Director of Learning and Teaching Delhi

Joining hands with India

The University of Southampton is excited to have received approval from the University Grants Commission to open India’s first-ever comprehensive Foreign Higher Education Institution (FHEI) campus, the University of Southampton Delhi, based in Delhi NCR.

This campus is one of the University’s top strategic priorities, and as a result we are seeking a standout candidate with a deep affinity with south Asia to join us on this exciting journey as our founding Director of Learning & Teaching.  

The Director of Learning & Teaching is a key strategic role who will provide leadership for the educational activity undertaken at the University of Southampton Delhi. The role holder will be part of the senior team at the campus and will work collaboratively with the Academic Provost & Associate Vice-President (International) and the Campus Director to develop a campus education plan that reflects and delivers the University education strategic plan. They will assume overall responsibility for ensuring compliance of the campus’ educational activity with both the University’s quality assurance and enhancement framework and the University Grants Commission (UGC) regulation. Working closely with the Programme Leads they will ensure the development of the educational activities on the campus in line with the campus business plan.

This role is central to the delivery of the University’s internationalisation plans and our aspirations to become a globally relevant and engaged institution. Our Delhi campus is central to delivering our strategy and goals and will be perfectly placed within one of the most important countries in terms of emergence as a global power and expansion of its higher education system.

Currently ranked 80th in the world*, our Strategy encapsulates our Triple Helix of excellence: research, education, knowledge exchange and enterprise. The University of Southampton Delhi will be the highest-ranked university, and the only world top 100 university, with a campus in India¹, creating a long-term presence, and undertaking education, research, enterprise and engagement in India.

Join us

The Delhi campus will reflect the University’s overall vision of building an inclusive world where knowledge is applied to transform lives. The campus will focus on:  

• Delivering an outstanding educational experience for all students.
• Applying the real-world benefits of Southampton research to solve fundamental social and environmental challenges on the largest scale, thus enabling India to become the leading light globally on progress with the UN SDGs. 
• Building capacity through the provision of transformational enterprise and employment-focused education opportunities to talented but underserved Indian students, thereby also positively impacting their families and communities. 
• Learning from and alongside Indian thought leaders, entrepreneurs, innovators and academic talent in a rising global superpower, and collaborating to build shared expertise, networks and insights.

About you

You will have a proven track record of leading educational activities across an institution, faculty or branch campus of a university. With innovative thinking and passion, you will inspire and motivate others to ensure the successful launch of the educational activities across a new campus. Along with the ability to communicate clearly with a broad range of individuals, you will have the authenticity and resilience to work with internal and external stakeholders to deliver and support the vision of the wider University. You will be a successful and highly visible educational leader with the ability to shape the educational strategies and plans of a new branch campus in a consultative and collaborative way.

With a deep understanding of the global higher education sector and the importance of the student experience, you will have a key role in supporting our global ambitions by ensuring the highest quality of educational and student experience related activities. As well as a proven ability to lead and manage across a wide range of disciplines, you will be able to think both analytically and creatively. Crucially, you will identify innovative solutions to complex problems and will have the ability to build relationships at all levels, including with students.

Additionally, you will have a credible understanding of quality assurance and enhancement frameworks that pertain to UK higher education and will be able to demonstrate how these can be applied in a new regulatory landscape.

A global and diverse university 

A key objective of the University’s International Strategy is to establish three additional campuses in locations of strategic importance to amplify the impact of globally relevant research, education and enterprise through long-term, capacity-building and equitable partnerships. The physical presence of the University of Southampton in India in addition to Malaysia and the UK will solidify the University’s position as a genuinely multi-nodal global institution and contribute to the strategic goal of being a world top 50 university by 2027–28.

We want to attract people who share our passion for creating an innovative and forward-thinking learning and research environment to our community. In the UK, we are proud of our Stonewall Diversity Champion status, Athena SWAN silver award and Race Equality Charter Bronze Award, so we must ensure the Delhi campus fully reflects the University’s overall vision of building an inclusive world.

What we can offer you  

The post-holder will be employed by the University’s local subsidiary in India on competitive terms and conditions, with benefits commensurate to the profile of the role.

Additional Information

This post is offered on a tenured basis initially for five years, with an extension of up to a maximum of eight years. At the end of this tenure, the postholder will return to a substantive professorial position within the University.

How to apply 

Please click on the ‘Apply’ button above

The closing date for receipt of applications is midnight (BST) on 18 November, 2024. 

Important dates 

Following a longlist meeting of the Search Committee, successful candidates will be invited to a telephone interview. Upon completion of all telephone interviews, successful shortlisted candidates will be invited to the UK for two days for an in-person Engagement Day on Thursday 9 January 2025, followed by an Interview Day on Friday 10 January 2025. Candidates will need to be available for both days and this will take place at the Southampton campus in the UK.

*QS World University Rankings, 2025