Head

Head - Accreditation & Rankings

1. Role Purpose

The Head – Accreditation & Rankings will lead the institution's accreditation, ranking, benchmarking and institutional quality initiatives. The role will be responsible for developing and executing the institution's accreditation and rankings strategy, ensuring data accuracy and governance, coordinating with internal stakeholders, and strengthening the institution's positioning across national and international accreditation and ranking frameworks.

The position will work closely with Academic, Research, International Relations, Admissions, Career Services, Alumni, Finance, HR, IT and Administration teams to ensure timely collection, validation and submission of institutional data and evidence.

2. Key Responsibilities

A. Accreditation Management

• Lead the end-to-end accreditation process for national and international accreditation bodies relevant to the institution.
• Develop accreditation roadmaps, timelines, milestones and action plans.
• Coordinate preparation of accreditation applications, self-assessment reports, evidence documents and supporting data.
• Ensure compliance with accreditation standards, criteria and reporting requirements.
• Coordinate accreditation visits, peer reviews, institutional presentations and stakeholder interactions.
• Maintain an institutional repository of accreditation-related documents, evidence and records.
• Track recommendations arising from accreditation reviews and ensure implementation of improvement plans.
• Drive continuous quality improvement based on accreditation findings and institutional priorities.

B. National & International Rankings

• Develop and execute the annual rankings strategy for relevant national and international rankings.
• Coordinate submissions for rankings such as NIRF, QS, FT, Business Today, Outlook-ICARE and other relevant institutional/discipline-specific rankings, as applicable.
• Monitor ranking methodologies, weightages, definitions and changes in parameters.
• Analyse the institution's performance against ranking parameters and identify improvement opportunities.
• Develop benchmarking reports against peer and aspirational institutions.
• Maintain a ranking calendar and ensure timely submission of all data and documentation.
• Analyse ranking outcomes and prepare management reports highlighting trends, gaps and areas requiring intervention.

C. Institutional Data & Governance

• Establish robust systems for collection, validation, reconciliation and reporting of institutional data.
• Create clear ownership for each data point across departments and campuses.
• Develop standard definitions, data dictionaries and reporting protocols to ensure consistency.
• Ensure accuracy, completeness, integrity and auditability of data submitted to external agencies.
• Establish appropriate checks and controls to prevent duplication, inconsistencies or unsupported claims.
• Maintain historical databases to facilitate year-on-year analysis and benchmarking.
• Work with IT/MIS teams to develop dashboards and automated reporting mechanisms wherever feasible.

D. Institutional Benchmarking & Analytics

• Conduct benchmarking against leading national and international institutions.
• Analyse institutional performance across parameters such as:
• Academic quality
• Faculty profile
• Research and publications
• Citations and impact
• Student quality
• Placements and career outcomes
• Internationalisation
• Alumni engagement
• Diversity and inclusion
• Executive education
• Corporate engagement
• Financial and institutional resources
• Translate benchmarking insights into actionable recommendations for institutional leadership.

E. Cross-Functional Coordination

• Act as the central point of coordination for accreditation and ranking-related activities across departments/campuses.
• Establish a network of accreditation/ranking coordinators or data owners across the institution.
• Conduct regular review meetings with stakeholders to monitor progress.
• Work closely with faculty and administrative teams to obtain evidence, validate information and close data gaps.
• Ensure timely escalation of risks, delays and data inconsistencies to senior management.

F. Strategic Advisory

• Advise senior leadership on accreditation requirements, ranking methodologies and institutional positioning.
• Identify emerging accreditation and ranking opportunities relevant to the institution.
• Recommend strategic initiatives that can strengthen institutional performance against identified parameters.
• Prepare periodic reports for the CEO/Director/Board/Academic leadership.
• Provide insights on how institutional initiatives can be aligned with accreditation and ranking requirements without compromising academic priorities.

G. Quality & Continuous Improvement

• Develop an annual Accreditation & Rankings Action Plan.
• Establish KPIs for accreditation readiness and institutional performance.
• Track corrective and improvement actions arising from accreditation and ranking analyses.
• Build a culture of evidence-based institutional improvement.
• Ensure that accreditation and ranking processes are integrated with the institution's strategic planning process.

3. Key Deliverables

• Annual Accreditation & Rankings Calendar
• Accreditation roadmap and institutional self-assessment reports
• NIRF and other national ranking submissions
• International ranking submissions, wherever applicable
• Accreditation evidence repository
• Institutional data dictionary and data governance framework
• Peer benchmarking reports
• Ranking performance dashboard
• Accreditation gap analysis
• Annual improvement/action plan
• Periodic reports to senior management
• Successful completion/renewal of targeted accreditations

4. Key Performance Indicators

• Timely and accurate completion of accreditation submissions
• Successful accreditation/renewal outcomes
• Timeliness and accuracy of ranking submissions
• Data accuracy and audit compliance
• Closure of accreditation/ranking-related gaps
• Improvement in institutional performance against identified parameters
• Quality and frequency of benchmarking and management insights
• Stakeholder compliance with defined data submission timelines
• Effectiveness of institutional quality-improvement initiatives

5. Qualifications

• Master's degree in management, Education, Economics, Statistics, Public Policy, Data Analytics or a related discipline.
• An MBA/PGDM/PhD or equivalent advanced qualification would be desirable.
• Strong understanding of higher education accreditation, rankings, institutional quality and data management.

6. Experience

• 14–22 years of total experience, preferably in a leading university, business school, higher education institution, accreditation body or consulting organisation with a proven track record in acquiring national and/or international rankings and accreditations
• Experience with frameworks such as NIRF, NAAC, AACSB, EQUIS, AMBA, QS, FT or other recognised national/international frameworks will be an advantage.
• Experience in institutional research, benchmarking, MIS/data analytics or quality assurance would be desirable.

7. Competencies

• Strong understanding of higher education ecosystem and accreditation frameworks
• Institutional data and analytical orientation
• Excellent project management skills
• Strong stakeholder management and cross-functional coordination
• High attention to detail and data accuracy
• Strategic thinking and problem-solving ability
• Excellent written and verbal communication
• Strong report-writing and presentation skills
• Ability to work with senior academic and administrative leadership
• High integrity and confidentiality in handling institutional data
• Ability to manage multiple time-bound submissions and projects

8. Preferred Profile

The ideal candidate would be someone who combines higher education domain knowledge with strong data, accreditation and institutional research capabilities. Experience of working directly with senior leadership on accreditation, rankings, institutional strategy and continuous improvement will be highly desirable.