Associate Registrar (Saudi Arabia)

Job description

Position Summary The Associate Registrar supports the University Registrar in delivering reliable, policy-compliant, digitally enabled Registrar services across KAUST. The role leads day-to-day operational delivery across academic records, registration, scheduling, enrollment services, academic standing, instructional space coordination, graduation processing, and official academic information. The role serves as the Registrar Office business owner for Registrar-related student and academic data, SIS-enabled processes, functional workflows, data standards, control requirements, user acceptance criteria, and business change readiness. It works closely with academic, administrative, and technical partners to ensure that Registrar operations are accurate, auditable, service-oriented, and aligned with approved academic policy. Major Responsibilities Registrar Operations and Service Delivery: Manage the day-to-day execution of Registrar services, including academic records, registration, scheduling, enrollment verification, instructional space coordination, graduation documentation, and related student lifecycle transactions. Ensure operational continuity, accuracy, timeliness, service quality, escalation management, and effective prioritization during peak academic cycles. SIS-Enabled Business Ownership and Functional Controls Serve as the functional business owner for Registrar-related SIS processes, data, rules, and workflows. Define Registrar business requirements, data standards, controls, acceptance criteria, and readiness needs for SIS-supported processes. Set up Registrar-owned functional requirements for SIS-supported operations, including semester setup, academic calendar configuration, curriculum/course setup, registration rules, degree audit rules, graduation processing, records processes, and other Registrar-controlled academic and student lifecycle functions. Ensure SIS-supported processes reflect approved policy, documented procedures, auditability, exception handling, and service standards. Lead business change management for Registrar-impacting system changes. Academic Information, Data Stewardship, and Reporting: Oversee the accuracy and currency of official academic information, including the Registrar website, Program Guide, Course Catalog, Academic Calendar, and student-facing materials. Maintain strong stewardship over Registrar-owned data elements, including definitions, validation, correction processes, quality checks, documentation, and reporting readiness for operations, analytics, accreditation, program review, and compliance needs. Policy Implementation, Compliance, and Records Governance: Support consistent implementation of academic and administrative policies related to registration, records, enrollment, academic standing, graduation, scheduling, and official academic information. Strengthen process documentation, approval pathways, controls, privacy and confidentiality compliance, academic integrity safeguards, records management, and escalation of policy or control risks to the University Registrar. Stakeholder Alignment and Student Lifecycle Coordination: Work closely with Admissions, Graduate Operations, Alumni Affairs, KAUST Academy, academic divisions, Associate Deans, GPSAs, administrative teams, and System Team to support coordinated student lifecycle operations. Represent Registrar operational requirements in working groups, readiness discussions, process improvement initiatives, and cross-functional forums as assigned. Performance, Continuous Improvement, and Team Support: Monitor service metrics, operational KPIs, workflow efficiency, backlog trends, data quality, cycle times, and stakeholder experience. Use evidence to identify bottlenecks, risks, training needs, and improvement opportunities. Support process standardization, automation readiness, knowledge management, staff supervision where assigned, and a service culture focused on accuracy, accountability, and institutional integrity. Competencies Strong understanding of Registrar operations, student records, registration, scheduling, graduation, academic standing, and student lifecycle services. Ability to translate academic policy into clear procedures, controls, data rules, service standards, and SIS-supported workflows. Functional understanding of SIS-enabled operations, including data stewardship, workflow design, reporting, testing, and user acceptance. Strong knowledge of data governance, records management, privacy, confidentiality, auditability, academic integrity, and accreditation support. Strong analytical, documentation, problem-solving, stakeholder management, communication, and service leadership skills. Ability to support continuous improvement, operational change, KPI monitoring, quality assurance, and service coordination. Qualifications/Experience Bachelor’s degree in Information Systems, Business Administration, Computer Science, Education Administration, or a related field; Master’s degree preferred. Minimum 7–10 years of experience in Registrar operations, postgraduate academic administration, student services, or a comparable higher education environment. Experience managing SIS-supported Registrar processes, including data quality, functional requirements, process documentation, testing/user acceptance, operational readiness, and digital process improvement. Experience with academic policy implementation, student records, registration, graduation, academic calendars, catalogues, and cross-functional student lifecycle operations. Experience with Banner or a comparable enterprise SIS is preferred.