Manager, Office of the Rector - UNSW Bengaluru

Position Summary

The Manager, Office of the Rector is a high-trust, high-impact role that enables the Rector to lead UNSW Bengaluru effectively in a dynamic and rapidly evolving environment. The Manager, Office of the Rector provides executive leverage to the Rector through strategy execution, projects, analytics, dashboards, governance coordination, technology, decision support, and follow-through.

The role combines executive support, strategic project coordination, business and data analysis, governance support, technology-enabled process improvement, and rigorous follow-through on institutional priorities.

Working directly with the Rector, the Manager will help translate strategic priorities and decisions into action; provide timely analysis and insights to support decision-making; coordinate initiatives involving multiple functions and stakeholders; and ensure that commitments, decisions, and actions are systematically tracked through to completion.

The position requires an individual who is highly numerate, technologically confident, intellectually curious, enterprising, and exceptionally organised. The successful candidate will be comfortable moving between data and dashboards, Board papers and presentations, strategic projects, senior stakeholder interactions, and the day-to-day priorities of the Rector's Office.

This is not a conventional Executive Assistant role. While high-quality executive coordination is an important component, the position is intended to provide the Rector with additional analytical and execution capacity as UNSW Bengaluru grows.

Key Accountabilities

1. Strategic Executive Support to the Rector

Work closely with the Rector to support the effective execution of institutional priorities.
Understand the Rector's priorities and proactively identify matters requiring attention, decisions, or follow-up.
Translate discussions and decisions into clear actions, owners, milestones, and timelines.
Monitor progress against key commitments and proactively identify delays, risks, and dependencies.
Prepare concise briefing notes, presentations, reports, decision papers, and other executive materials.
Undertake rapid research and analysis to support the Rector's decision-making.
Ensure the Rector is well prepared for important internal and external meetings.
Exercise discretion and sound judgement in dealing with confidential, sensitive, and strategically important matters.

2. Data, Analytics Decision Support

Analyse institutional and operational data to provide the Rector with timely and actionable insights.
Develop and maintain dashboards and trackers covering key institutional priorities and performance indicators.
Work confidently with numerical information including student recruitment and enrolment data, budgets, forecasts, staffing information, workloads, project performance, and other institutional KPIs.
Identify trends, anomalies, risks, and emerging issues and bring these proactively to the Rector's attention.
Convert complex quantitative and qualitative information into concise recommendations and decision-ready materials.
Work with relevant functional leaders to ensure information provided to the Rector is accurate, timely, and appropriately interpreted.
Support the development of business cases, scenario analysis, and options papers where required.

3. Strategic Projects Program Management

Coordinate selected strategic projects and initiatives sponsored by the Rector.
Convert strategic objectives into structured implementation plans with deliverables, owners, milestones, and measures of success.
Maintain project plans and provide concise progress reporting to the Rector.
Coordinate across academic and professional functions to facilitate delivery.
Identify dependencies, bottlenecks, and implementation risks and recommend solutions.
Follow through persistently and diplomatically with stakeholders to ensure agreed actions are completed.
Undertake special projects requiring cross-functional coordination, analysis, or rapid execution.
Support continuous improvement of institutional processes as UNSW Bengaluru scales.

4. Technology, AI Process Improvement

Use digital tools to simplify workflows, improve visibility, and reduce unnecessary administrative effort.
Demonstrate advanced capability in Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and related productivity tools.
Use contemporary AI tools responsibly for research, synthesis, analysis, drafting, and productivity.
Develop effective dashboards, trackers, templates, and management-information systems.
Identify opportunities to automate repetitive processes and improve information flows.
Explore new technologies and applications that could improve the effectiveness of the Rector's Office and wider institution.
Support the Rector in making complex information accessible through clear data visualisation and executive-level presentation.
Demonstrate the ability to learn new digital platforms rapidly rather than being dependent upon a particular software environment.

5. Governance Institutional Coordination

Support the Rector in coordinating matters requiring consideration by the UNSW Bengaluru Board and relevant UNSW governance structures.
Assist with preparation of high-quality Board and committee papers, presentations, briefing materials, and action trackers.
Maintain visibility of key decisions, commitments, and governance actions requiring follow-through.
Coordinate information from relevant academic and professional functions for governance reporting.
Support institutional planning, risk monitoring, and reporting as required.
Maintain appropriate records of significant decisions and commitments.
Work closely with relevant colleagues responsible for academic governance, regulatory compliance, and institutional governance without duplicating their functional responsibilities.

6. Executive Coordination Stakeholder Management

Serve as an effective point of coordination between the Rector and key internal and external stakeholders.
Build strong working relationships across UNSW Bengaluru and the wider UNSW community.
Liaise effectively with senior university leaders, academics, professional staff, Board members, industry partners, government and regulatory stakeholders, and other external organisations.
Coordinate selected high-priority meetings and engagements involving the Rector.
Manage competing demands on the Rector's time, ensuring that priorities are appropriately sequenced and prepared.
Support correspondence and executive communications where required.
Ensure actions arising from important meetings are captured and followed through.

7. Rector's Office Effectiveness

Establish efficient systems and ways of working within the Rector's Office.
Maintain a structured overview of the Rector's major priorities, commitments, and deadlines.
Anticipate upcoming requirements rather than relying solely on instructions from the Rector.
Protect the Rector's time by helping distinguish strategic priorities from matters that can appropriately be resolved elsewhere.
Coordinate calendar priorities and key engagements.
Ensure appropriate briefing and documentation ahead of significant meetings.
Coordinate travel and logistical requirements where necessary, while ensuring transactional administrative activity does not detract from the strategic purpose of the role.
Continuously identify opportunities to make the Rector's Office more effective.

Qualifications Experience

Essential

Bachelor's degree in Business, Management, Economics, Finance, Technology, Engineering, Higher Education, Data/Analytics, or another relevant discipline.
Approximately 58 years of relevant professional experience in program/project management, strategy, consulting, business analysis, operations, an executive office, or a comparable environment.
Demonstrated ability to manage multiple complex priorities and deliver outcomes with limited supervision.
Strong quantitative and analytical capability, including confidence working with financial and performance data.
Demonstrated project or program management capability.
Excellent digital literacy and evidence of using technology to improve productivity or processes.
Advanced capability in Excel and PowerPoint and the ability to develop high-quality executive-level materials.
Strong written communication and ability to synthesise complex information succinctly.
Experience interacting confidently with senior stakeholders.
Exceptional organisation, attention to detail, and follow-through.
Demonstrated discretion and judgement in dealing with confidential information.

Desirable

Master's degree, MBA, or relevant postgraduate qualification.
Experience in a university, consulting firm, technology company, start-up, multinational organisation, or other complex professional environment.
Experience developing dashboards, management reporting, or data visualisations.
Familiarity with AI-enabled productivity and analytical tools.
Experience supporting senior executives or institutional leaders.
Experience working in an international or cross-cultural environment.

Key Capabilities

Analytical Numerate Comfortable interrogating numbers, identifying what they mean, and challenging inconsistencies.
Technology-Enabled An enthusiastic adopter of technology and AI who looks for better ways of working.
Enterprising Resourceful Does not wait to be told every step; identifies problems and develops solutions.
Execution Focused Converts decisions into actions and follows through to completion.
Intellectually Curious Quickly understands unfamiliar subjects, asks intelligent questions, and researches effectively.
Excellent Judgement Understands what needs the Rector's attention, what can wait, and what can be resolved independently.
Structured but Agile Brings discipline and organisation while remaining comfortable in a fast-changing start-up environment.
Executive Presence Credible and professional when dealing with senior academics, Board members, industry leaders, and external stakeholders.
Clear Communicator Able to turn large volumes of information into a concise briefing, dashboard, or compelling presentation.
High Ownership Treats institutional priorities as outcomes to be delivered rather than tasks to be administered.

What Success Looks Like

Within the first 612 months, success will mean that the Rector has better visibility, better information, and greater execution capacity.

The Rector should be able to see quickly:

What is on track
What is behind
Where decisions are required
Where institutional risks are emerging

Important decisions should translate into actions that are systematically followed through. Board and executive materials should be concise and decision-ready. Data should increasingly be available through dashboards rather than manually assembled each time. Routine processes within the Rector's Office should become increasingly technology-enabled.

Most importantly, the Manager should progressively become a trusted problem-solver who can take an ambiguous issue, analyse the information, engage the relevant people, develop options, and return to the Rector with a clear recommendation and execution plan.