With a legacy of pioneering research, transformative teaching and real-world impact, the University of Surrey has consistently produced graduates and discoveries that change practice and change lives. Ambitious, growing and increasingly influential on the global stage, we are driving forward the bold ambitions of the University’s Vision 2041 with a continuing positive impact on society and the planet.
Central to our ambitions is the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, home to 650 staff and 5,500 students across five Schools: Biosciences, Health Sciences, Medicine, Psychology and Veterinary Medicine. Building on our unique diversity in health professions and sciences, our aim is to develop an integrated research workforce with a core ethos of team science to drive substantial growth in our research activity and impact.
The Faculty delivers high quality research, learning and teaching, supported by excellent facilities and technical expertise. In REF 2021, our UoA3 ranked highly for research power. The Faculty is uniquely placed to play a defining role in the delivery of Vision 2041.
The Opportunity
We are now seeking an exceptional research leader to take up the role of Associate Dean (Research and Innovation) in the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences. This senior leadership appointment will shape and have overarching responsibility for the strategic direction of research and innovation across the entire Faculty. A central priority will be to lead the refresh and delivery of the Faculty’s Research and Innovation Strategy, ensuring alignment with the University’s Vision 2041, the developing pan-University Institute for Future Health, and future REF ambitions.
As a key member of the Faculty Executive Team, you will lead a research and innovation mission built around delivering measurable improvements in human and animal health, and dependent on breaking down the boundaries between disciplines, and between knowledge and its application. From infectious disease and antimicrobial resistance to cardiometabolic health, healthy ageing and the future of clinical care, in this role you will have the platform, the ambition and the institutional backing to ensure our research is bold, internationally competitive and genuinely transformative.
The successful postholder will be an established professorial academic with a sustained record of research excellence, significant income generation and demonstrable external impact in a discipline relevant to the Faculty. An inclusive and collaborative leader, you will be able to set a compelling strategic direction, lead through influence, use evidence and data to drive performance, quality and impact, and build partnerships with relevant external organisations including funders and healthcare providers.
Why Surrey
You will be joining a diverse, welcoming and genuinely collaborative community, at a university with the ambition of a rising global player. This is an opportunity to take up a role of real strategic significance, to lead, build, and to define the future of health research at an exciting moment for the University.
This is a permanent Professorial level academic appointment, with the ADR&I role responsibility held for an initial period of five years with potential for a further extension. Following completion of the ADR&I tenure the post holder will return to a standard academic portfolio, although further leadership roles will offer opportunities for continued career progression. We welcome applications from all academic areas represented within the Faculty, and the ADR&I role attracts a pensionable responsibility allowance.
How to Apply
Global executive search firm Perrett Laver have been appointed to support the University of Surrey in this appointment. If you would like to discuss this opportunity further or have any questions about the role, including requesting documentation in an alternative format, please contact Devin Dattan at Devin.Dattan@perrettlaver.com
To apply, please submit a CV and cover letter detailing how you fulfil the role description and specification, to https://plusportal.perrettlaver.com/ quoting reference 8568. From here you can request more information, including the full recruitment pack.
The deadline for applications is 23.59BST on Monday, 31st August 2026.
The University of Surrey is committed to an inclusive environment offering equal opportunities for all and particularly encourages applications from under‑represented groups.
Perrett Laver’s GDPR Policy
Protecting your personal data is of the utmost importance to Perrett Laver and we take this responsibility very seriously. Any information obtained by our trading divisions is held and processed in accordance with the relevant data protection legislation. The data you provide us with is securely stored on our computerised database and transferred to our clients for the purposes of presenting you as a candidate and/or considering your suitability for a role you have registered interest in.
Perrett Laver is a Data Controller and a Data Processor, and our legal basis for processing your personal data is ‘Legitimate Interests’. You have the right to object to us processing your data in this way. For more information about this, your rights, and our approach to Data Protection and Privacy, please visit our website https://perrettlaver.com/privacy-statement/