University of Sydney Deputy Dean (Research) Job, Faculty of Medicine and Health: Requirements, Visa and Deadline

The University of Sydney is hiring a Deputy Dean (Research), also advertised as Associate Dean (Research), for its Faculty of Medicine and Health. It is a five-year, fixed-term, full-time leadership job based at the Camperdown campus in Sydney, Australia. The postholder reports to the Dean of the faculty and has a dotted line to the University’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research). Applications close at 11:59 pm on Wednesday 4 November 2026.

No salary figure is advertised. The listing promises a competitive package that includes 17% superannuation, and it says visa sponsorship and relocation help will be provided if needed. That last point matters if you are a research leader outside Australia, including in Africa, Asia or Europe. Below I cover what the University of Sydney Deputy Dean (Research) job involves, who fits it, how to apply, and how to write a cover letter that reads like a research strategy.

University of Sydney Deputy Dean (Research) job: key facts

What the Deputy Dean (Research) will do

The faculty wants one senior academic to own its research performance. In plain terms, the advert asks the postholder to:

1. Set research priorities: lead the development and delivery of faculty-wide research priorities, covering performance, capability, collaboration, translation and impact.
2. Run research investment and culture: drive initiatives in research investment, workforce development, research culture, infrastructure and governance.
3. Deliver the University’s strategy: support the faculty’s goals and the University’s Strategy 2032.
4. Build partnerships: develop links with other universities, industry, government, health services and community organisations.
5. Stay research active: keep your own research going while working with considerable autonomy.

The reporting line tells you a lot. You answer to the Dean of Medicine and Health, Professor John Prins, an endocrinologist who took up the deanship on 1 September 2025, according to the University’s announcement. The dotted line to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) means you will sit between faculty and central research administration. Much of the work is negotiation: pushing faculty needs upward and turning central research policy into something schools can use.

The advert uses two titles, Deputy Dean (Research) and Associate Dean (Research). It doesn’t explain which title the successful candidate will hold or whether that depends on seniority. Ask Mushtaq Sobhan before you submit, because it may change how you pitch your experience.

Requirements: who the faculty wants

The listing does not split its criteria into essential and desirable. It describes one candidate who has:

• A PhD and a distinguished record of academic and research achievement, including competitive grant funding and research supervision.
• Significant academic leadership experience in a complex university or research environment.
• A record of developing research strategies and delivering measurable results.
• A working understanding of the research system: funding, impact, translation, research integrity and policy.
• Skill at building relationships and bringing different stakeholders together.
• Experience developing researchers and building an inclusive research culture.
• An established national and international partnership network.
• Strong communication, interpersonal and decision-making skills.

Read together, these describe a full professor or senior associate professor who has already led research at school or institute level. Think of a head of school, research institute director or associate dean elsewhere. A brilliant researcher who has never managed other people’s research would struggle against that field.

You don’t need to be Australian or to have worked in Australia. But you will need to learn the national funding system fast, because the faculty’s grant income depends on bodies such as the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and the Australian Research Council (ARC). If your experience is in the UK, US, Europe or Africa, show in your letter that you understand how research performance is measured in Australia, or that you know how to find out quickly.

Salary, superannuation and visa sponsorship

The University does not publish a salary figure for this job. The only pay details in the advert are a “competitive remuneration package” and 17% employer superannuation. Superannuation is Australia’s compulsory retirement savings scheme, and it is paid on top of salary.

For context only: other University of Sydney adverts currently on the same jobs board list a Level B lecturer at AUD 132,533 plus 17% superannuation, and a Lecturer/Senior Lecturer range up to AUD 162,347. A faculty research leadership role sits well above those levels. These figures are not the salary for this role. Ask the recruitment contact for the package range before you invest days in an application.

On visas, the listing says sponsorship and relocation assistance will be provided if required. The University has not published which visa subclass it would use or what relocation covers, so put both questions on your list for the confidential call.

Employment also depends on pre-employment and background checks. Under Australia’s National Higher Education Code, applicants must declare any investigation for, or finding of, sexual harm or gender-based violence in previous employment or legal processes.

About the University of Sydney and its medical faculty

Founded in 1850, the University of Sydney is Australia’s first university. It belongs to the Group of Eight research-intensive universities and the Worldwide Universities Network. The advert describes 16 faculties, nine campuses across New South Wales, 78 research centres and institutes, three ARC Centres of Excellence, and about 7,616 full-time staff.

The Faculty of Medicine and Health is the University’s largest. It brings together dentistry, medicine, medical sciences, nursing and midwifery, pharmacy and public health. Its research leader therefore has to balance very different research cultures, from lab science to clinical trials to population health.

Living in Sydney

Sydney is one of Australia’s most expensive cities, and rent is the biggest cost. Camperdown sits next to the city centre, so inner-west suburbs are convenient but pricey. If you have a family, ask what the relocation package covers (flights, shipping, temporary housing) and check school options and commute times before you accept an offer.

How to apply for the University of Sydney Deputy Dean (Research) job

1. Read the documents: download the candidate brochure and the position description from the “Apply” link on the THE Unijobs listing. Mark every criterion.
2. Call or email first: contact Mushtaq Sobhan (mushtaq.sobhan@sydney.edu.au) for a confidential discussion. Ask about the title question, salary range, visa route and selection timetable.
3. Update your CV: lead with leadership roles, then grants as chief investigator, research outputs, supervision and partnerships.
4. Write the cover letter: explain how you meet each requirement, using evidence (see the structure below).
5. Submit online: use the Apply button before 11:59 pm on 4 November 2026. Current University staff apply through Workday (Career icon, then USYD Find Jobs).
6. Ask for adjustments if needed: the same contact handles requests for reasonable adjustments or documents in other formats.

How to write the cover letter for a research leadership role

For a senior role, the cover letter carries your strategy. A safe structure is about three pages:

1. Opening paragraph: why this faculty, why now, and the one or two results that best prove you can lead research at this scale.
2. Research leadership record: what you have led, the size of the research group or unit, and measurable change (grant income, success rates, publications, research culture).
3. Strategy and translation: how you have built research priorities and moved findings into practice or policy. Health systems experience is very relevant here.
4. Partnerships: named examples of partnerships with hospitals, industry, government or international universities, and what they produced.
5. People and culture: how you have developed early and mid-career researchers and built inclusion.
6. What you would do first: a short, modest view of priorities for the first year, linked to the University’s Strategy 2032. Show that you would listen before making changes.

A sample opening, for illustration only: “Over the past six years I have led research strategy for a school of 300 academics, where we doubled competitive grant income by building cross-disciplinary teams around three clinical priorities.” Use your own real numbers. Never inflate them, because referees and panels check.

What the selection process usually looks like

The advert does not publish a timetable. For senior University of Sydney appointments, expect a shortlist, then an interview with a panel that may include the Dean and senior research leaders, and possibly a presentation on your research vision. Reference checks and the background checks described above follow. Ask the recruitment contact for the dates so you can plan travel or video access.

Common mistakes that cost senior candidates

• Sending a personal research statement in place of a faculty research strategy. The panel is hiring someone to lead other people’s research.
• Listing grants without saying your role in each one (lead investigator or co-investigator) and the amount.
• Ignoring the dotted line to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research). Show you can work across faculty and central offices.
• Writing generically about “impact” with no examples of translation into health services or policy.
• Missing the deadline because of time zones. 11:59 pm Sydney time on 4 November is still the afternoon of 4 November in West Africa and Europe, so plan backwards from Sydney time.

Who should apply, and who should not

Apply if you are a professor or senior associate professor in a health or medical discipline, you have led research at school or institute level, and you can show results in grant income, research culture and partnerships. Applicants from outside Australia are welcome, given the sponsorship offer.

Think twice if you have never managed a research portfolio beyond your own group, or if you want a role that is mostly your own research. The postholder stays research active, but most of the week goes to leading others.

Similar roles to compare

If you are earlier in your career and want to join a Sydney research group as a doctoral student instead, read our guide to the University of Sydney International Stipend Scholarship. For another senior university search with a similar profile, see our post on the Aalto University President vacancy.

FAQs about the University of Sydney Deputy Dean (Research) job

What is the salary for the University of Sydney Deputy Dean (Research)?

The University has not published a figure. The advert offers a competitive package that includes 17% superannuation, so ask the recruitment contact for the range.

Does the University of Sydney sponsor visas for this role?

Yes. The listing says visa sponsorship and relocation assistance will be provided if required.

What documents do I need to apply?

A CV and a cover letter that explains how you meet the requirements of the role. Read the candidate brochure and position description first.

When is the deadline for the Faculty of Medicine and Health Deputy Dean job?

Applications close at 11:59 pm on 4 November 2026, Sydney time.

Sources and updates

I took the role details, requirements, reporting line, salary statement, visa statement, contact and closing date from the University of Sydney’s advert on Times Higher Education Unijobs (listing 416310), checked on 29 October 2026. The Dean’s appointment is from the University of Sydney news announcement of 23 July 2025. Rankings come from QS, as reported by Time Out Australia and the University of Sydney, and from the University’s announcement of the THE World University Rankings 2027. Salary context is taken from other current University of Sydney adverts on the same jobs board and is not the pay for this role. If the University extends the deadline or publishes a salary, I will update this page.

Jude Chinecherem

I am Jude Chinecherem, a final-year MBBS student at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. I know what it feels like to want an education your family cannot afford. When my parents could not pay for my schooling, I had to learn how to find scholarships and work the system out on my own, with nobody to guide me. I came out the other side, and now I share everything I learned so the next student does not have to figure it out alone. This is the advice I wish someone had given me back then.