Associate Director, Strategic Partnerships

• Shape the Future of Industry Collaboration and Student Experience
• Create lasting impact across one of Australia's most innovative universities. 
• Based at RMIT's Melbourne City campus. 

The College of Business and Law at RMIT is seeking a dynamic and strategic leader to join as Associate Director, Strategic Partnerships. This pivotal role will drive the College's external engagement agenda—building influential partnerships that create transformative opportunities for students, strengthen research collaboration, and elevate RMIT's reputation across industry, government, and the community. Equally, the role will foster strong internal engagement, connecting schools, centers, and professional teams across the College to ensure a coordinated, strategic, and high-impact approach to partnership and engagement.

About You
You are a collaborative, future-focused leader who excels at building meaningful partnerships that deliver tangible impact. With extensive experience in strategic engagement and business development, you bring a strong track record of success in translating strategy into action within large, complex environments.

You are known for your exceptional relationship management, influencing, and negotiation skills—able to engage confidently at senior levels across academia, industry, and government. As a people leader, you empower and motivate high-performing teams, fostering a culture of trust, accountability, and shared purpose. Your understanding of the higher education sector enables you to anticipate trends, identify opportunities, and deliver innovative partnership solutions that advance both institutional and societal goals.

To be successful in this position, you'll have as a minimum:

• Proven experience in a senior role leading strategy for external partnerships and engagement activities that deliver measurable impact across learning, teaching, research, and innovation.
• Demonstrated excellence in leadership and people management, with the ability to guide multidisciplinary teams towards high performance and shared outcomes.
• Strong capability in stakeholder engagement, negotiation, and relationship management at executive levels.
• Demonstrated experience designing and implementing engagement strategies that drive organisational growth and influence.
• A deep understanding of the higher education sector, including relevant policies, frameworks, and trends affecting partnerships and external engagement.
• Exceptional communication, interpersonal, and influencing skills, with the ability to build trust and collaborate across complex organisational structures.
• High-level analytical and conceptual skills, with sound judgement and a solutions-focused mindset.

Please Note: Appointment to this position is subject to passing a Working with Children and National Police Check.

About the College

RMIT's College of Business and Law takes an industry and student-centered approach to its courses and programs, ensuring graduates are work ready and able to tackle business challenges, balance stakeholder needs, act as socially responsible global citizens and create fair and positive futures for all.  The College delivers impactful research informed by industry, which supports its strong position as a College at the intersection of business and technology with social impact. Its important work is underpinned by the principles of quality, collaboration, big ideas and putting people first. As one of the largest Business Schools in the Asia Pacific region, the College is comprised of five schools – four in Melbourne and one in Vietnam – and delivers a broad range of programs in Business and Law, ranging from Degree to PhD levels. The College's Business and Law programs are delivered in Melbourne as well as through RMIT Online, with its Business programs also available in Vietnam and through partner institutions in Singapore and Shanghai. The College employs over 1000 staff and delivers programs to over 26,000 students. The College's central operations are located at RMIT University's City Campus in Melbourne and reside in the Swanston Academic and Emily McPherson buildings.

For further details about the College, please visit:

To Apply 

Please submit your CV and covering letter addressing your suitability for this position by clicking on the 'Apply' link at the top of this page.

For further information about this position, please see the Position Description hyperlinked below or contact Larisa Ahadi  via email  

Position Description

Please note, if you are viewing this advert from an external site, please click 'apply' and you will be redirected to RMIT's Jobs website to access the Position Description at the bottom of the page. Due to recent upgrades, position description links may not work on LinkedIn advertisements.  

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RMIT is an equal opportunity employer committed to being a child safe organisation. We are dedicated to attracting, retaining and developing our people regardless of gender identity, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability and age. Applications are encouraged from all sectors of the community and we strongly encourage applications from the Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander community. 

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