Programme Director - MBA challenger

LIS is offering a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create a new model of advanced education. You would be joining a young institution and dynamic faculty to lead the development of a radical new alternative to the MBA/MPA. We’re seeking someone with wide-ranging academic and professional experience who is motivated to impact on the next generation of leaders.

Our new ‘MBA challenger’ programme seeks to re-intellectualise the advanced professional degree space, by offering a unique full-time in-person experience combining the best of the arts, sciences, and humanities, with a fresh interdisciplinary take on leading a modern organisation.

About LIS

The challenges humanity is facing aren’t the stuff of dystopia, science fiction or textbooks. They’re happening today - and they’ve never been more complex and interconnected.

Yet our higher education system is still structured in silos, leaving graduates ill-equipped to tackle the complexity that surrounds them. The next generation is now demanding to learn in a different way. That’s where The London Interdisciplinary School comes in.

LIS is a startup university that equips students with an interdisciplinary toolkit to tackle the complex, real-world problems of the 21st century. With a world-class faculty, three exceptional founding cohorts and close partnerships with global organisations, such as McKinsey, Innocent Drinks, PwC and the Cabinet Office, LIS is building a new type of education for those who want to shape the world, not just fit in.

We are the first new UK education institution for 50 years to have full degree-awarding power since inception, and offer undergraduate, masters, as well as professional development programmes that take a ground-breaking interdisciplinary approach to education.

Our take on leadership

We believe that the 21st century leader requires a broad set of interdisciplinary approaches and methods to tackle the world’s most complex problems.

Yet too many institutions teach outdated frameworks and oversimplify context. A modern leader embraces complexity. They understand the systemic nature of business and government. They reject the specialist/generalist dichotomy and develop interactional expertise. This means grappling with the science of social groups to shape office culture post Covid. Understanding the energetics of Net Zero. Navigating business and data as affected by conflict and geopolitics. Grasping narrative and linguistics to communicate across silos.

Leaders in the modern world need a richer intellectual hinterland than ever before. Organisations that succeed will be those with fewest blind spots and the best ideas. This points to leaders with range, who can take multiple perspectives, make fewest errors, and spot the next big shift.

This is why we are looking to launch a new ‘MBA challenger’

About the role

• You will lead on the development of the content of our new master’s programme, which will combine the best of the arts, sciences, and humanities, with a fresh interdisciplinary take on commercial thinking.
• You will work across functions with all leaders in the organisation to build an exceptional first cohort starting September 2025: this includes working with admissions, marketing, registry, and more.
• You will also teach modules on this new master’s, and other LIS programmes.

Requirements

You should be:

• motivated to create a radical new entrant to challenge the MBA/MPA hegemony
• interested in a number of academic areas, and/or a successful track record as a leader outside academia
• highly focussed on teaching/learning – with ambition to create the best interdisciplinary learning possible for this new master’s programme;
• interested to work on a real-world, problem-based curriculum with external partners;
• experienced in working effectively in teams;
• interested to challenge yourself and to model this as a co-learner with students;
• Interested to take on a variety of administrative and extra-academic roles in a new university, such as student outreach and recruitment, pastoral support etc;

You should have:

• experience of working and teaching in an interdisciplinary context;
• experience of managing complex administration and multiple deadlines
• proven expertise (e.g. in industry or government) and/or PhD in a relevant area

Please note that we are only able to consider candidates with the eligibility to work in the UK.

Benefits

• £70k-£85k base salary depending on level of experience
• Flexible working, with a minimum of 2 days per week on campus
• 30 days holiday, with the constraints of our academic calendar
• Monthly fitness contribution and, on successful completion of your probationary period, company-sponsored health plan
• Annual personal development contribution for external training/coaching
• The opportunity to join a mission-led, fast-growing organisation that is changing higher education

To apply, please click on the ‘Apply’ button above