Deputy Director, Academic & Students Affairs

Job Title

Director of Academics – Kenya Utalii College

Job Summary

The Director of Academics provides strategic leadership in curriculum design, academic quality assurance, staff management, and stakeholder engagement. This role ensures that all academic programmes meet industry standards, global hospitality trends, and regulatory requirements while fostering a culture of research, innovation, and good governance.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership in curriculum design, review, and alignment, ensuring all academic programmes meet industry standards, global hospitality trends, and regulatory requirements.
• Lead the development, approval, and implementation of the annual academic calendar, ensuring seamless coordination of teaching, examinations, student activities, and institutional events.
• Strengthen scholarly excellence by promoting and overseeing seminars, conferences, workshops, and other professional development platforms that advance academic innovation and research culture.
• Support the establishment and management of academic committees, ensuring effective delegation, governance, and execution of key academic and student affairs mandates.
• Advise on human resource needs for the academic directorate, including recruitment, deployment, staff development, and talent management to build a high-performing academic workforce.
• Oversee monitoring, evaluation, and performance management of academic staff to uphold high training standards and promote continuous improvement in teaching and learning outcomes.
• Coordinate the identification and engagement of reputable external examiners to enhance academic quality assurance, benchmarking, and programme integrity.
• Provide oversight over student assessment, evaluation, and certification processes, ensuring transparency, academic rigor, and compliance with examination policies.
• Guide the development of teaching timetables, workloads, and work schedules, ensuring optimal resource utilization and balanced academic delivery across programmes.
• Oversee curriculum implementation and pedagogical delivery, ensuring teaching standards, instructional methodologies, and assessment approaches reflect best practice in hospitality training.
• Provide leadership in supervising academic divisions, ensuring coherence, alignment, and operational efficiency across all academic units.
• Coordinate academic consultancy, training, and industry-linked services, leveraging internal expertise to enhance the College’s visibility, revenue streams, and sector contribution.
• Advance scholarship by leading or contributing to research, publications, and capacity-building initiatives, thereby strengthening the College’s role in shaping the hospitality and tourism knowledge ecosystem.
• Provide authoritative guidance on academic policies, standards, and regulations, ensuring staff, students, and departments operate within a clear, coherent academic governance framework.
• Provide technical input in development, implementation and review of the College’s strategic plan, vision, mission and objectives.
• Provide strategic leadership in establishing, nurturing, and strengthening collaborations and partnerships with Government agencies, development partners, the private sector, and other key stakeholders to enhance synergy, resource mobilization, and effective delivery of the Department’s mandate.
• Provide strategic leadership in the formulation, implementation, monitoring, and review of the Department’s annual budgets, procurement and disposal plans, performance contracts, and annual reports to ensure prudent resource utilization, operational efficiency, and alignment with the College’s strategic priorities and governance frameworks.
• Provide strategic leadership in supervising, coaching, mentoring, and developing staff to foster a high-performing, motivated, and ethical workforce that effectively delivers on the Department’s mandate.
• Provide strategic leadership in the formulation, implementation, monitoring, and continuous improvement of the Department’s risk management policies and frameworks to ensure robust systems for accountability, enterprise risk management, and business continuity.
• Provide strategic leadership in the development, implementation, and periodic review of the Department’s Citizen Service Delivery Charter to enhance accountability, transparency, and service excellence in addressing stakeholder needs and expectations.
• Foster and entrench a conducive corporate culture that upholds ethical conduct, integrity, professionalism, and good governance within the Department, in line with the Constitution of Kenya, 2010, and the College’s core values.
• Provide leadership in the development and implementation of corruption prevention and mitigation strategies in the Department.
• Spearhead the implementation of principles of Corporate Governance, relevant national policies, guidelines and directives within the Department.
• Provide strategic leadership in managing public complaints resolution, information access requests, and public awareness initiatives to enhance transparency, stakeholder engagement, and public confidence.
• Provide strategic oversight and management of all Department activities to ensure effective coordination, operational efficiency, and smooth execution of its mandate.
• Provide leadership to staff and chairs the Department’s meetings.
• Spearhead the preparation and submission of periodic reports in the Department.
• Responsible for the implementation of College’s resolutions and audit recommendations within the Department.
• Provide regular, thorough and prompt communication to the Department staff on key technical, financial and administrative matters.
• Articulate issues relating to College’s mandate in national and regional stakeholders forums.
• Appraise the direct reports.
• Approving the Department’s budget and expenditure.
• Approving Department’s annual procurement and assets disposal.
• Leading the Department’s Resource mobilization.

Person Specifications

For appointment to this position, an officer must have:

• Master’s degree in a relevant field.
• Bachelor’s degree in Hospitality or Tourism Management or a relevant qualification from a recognized institution.
• Leadership course lasting not less than four (4) weeks from a recognised institution.
• Certificate in pedagogy skills lasting not less than four (4) weeks.
• Thirteen (13) years relevant working experience, five (5) of which must be in Management.

Terms of Service

The terms of service for the above position are as indicated. Those on contract are renewable once subject to performance and retirement age. Detailed information about the specific position, duties and responsibilities, minimum requirements, terms of service and remuneration, and application form is available on the KUC website: www.utalii.ac.ke

How to Apply

Interested candidates are advised to submit applications through e-mail address: [email protected] as well as physical copies posted or delivered to the address below to be received on or before Tuesday, 14th July, 2026.

The Principal/Chief Executive Officer
Kenya Utalii College
Off Thika Super Highway
P. O. Box 31052-00600 NAIROBI
E-mail address: [email protected]