The Senior Academic Designer will lead the development of innovative learning strategies and curricula specifically for banking and financial services. They will act as a subject matter expert, collaborating with faculty and industry partners to ensure academic programmes remain professionally relevant and responsive to industry trends.
Application close date: 16 October 2026
The position The Senior Academic Designer: Learning and Teaching (Banking and Financial Services) will lead the development and implementation of innovative learning and teaching strategies aligned with Milpark’s vision for educational quality and meaningful learning journeys. The role combines senior academic design capability with deep, current banking and financial services expertise. The successful candidate will serve as an institutional subject matter expert for banking-related curriculum innovation, qualification development and industry engagement.
Key responsibilities
Lead the development and implementation of innovative learning and teaching strategies aligned with Milpark’s vision for educational quality and learning journeys.
Collaborate with faculty across Milpark schools, learning and instructional designers, and other learning specialists to lead the design and development of academic programmes and qualifications that incorporate innovative teaching methodologies and respond to students’ evolving needs.
Lead robust conversations with faculty and school leadership, drawing on business, banking and commerce experience to facilitate change in delivery aligned with Milpark’s learning and teaching philosophy.
Design and lead experiential learning opportunities, including applied research projects, authentic industry challenges, community engagement and collaborative initiatives with industry partners.
Establish measures to evaluate the effectiveness of learning innovations and use evidence to support continuous improvement, alignment with learning outcomes and the development of graduate attributes.
Facilitate workshops that build faculty capability to adopt innovative learning approaches aligned with Milpark’s values, mission, teaching philosophy and graduate attributes.
Build strong relationships with schools, academic operations teams, corporate partners and key business stakeholders.
Provide strategic leadership on matters associated with Milpark’s educational technology ecosystem and its effective use in learning design.
Support comprehensive programme reviews and advise on curriculum design and development, guiding learning and instructional designers to implement relevant changes.
Encourage research and scholarly engagement that enhance teaching, learning and the student experience.
Create, review and revise resources and guidance that inform Milpark’s approach to learning and teaching.
Review and provide constructive feedback on the work of learning and instructional designers in the unit.
Stay abreast of emerging technologies, pedagogical approaches and industry developments that can enhance the learning experience.
Collaborate with commercial and academic stakeholders to propose relevant learning solutions for corporate partners.
Act as a custodian of Milpark’s learning and teaching philosophy.
Banking and financial services curriculum leadership
Serve as the institutional subject matter expert for banking, financial services, financial technology and related commerce qualifications, ensuring that curricula remain academically credible, professionally relevant and responsive to industry change.
Lead the review, enhancement and innovation of banking and financial services curricula across higher education, occupational and corporate learning offerings.
Provide expert input into banking-related qualification and module design, including business banking, banking operations and management, credit, risk, compliance, anti-money laundering, foreign exchange, digital financial services and financial technology.
Ensure that curricula engage appropriately with contemporary developments such as digital banking, artificial intelligence and data analytics in financial services, open and platform-based banking, cybersecurity, payments innovation, financial inclusion, sustainability, conduct risk and changing customer expectations.
Translate local and global banking trends into future-focused programme outcomes, module content, authentic learning activities and assessment strategies.
Lead the design of authentic learning experiences, including simulations, case studies, work-integrated learning, industry projects and assessments that reflect contemporary banking and financial services environments.
Engage banks, fintech organisations, professional bodies, employers and relevant regulatory stakeholders to validate curriculum relevance, identify emerging capability needs and build meaningful industry partnerships.
Support academic staff and learning designers to interpret industry developments and integrate banking-specific expertise into learning design and delivery.
Contribute to thought leadership in banking education through research, professional engagement, conference participation and collaboration with industry partners.
Education and/or professional experience requirements
A Master’s or Doctorate in Banking, Finance, Financial Services, Economics, Business, Commerce or a closely related field, combined with substantial professional experience in banking or financial services and experience in higher education programme development and/or teaching; or
A Master’s or Doctorate in Education, combined with a relevant postgraduate commerce, banking or finance qualification, substantial professional experience in banking or financial services, and experience in higher education programme development and/or teaching.
Demonstrable senior-level experience within banking, financial services or financial technology, with evidence of applying specialist knowledge to complex business, learning or curriculum challenges.
Experience in curriculum design, qualification development, programme review, academic quality assurance or the design of industry-aligned learning solutions.
A strong and current understanding of the South African banking and financial services environment, supported by awareness of global developments affecting the sector.
Knowledge and skills
Deep knowledge of banking and financial services, including the interaction between banking strategy, operations, technology, risk, regulation, customers and people.
Ability to connect banking subject matter expertise with sound curriculum design, assessment practice and student-centred learning.
Ability to lead robust academic and industry conversations and influence change in learning approaches and delivery methods.
Proven leadership, mentoring and stakeholder-management capability.
Strong communication and facilitation skills, including the ability to build faculty capability through workshops and constructive design conversations.
Insight into educational technologies and willingness to explore emerging technologies responsibly.
Ability to analyse evidence, industry signals and programme data to inform curriculum decisions and continuous improvement.
Active engagement in research or professional thought leadership. Relevant academic or industry publications will be beneficial.
Ability to establish and sustain collaborative initiatives with industry partners.
Preferred experience
Experience across one or more of retail banking, business banking, corporate banking, risk, credit, compliance, anti-money laundering, foreign exchange, payments, digital banking, fintech or financial inclusion.
Experience engaging banking regulators, professional bodies, industry associations or sector education and training bodies.
Expertise in emerging areas such as artificial intelligence in financial services, data-driven decision-making, digital banking ecosystems, cybersecurity, sustainable finance or customer-centred banking innovation.
An established professional network within banking and financial services that can support industry engagement, curriculum validation and applied learning opportunities.
Experience designing learning for both formal qualifications and corporate or executive education contexts.
Competencies
Alignment with Milpark’s values and strong business ethics
Passion for education and industry-relevant learning
Persuasive, assertive and able to influence constructively
Professional, reliable and quality orientated
Service orientated and student centred
Able to plan, prioritise and work effectively under pressure
Collaborative team player with strong listening and communication skills
High level of attention to accuracy and quality
Intellectually curious, future focused and comfortable navigating ambiguity
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