Title: Associate Director Talent Acquisition (Academia Hiring)

Location: Mumbai/ Delhi/ Bangalore

Role Overview

About Emeritus & Daskalos

Emeritus is redefining global education by making high-quality learning accessible and affordable for individuals, companies, and governments. Through partnerships with over 80 world-class universities, Emeritus delivers industry-relevant programs across formats, including short courses, degrees, and executive programs - to more than 300,000 learners across 80+ countries.

Daskalos, a strategic initiative of Emeritus, pioneers' transnational education in India by helping leading global universities establish joint campuses under the evolving Indian regulatory framework. With over 15 institutions in advanced discussions, Daskalos is shaping the next chapter in global higher education.

We are seeking an experienced and strategic Associate Director – Talent Acquisition (Academia Hiring) to lead end-to-end recruitment of academic talent across diverse disciplines and Universities. The incumbent will be responsible for building a strong faculty talent ecosystem, attracting world-class educators, researchers, academic leaders, and international faculty, while partnering closely with academic and institutional leadership to support the university's growth agenda. The incumbent would hire for multiple global university JVs under the India Branch Campuses (IBC) entity.

This role requires deep expertise in higher education recruitment, extensive networks within academia, strong understanding of faculty hiring practices, and the ability to engage senior stakeholders including Deans, Provosts, Vice Chancellors, Academic Councils, and international faculty communities.

The ideal candidate will have successfully recruited faculty and academic leadership talent for reputed Indian and global universities with multicultural teaching environments.

Key Responsibilities:

Academic Talent Acquisition Strategy

- Develop and execute a comprehensive faculty and academic leadership hiring strategy aligned with institutional growth plans.
- Lead recruitment initiatives across, Provosts, Deans, Directors, Professors, Associate Professors, Assistant Professors, Lecturers, Research Faculty, Post-Doctoral Fellows, Early Career Faculty, Adjunct Faculty, Visiting Faculty, International Faculty.
- Build annual and multi-year faculty workforce plans in partnership with academic leadership.
- Establish robust sourcing and talent mapping mechanisms for niche and emerging academic disciplines.

Faculty Talent Pipeline Development

- Create strong faculty talent pipelines from:

- Foreign Higher Education Institutions (FHEIs)
- Top global universities
- Indian Institutes of Eminence and leading universities
- Indian-origin faculty working overseas
- Returning diaspora talent
- Expatriate faculty communities




- Research institutions and think tanks

- Develop long-term relationships with doctoral candidates, post-doctoral researchers, and emerging academic talent globally.
- Leverage academic conferences, scholarly networks, professional associations, journals, and research forums to identify high-potential faculty talent.
- Maintain an active database of global academic talent across disciplines.

Stakeholder & Leadership Management

- Partner closely with Vice Chancellors, Provosts, Deans, Academic Directors, Department Heads, Governing Boards, International Academic Partners.
- Serve as a trusted advisor on faculty hiring trends, compensation benchmarking, talent availability, and market intelligence.
- Influence senior stakeholders through data-driven hiring recommendations and talent insights.
- Drive consensus across multiple academic and administrative stakeholders during faculty selection processes.

Academic Recruitment Operations

- Manage end-to-end faculty hiring lifecycle including Talent mapping, Candidate sourcing, Screening and evaluation, Academic credential verification, Research profile assessment, Stakeholder coordination, Offer management, Onboarding.
- Design and implement best-in-class faculty assessment frameworks.
- Facilitate global recruitment processes for international candidates and expatriates.
- Ensure superior candidate experience for academic and leadership hires.

Academic Policies & Market Intelligence

- Demonstrate strong understanding of higher education ecosystem and faculty career frameworks.
- Provide advisory support on:

- Faculty promotion and tenure systems
- Faculty performance management
- Research grants and funding ecosystems
- Faculty development initiatives
- Academic governance structures
- Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)
- Research impact assessment
- Accreditation requirements
- Internationalization of faculty

- Monitor global trends in academia and recommend innovative hiring approaches.

Employer Branding & Networking

- Strengthen the institution’s brand within academic communities globally.
- Represent the organization at Academic conferences, Faculty recruitment forums, Research symposiums, international education events.
- Build strategic partnerships with universities, research institutions, professional associations, and academic networks.

Team Leadership

- Establish hiring KPIs and recruitment effectiveness metrics.




- Drive continuous improvement through recruitment analytics and process excellence.

Required Qualifications

Education

- Master's degree in human resources, Business Administration, Psychology, Higher Education Administration, or related field.
- Additional certifications in Talent Acquisition, Executive Search, or HR preferred.

Experience

- 12–18+ years of progressive Talent Acquisition experience.
- Minimum 7–10 years of dedicated experience in higher education/academic recruitment.
- Demonstrated success in hiring large volumes of academic talent across faculty and leadership levels.
- Experience in institutions having a diverse mix of Indian and expatriate faculty is highly preferred.

Required Competencies

Functional Competencies

- Deep expertise in academic hiring and faculty search methodologies.
- Strong understanding of higher education ecosystem and university governance.
- Faculty talent mapping and market intelligence capabilities.
- Knowledge of global academic talent markets.
- Understanding of research-oriented hiring and faculty evaluation frameworks.
- Expertise in hiring international and Indian-origin foreign faculty.
- Strong knowledge of faculty compensation structures and academic career progression.

Leadership Competencies

- Exceptional stakeholder management and influencing skills.
- Ability to engage and build credibility with senior academic leaders globally.
- Strong executive presence and communication skills.
- Strategic thinking and problem-solving orientation.
- High levels of professionalism, confidentiality, and judgment.
- Robust negotiation and relationship-building skills.
- Ability to operate effectively in a multicultural and international environment.

Key Success Metrics

- Faculty hiring fulfillment against approved plans.
- Time-to-fill for critical academic positions.
- Quality of hire and faculty retention.
- Percentage of international and high-impact faculty hires.
- Diversity and global representation in academic talent pool.
- Stakeholder satisfaction scores.
- Faculty onboarding and integration success.
- Strength of future-ready faculty pipelines.

Emeritus provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

In press:

- https://inc42.com/buzz/edtech-startup-eruditus-fy23-revenue-crosses-inr-3000-cr-mark/
- emeritus harvard business school: Edtech unicorn Emeritus story now a Harvard Business School case study - The Economic Times (indiatimes.com)

📌 Associate Director - Talent Acquisition (Bengaluru)
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