Professional Vacancies at MBZUAI24 Views

What “Professional Vacancies” Mean at MBZUAI

MBZUAI’s “Professional” stream spans the non-faculty backbone that keeps a research university running at scale. Roles typically cover academic operations, student services, international partnerships, compliance and risk, legal and audit, technology transfer, marketing and communications, data governance, finance and procurement, campus development, and specialist technical positions that enable research.

Build your career where advanced research meets real-world impact. MBZUAI’s professional vacancies power academic excellence, student success, digital infrastructure, and ethical governance. If you thrive in structured, mission-focused work—and enjoy collaborating with global teams—this is a rare opportunity to shape an AI-first university from the inside. 

Critically, listings on the portal are refreshed on a rolling basis. Each posting provides a concise overview, core responsibilities, and an Apply Now workflow hosted directly on the university’s careers site—allowing candidates to submit tailored applications without friction. Because the portfolio is broad, applicants across higher education management, enterprise IT, research administration, consulting, and public-sector transformation will generally find multiple entry points that match their expertise. 

Role Spotlights (What the Work Looks Like)

Head of Research Ethics, Governance & Compliance

This senior role designs and stewards the institutional framework for research integrity. Typical accountabilities may include oversight of ethical AI

practices, data protection and governance, IRB coordination, biosafety alignment, export-control adherence, and mandatory training programs. Candidates are usually expected to demonstrate substantial post-qualification experience, a track record in regulated environments, and familiarity with global ethics norms in research-intensive universities.

Student Information System (SIS) Functional Specialist

This position translates academic policy into reliable system behavior. The role often covers Banner configuration, degree and program rules, UAT planning, change management, integrations (e.g., SIS ↔ LMS ↔ ERP/Finance), and staff enablement. Strong candidates show evidence of multi-cycle go-lives, clean documentation practices, and steady communication with Registrar, IT, and academic leadership.

HPC System Engineer

HPC engineers maintain the computational backbone for AI workloads. Typical scope includes cluster administration, schedulers (for example, Slurm), container orchestration, storage and interconnect tuning, performance optimization, and platform security. Success demands close collaboration with researchers to right-size resources, reduce queue times, and streamline reproducible workflows.

Why this breadth matters: Some posts are student-facing; others emphasize governance and integrity; several sit in research enablement and advanced infrastructure. Consequently, experienced professionals from universities, national labs, big-tech operations, and digital transformation projects often discover strong alignment with MBZUAI’s needs.

Why MBZUAI?

A Mission With Momentum

MBZUAI is accelerating Abu Dhabi’s position as a global hub for artificial intelligence. The university is scaling talent, research output, and industry collaboration toward 2030, and it does so

through a transparent operating model. For professional staff, that translates into purposeful work with measurable outcomes.

A Global Lifestyle in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi offers safety, cultural depth, and a mature innovation ecosystem. Family-friendly housing, reputable schools, and an increasingly vibrant tech community make relocation attractive. In addition, the policy environment supports skilled professionals, with clear residency pathways administered by the UAE authorities.

Work That Touches the Frontier

Even in non-faculty roles, your work directly underpins cutting-edge research and high-stakes delivery. Whether you’re stabilizing the SIS for new programs, formalizing ethics controls for data-intensive projects, or tuning HPC performance for model training, you’ll contribute to visible improvements that benefit students, faculty, and partners.

Who Thrives in These Roles

• • Translators between policy and practice. You turn regulations, frameworks, and SOPs into systems and processes people actually adopt. Think Banner rule-sets, IRB governance workflows, risk registers, and audit trails.
  • Operational builders. You ship. You configure platforms, orchestrate integrations, manage UAT, measure adoption, and iterate without drama.
  • Tech-comfortable professionals. While not every role involves coding, comfort with digital tools, analytics, and AI-adjacent concepts is a real advantage in an AI-native institution.
  • Collaborators with a global mindset. MBZUAI’s community
    is international. Cross-cultural communication, stakeholder alignment, and service excellence are as essential as technical competence.

Typical Qualifications and Skills

Although criteria vary by post, several patterns recur.

Core Academic and Professional Credentials

• • Relevant degree at Bachelor’s or Master’s level; a PhD can be preferred for governance-heavy or deeply technical posts.
  • Demonstrated domain experience in areas such as ethics and compliance, registrar/SIS, student services, audit and controls, contracts and procurement, partnerships and engagement, communications, or HPC/IT operations.

Delivery and Communication Competencies

• • Execution strength: project planning, risk and issue management, clear documentation, and dependable follow-through.
  • Change enablement: stakeholder training, UAT coordination, and policy-to-system translation.
  • Communication: concise updates to faculty, students, leadership, and external partners; the ability to present risks and options with evidence.

How to Apply (and Stand Out)

1. 1. Start with the live vacancies. Open roles directly from the Professional Vacancies page and review responsibilities, required qualifications, and selection criteria.
   2. Prepare your materials. Submit a focused CV and a tailored cover letter. Align your evidence to the role: ethics frameworks you
      operationalized, SIS releases you delivered, audits you closed, partnerships you executed, or HPC stability you improved.
   3. Show impact with metrics. Replace generic responsibilities with numbers—throughput increased, cycle time reduced, adoption rate improved, SLA performance uplifted, cost avoided, or compliance closure accelerated.
   4. Bridge your domain to an AI context. Map your experience to MBZUAI’s environment: data-intensive governance, student services for research-heavy programs, or compute platforms optimized for training and inference.
   5. Demonstrate cross-functional fluency. Highlight collaboration with faculty, students, IT, finance, legal, procurement, and external partners. Moreover, underscore your habit of closing feedback loops and hardening processes after each release.

Pro Tip: Portfolio Evidence

Where permissible, include anonymized SOPs, RACI charts, test plans, architecture diagrams, or post-implementation reviews. Tangible artifacts reassure panels that you can deliver repeatably and safely.

Living and Working in Abu Dhabi

Beyond campus, Abu Dhabi combines stability with opportunity. The emirate features world-class cultural institutions, outdoor spaces, and a maturing startup scene. Consequently, professionals relocating with families often cite a balanced lifestyle, predictable services, and straightforward travel connectivity. If you plan for the long term, the city’s infrastructure and public services make settling in practical.

Quick Facts (Feature Table)

Feature	Details
Program Name	Professional Vacancies at MBZUAI
Host Country	United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi)
Funded By	Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI)
Duration	Full-time roles (contracts vary; typically renewable)
Study Mode	On-campus professional employment
Eligibility	Experienced professionals in academic administration, compliance, partnerships, communications, finance/procurement, SIS/Registrar, and HPC/IT operations (role-specific)
Financial Support	Compensation and benefits per university policy and UAE labor regulations (role-specific)
Fields of Study	Academic operations, student services, data governance, technology transfer, marketing/communications, finance and procurement, HPC/IT engineering
Deadline	Rolling recruitment; next hiring window anticipated December 2025—we will update soon
Official Website	Click here

Dates are indicative and based on rolling updates visible on the careers portal. Future windows typically cluster around academic planning cycles; however, candidates should always rely on the live portal for current timelines.

Final Nudge: Your Next Step

If you want your operational craft to amplify breakthrough research, explore MBZUAI’s Professional Vacancies and submit a focused, metrics-rich application today. Start with live openings, tailor your evidence to the role, and emphasize cross-functional delivery. In a university purpose-built for AI, your work will have visible, lasting impact.
References (Official Only)

1. MBZUAI — Professional Vacancies
2. MBZUAI — Careers Homepage

Frequently Asked Questions(FAQs)