Associate Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research & Academic Development (ADVC RAD)

About the role

RMIT is seeking an outstanding academic leader to join the College of Business & Law (CoBL) as Associate Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research & Academic Development (ADVC RAD). This is a significant executive leadership opportunity for a senior research leader who has operated in high-performing university environments and is ready to bring that experience, perspective and ambition to RMIT. The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (DVC) is seeking a leader who can help the College review how things are done, learn from external practice, lift research performance and build the conditions for academic success across a large, complex and internationally connected College.

CoBL is one of the largest business schools in the Asia-Pacific region, with a distinctive combination of business and law disciplines, deep industry connections, major operations in Melbourne, a business school in Vietnam, and partnerships across Southeast Asia and beyond. The College sits at the intersection of business, law, technology and social impact, creating a powerful platform for research that is applied, collaborative and globally relevant.

Reporting to the DVC, the ADVC RAD will provide strategic leadership for the College's research portfolio and lead the implementation of RMIT's research strategy within the College. Uniquely, the role will also lead a distinctive academic development mandate, supporting staff capability, academic career pathways, promotion and progression to the professoriate.

As a member of the College Executive, the successful candidate will work closely with the DVC, Deans, the College Executive, the central Research and Innovation Portfolio, RMIT Vietnam, HDR leaders and academic communities across the College and University. The role requires a leader who can combine academic credibility with practical implementation discipline; someone who can build trust, set direction, raise ambition and help others succeed.

Key priorities

• Bring diverse leadership experience and external research practice knowledge to the way research and academic development are led across the College.
• Lead the College's research strategy, performance agenda and annual strategic operating plans, aligned to RMIT's broader research priorities.
• Strengthen a high-performance, collaborative and impactful research culture across business and law disciplines.
• Build College-wide research concentrations and cross-disciplinary activity aligned to major questions, applied impact and the intersection of business, law, technology and society.
• Enhance research impact through partnerships with industry, government, international institutions and professional networks.
• Lead the College's academic development agenda, including staff capability, career development, promotion readiness and progression to the professoriate.
• Oversee HDR strategy, recruitment, supervision quality, timely completions and the positioning of HDR activity within the College's research objectives.
• Strengthen research governance, grant evaluation, reporting and the management of emerging research risks, including AI, intellectual property, ethics and research integrity.
• Work across Melbourne, Vietnam and RMIT's international networks to build research capability, academic success and regional impact.

To be successful in this role, you will bring:

• Professorial standing, a PhD and an internationally recognised research profile in a business or law discipline.
• Senior academic leadership experience at Dean, Associate Dean Research, ADVC, PVC or comparable level.
• Evidence of leading research strategy, research performance, research governance, HDR quality and impactful research outcomes at scale.
• Experience working in complex university environments, ideally across more than one institution or operating model.
• Contemporary understanding of the research landscape, including impact, translation, technology, AI, ethics, intellectual property, research funding and the future of business and law disciplines.
• Demonstrated experience supporting academic development, career pathways, promotion, capability uplift and the development of the professoriate.
• The ability to build credibility with senior academic leaders while also engaging constructively with professional teams, central portfolios and external partners.
• Strong international perspective, with experience or networks across Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Singapore, Hong Kong or Southeast Asia highly regarded.
• A leadership style that is collegial, inclusive and pragmatic, but also clear, decisive and performance oriented.
• The capacity to bring new ideas to RMIT while working constructively within a values-led, collaborative university culture.