Edinburgh Futures Institute Director

The University of Edinburgh is a world-leading centre of academic excellence committed to making a significant, sustainable and socially responsible contribution to Scotland, the UK and beyond. In the top 20 of the QS World Rankings, in one of the world’s most beautiful cities, the University provides a first-class education for over 49,000 students across its programmes of study – undergraduate and postgraduate, on-site and distance learning.

Edinburgh Futures Institute is for the pathfinders, the inquisitive, and those who want to make our complex world better. We work collaboratively across all areas of the University of Edinburgh – from Colleges and Schools, to research centres, to staff and student networks and initiatives. We are focussed on tackling today’s increasingly complex issues by bringing people and disciplines together to spark the unexpected and make better futures possible.

The Institute employs a team of 70 professional services staff to support academic colleagues from across the University to come together with students and partners to challenge, create and make change. Our academic faculty and leadership is drawn from across the University and focuses on teaching, research and innovation. 

We are transforming the iconic, category-A listed Old Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh into a new space for multi-disciplinary collaboration, education, research and partnership. Edinburgh Futures Institute is home to a range of research clusters, hubs and centres, as well as a key focus for the next generation of researchers, thinkers and creators as it supports the development of PhD students in data, ethics and AI. 

We seek to appoint a Director with outstanding strategic and leadership skills and a commitment to collaborative, interdisciplinary, challenge-led and data-driven research, innovation and teaching. The successful candidate will have the confidence and ambition to lead the Institute and inspire our large and diverse community.

Creating a positive and collegiate environment, you will provide strategic leadership in education, research and innovation and will develop and implement the shared vision for the Institute. You will champion the development of constructive working relationships and a culture of open communication with colleagues in other parts of the University in order to facilitate mutual understanding and effective joint working. As an ambassador for Edinburgh Futures Institute, you will establish and nurture productive relationships with external stakeholders, including academic collaborators, alumni, donors, industry and commercial partners.

We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion, and applicants from minority groups are particularly welcomed. 

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