Dean, School of Accounting & Braden School of Taxation (45924)

Dean, School of Accounting & Braden School of Taxation

Golden Gate University (GGU), founded in 1901, is a private, nonprofit university headquartered in the heart of downtown San Francisco.

GGU is seeking an accomplished, externally focused leader to serve as Dean of the Bruce F. Braden School of Taxation and the School of Accounting. Reporting to the Executive Vice President and Provost, Dr. Edward Roekaert Embrechts, the Dean will lead both schools and guide their next chapter of growth.

The Bruce F. Braden School of Taxation is the largest graduate tax program in the United States and one of the most respected, with a reputation for comprehensive, practice-focused tax education. Big 4 and Global 6 firms hire the school's graduates and regularly send their employees to GGU to advance their tax education. The school offers the MS in Taxation and graduate certificates in Taxation, Advanced Studies in Taxation, and Estate Planning, delivered online for working professionals. Its courses also serve as a cost-effective source of continuing professional education for CPAs and Enrolled Agents, offer MCLE credit for attorneys, and fulfill the California State Bar's educational requirement for Certified Specialists in Taxation Law.

The School of Accounting prepares outstanding new talent for the profession and helps practicing accountants deepen their competencies. Its programs include the BS in Accounting, the MS in Accounting Data and Analytics, and graduate certificates spanning analytics and automation, CPA applied accounting, and California governmental accounting. Guided by regulatory and standard-setting bodies, major public accounting firms, and distinguished academics, the school holds curricular relevancy as its core value and prepares students for the CPA exam and for leadership in the profession.

Both schools reflect GGU's longstanding commitment to practitioner faculty. Courses are taught by practicing tax and accounting professionals and attorneys who bring real-world, real-time expertise directly into the classroom. This practitioner model is central to the schools' identity and to their relationships with the firms that employ their students and alumni.

The schools serve a national community of working professionals. Students and alumni reside across the United States and Canada, and programs are delivered in formats designed for practicing tax and accounting professionals. Because the community the Dean serves is geographically distributed, the position itself is location flexible.

THE OPPORTUNITY

The Dean is, first and foremost, the schools' ambassador to the profession. Roughly ninety percent of the role is external: engaging the tax, legal, and accounting communities, building relationships with firms and alumni, and translating those relationships into enrollment, adjunct faculty talent, and customized programs.

This external work is central to the schools' growth strategy. Sustained engagement with firms and professional organizations produces partnerships in which firms sponsor staff enrollment, supplies highly qualified practitioner adjunct faculty who further strengthen firm relationships, and creates demand for personalized programs tailored to individual firms.

The internal dimension of the role is focused and well defined: staying informed on university matters, advocating for the schools within the university, and ensuring the schools' faculty and course schedules are well supported.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

External Engagement and Growth

• Serve as the schools' principal representative to the tax, legal, and accounting communities
• Establish and lead an advisory committee composed of partners from Big 4 and regional tax and accounting firms
• Represent the schools at ABA and CPA conferences and engage actively with members of the professional community
• Build and sustain relationships with the schools' alumni, who practice in tax and accounting across the United States and Canada
• Develop firm partnerships that generate staff enrollment in the schools' programs
• Create personalized and customized programs for partner firms
• Recruit highly qualified adjunct faculty from professional networks, reinforcing firm relationships in the process
• Drive enrollment growth across both schools' programs

Internal and Academic Leadership

• Stay informed of university matters and advocate for the schools within the university
• Foster collaboration and curricular alignment between the Braden School of Taxation and the School of Accounting
• Ensure full-time faculty have appropriate workload agreements
• Oversee the course schedules to ensure they serve students and faculty well
• Hire, review, and support adjunct faculty and ensure they feel connected to the schools

Required

• Advanced degree in the field
• Relevant work experience

Preferred

• CPA license or experience in an accounting firm
• Experience teaching online or via videoconference

Leadership Qualifications and Characteristics

The successful candidate will possess many of the following professional qualifications and personal characteristics:

• A proven track record in business development and relationship building
• Creativity, vision, and an ability to understand the future of graduate tax and accounting education
• Successful and progressively responsible administrative roles, including experience managing staff and collaborating with faculty
• Demonstrated leadership and diplomacy skills, with the ability to set priorities, influence change, and inspire high levels of creativity and collegiality
• Demonstrated ability to bring groups together, establish effective and meaningful partnerships, and collaborate across educational units
• Deep respect for and commitment to student success
• An entrepreneurial spirit and a dynamic, energetic, and engaging personality
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills

THE IDEAL CANDIDATE

GGU seeks a leader who is energized by external engagement and at home in the professional tax and accounting community. The successful candidate will be a natural relationship builder, comfortable representing the schools with firm leadership, professional associations, and alumni, and committed to translating those relationships into growth for the schools and opportunity for their students.

Because the schools' students and alumni are distributed across the United States and Canada, candidates may be located anywhere; residence in the San Francisco Bay Area is not required.

APPLICATION PROCESS

Golden Gate University invites nominations and applications from accomplished academic and professional leaders excited by the opportunity to lead the Braden School of Taxation and the School of Accounting.

Screening of complete applications will begin immediately and will continue until the completion of the search process.

To learn more about the position, visit https://ggu.edu/dean-search-tax-accounting/. To apply, please visit https://ggu.edu/jobs-at-ggu/ and include the following materials in your application:

• Letter of interest addressing your vision for the schools and relevant leadership experience
• Curriculum vitae
• Statement of leadership philosophy, including your approach to curriculum development, faculty recruitment, enrollment growth, and industry partnerships 

In applying for a position, candidates sign a consent authorizing a broader inquiry which may include reference checks, a motor vehicle check, and a third-party background check.

Golden Gate University is an equal employment opportunity employer. We support inclusive excellence and are committed to creating a safe and welcoming community for all.

University policy prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion/creed, national origin, ancestry, age, sex/gender, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition, physical or mental disability, gender stereotyping, and gender identity, gender expression, military or veteran status, taking a protected leave (e.g., family medical or pregnancy leave), or on any other basis protected by applicable laws.

The University has a strong commitment to the principles of diversity and inclusion, and to maintaining working and learning environments that reinforces these practices. The University welcomes and encourages applications from all demographics.