Assistant Director - Center for Continuing Education

Department: Center for Continuing Education

Reports to: Director - Center for Continuing Education

Scope and Purpose:

The Assistant Director of the Center for Continuing Education (CCE) is a senior operational leadership role responsible for translating the Center’s strategy into consistent, high-quality, and profitable delivery. Where the Director sets direction, secures partnerships, and owns the Center’s overall performance, the Assistant Director owns execution: program operations, instructor management, client servicing, and the internal systems that allow the Center to scale without loss of quality.

The role carries direct responsibility for the day-to-day running of CCE’s training portfolio across its business lines — open-enrolment and corporate programs, executive and leadership education, professional certification preparation, and contracted government programs. The Assistant Director deputizes for the Director in their absence and represents the Center to clients, faculty, instructors, and internal AUK departments.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Program Operations and Delivery
• Own the end-to-end operational lifecycle of all CCE programs: scheduling, registration, venue and facility allocation, materials production, instructor logistics, attendance, assessment, and certification issuance.
• Maintain the master program calendar and resolve conflicts across cohorts, campus space, and external delivery venues.
• Ensure every program launches with a complete delivery pack: approved outline, contracted instructor, confirmed materials, participant roster, and evaluation instruments.
• Supervise placement testing and assessment operations, including lab scheduling, proctoring standards, and accuracy of the system of record.
• Serve as the escalation point for delivery incidents — instructor absence, participant complaints, scheduling failures — and implement corrective action.
• Curriculum, Instructors, and Quality Assurance
• Coordinate curriculum development cycles with AUK faculty, external subject-matter experts, and content authors; track deliverables against contracted milestones.
• Maintain the instructor roster: sourcing, credential verification, onboarding, contracting, evaluation, and renewal or removal decisions recommended to the Director.
• Administer instructor and content-author agreements in line with institutional policy, including intellectual property terms, deliverable schedules, and payment triggers.
• Operate the quality assurance cycle — participant evaluations, classroom observation, pass-rate and completion analysis — and produce improvement recommendations.
• Ensure program content and delivery remain aligned with the requirements of relevant international awarding and certification bodies.
• Client and Stakeholder Management
• Manage the corporate and government client portfolio operationally: proposal preparation, contracting support, onboarding, delivery coordination, and post-program reporting.
• Supervise the business development and sales function, including territory and sector allocation, pipeline discipline, CRM data integrity, and conversion performance.
• Prepare client-facing documentation: proposals, statements of work, program specifications, completion reports, and renewal recommendations.
• Support the Director in partnership execution with international institutions and certification bodies, managing the operational and administrative workstreams once agreements are signed.
• Represent CCE in internal AUK committees and in client meetings as delegated.
• Financial and Administrative Management
• Prepare and monitor program-level costing, pricing models, and margin analysis; flag programs operating below target contribution.
• Track revenue, receivables, instructor costs, and direct program expenses; support the Director in preparing monthly and annual financial reporting for the Center.
• Administer procurement, purchase requests, invoicing, and payment processing for CCE in coordination with the Finance Department.
• Maintain accurate records to support the Center’s financial reporting obligations and any external audit or review.
• Ensure compliance with AUK institutional policies, Kuwait labour and data protection requirements, and contractual obligations to clients and partners.
• Team Leadership and Systems
• Directly supervise program coordinators, administrative staff, and sales personnel; set objectives, conduct performance reviews, and develop capability.
• Build and maintain standard operating procedures, templates, and documentation so that delivery quality is not dependent on individuals.
• Identify and implement systems improvements — registration, CRM, reporting, and records management — that reduce manual effort and error.
• Promote a service culture in which client responsiveness and delivery reliability are treated as non-negotiable.
• Assume the Director’s operational authority during periods of absence, within defined delegation limits.

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s degree in business, education, or a related field strongly preferred.

Experience:

• A minimum of five years’ progressive experience in training operations, executive education, professional development, or a comparable service-delivery environment, including at least two years supervising staff.
• Demonstrated experience managing multiple concurrent programs or projects to schedule, budget, and quality standards.
• Working knowledge of program costing, pricing, and margin management.
• Experience managing external contractors, instructors, or vendors, including contracting and performance management.
• Excellent written and spoken English; professional Arabic strongly preferred given the government and corporate client base.
• Strong command of standard business systems; familiarity with student information systems, CRM platforms, and reporting tools is an advantage.
• Prior work within a university, professional institute, or accredited training provider.
• Familiarity with international certification and awarding bodies (e.g., CFA Institute, CISI, ACCA, PMI, CIPD, SHRM, Lean Six Sigma, and ISO/IEC 17024 accredited certification bodies).
• Experience delivering training to Kuwaiti or GCC government entities, with an understanding of the associated contracting and reporting requirements.

Key Competencies:

• Operational Execution — Converts plans into delivered programs reliably, and closes the gap between what was promised and what was delivered.
• Quality Discipline — Holds instructors, content, and delivery to a consistent standard and acts on evidence rather than impression.
• Commercial Awareness — Understands the cost and margin implications of operational decisions and protects program profitability.
• Client Orientation — Anticipates client needs, communicates proactively, and recovers well when problems occur.
• People Leadership — Sets clear expectations, develops junior staff, and manages performance directly and fairly.
• Judgement and Escalation — Resolves what should be resolved locally, and escalates what genuinely requires the Director’s decision.
• Institutional Integrity — Applies policy consistently and maintains accurate records under scrutiny.
• Performance Indicators:
• On-time, on-specification delivery rate across the program portfolio.
• Program-level contribution margin against target.
• Participant satisfaction and certification pass rates.
• Client retention and repeat engagement rates.
• Sales pipeline conversion and CRM data integrity.
• Instructor roster quality, availability, and evaluation scores.
• Accuracy and timeliness of operational and financial reporting.
• Staff performance, development, and retention within the team.

Reporting Line and Authority:

• This position reports directly to the Director of the Center for Continuing Education. The Assistant Director exercises delegated authority over program operations, staff supervision, and expenditure within limits established by the Director, and acts on the Director’s behalf during periods of absence. Matters relating to institutional strategy, new partnerships, pricing policy, and staff appointment or termination remain reserved to the Director.

This job description describes the general nature and level of work performed. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties and responsibilities and may be amended by the University in line with institutional needs.