accountability, transparency, and service excellence.
• Provide regular, thorough, and prompt communication to staff on key technical, financial, and administrative matters.
• Spearhead preparation and submission of periodic reports for the directorate.
• Develop, implement, and review the directorate’s strategic plan and departmental work plans, ensuring alignment with institutional priorities and national development goals.

Person Specifications

For appointment to this position, a candidate must have:

• Master's Degree in a relevant field from a recognised institution.
• Bachelor's Degree in Tourism, Hospitality, or a related field from a recognised institution.
• At least fifteen (15) years’ work experience, five (5) of which are in a management position.
• A leadership course lasting not less than four (4) weeks.
• Two (2) publications in a renowned journal OR developed and facilitated capacity-building programmes/courses aligned with the institution’s mandate.
• Demonstrated results in work performance.
• Meet the requirements of Chapter 6 of the Constitution.