Work at BOLO IT
Executive Director
The senior leader accountable for building BOLO IT — from institutional setup and curriculum through to campus, faculty and launch.
Build a technology institution for the global stage.
BOLO IT is seeking a PhD-qualified higher-education executive with proven experience establishing and running a comparable institution. The mandate is to build an academically rigorous, AI-enabled, Silicon Valley-inspired technology institution that prepares students in Cameroon to compete globally.
This page summarises the role. The full recruitment profile is available to download below.
- Location
- Cameroon
- Employment
- Full-time | Executive leadership
- Reports to
- Founder / Board of Directors
- Sector
- Higher education | Technology | Innovation
The institution
BOLO Institute of Technology is a technology-focused higher-education institution in Cameroon, architected around three pathways — Higher National Diploma, Bachelor's and Master's — and being developed to prepare technology professionals, innovators, researchers and entrepreneurs for opportunities in Cameroon, across Africa and internationally.
BOLO IT is being built around a distinctive educational model: rigorous academics combined with hands-on laboratories, real-world projects, internships, professional certifications, mentorship and instruction shaped by experienced technology practitioners. The institution is intentionally globally oriented, AI-enabled and Silicon Valley-inspired.
Our ambition
A student educated at BOLO IT in Cameroon should leave with the academic foundation, practical capability, AI fluency, professional exposure and confidence to compete with technology talent anywhere in the world.
The opportunity
The Executive Director is the senior leader responsible for translating this vision into a high-performing institution. During the first phase, the Executive Director will lead institutional setup, policies and procedures, curriculum development, faculty and staff recruitment, campus establishment, laboratory and technology readiness, partnerships, student recruitment and launch preparation. As BOLO IT matures, the role expands into overall accountability for academic quality, operations, student outcomes, institutional reputation, growth and sustainability.
Leadership mandate
- Build a modern higher-education institution — not simply administer an existing one.
- Create an academic environment where students learn by building, experimenting, collaborating, presenting and solving real problems.
- Integrate AI, cloud, software, data, cybersecurity and modern engineering practices into the student experience where academically appropriate.
- Establish a faculty model that combines academic excellence with accomplished industry practitioners.
- Build strong links to employers, universities, the African diaspora and global technology ecosystems, including Silicon Valley.
- Make graduate employability, practical competence and global competitiveness core institutional outcomes.
Core responsibilities
Institutional leadership & strategy
Provide executive leadership for the establishment, operation and growth of BOLO IT. Translate the mission and vision into strategic plans, governance, organizational structures, annual priorities, performance indicators and regular Board reporting.
Academic leadership & curriculum
Lead the design, implementation and continuous improvement of the institution's academic pathways and professional certification programs. Ensure academic rigor, regulatory alignment, practical learning, strong assessment standards and relevance to evolving technology and employer needs.
AI-enabled education & innovation
Establish AI as a core capability across the student and faculty experience. Develop responsible AI practices and ensure students learn how to use AI for engineering, research, analysis, productivity, problem-solving and entrepreneurship — not merely study AI conceptually.
Silicon Valley-inspired global experience
Translate the institution's Silicon Valley-inspired philosophy into tangible experiences through modern engineering practices, hackathons, product thinking, cloud platforms, Git/GitHub, agile methods, guest practitioners, mentorship, innovation challenges and international benchmarking.
Faculty & staff leadership
Design the staffing model and recruit qualified academic leaders, professors, lecturers, instructors, administrators and technical staff. Establish faculty standards, onboarding, development, evaluation and mechanisms for global practitioners to contribute.
Campus, labs & digital infrastructure
Lead selection and establishment of an appropriate campus. Define classroom, laboratory, connectivity, LMS, student-information, collaboration, security and hybrid-learning requirements, with strong emphasis on hands-on and virtual lab capability.
Governance, policies & quality assurance
Develop institutional policies covering admissions, records, examinations, academic integrity, faculty administration, HR, procurement, finance, IT, student conduct, data protection, research and quality assurance. Maintain readiness for regulatory reviews and inspections.
Partnerships & student success
Build university, employer, certification, research and technology partnerships. Develop internships, mentorship, career services, student recruitment and employment pathways, and measure retention, progression, certification, graduation and placement outcomes.
Financial & operational management
Develop budgets, staffing and infrastructure plans; establish disciplined financial controls and procurement practices; manage institutional risks; and ensure responsible stewardship of BOLO IT resources.
Required qualifications
- PhD or equivalent doctoral degree from a recognized institution, preferably in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, IT, Engineering, AI, Education, Higher Education Administration or a related discipline.
- Significant senior leadership experience within a university, institute of technology, polytechnic or comparable higher-education institution.
- Demonstrated experience establishing, launching or substantially developing a higher-education institution, campus, faculty, school or major academic unit.
- Demonstrated experience successfully running a similar institution or significant academic organization.
- Proven leadership of faculty, academic programs, institutional operations and curriculum at undergraduate and/or postgraduate levels.
- Strong knowledge of higher-education governance, quality assurance, accreditation, regulatory compliance and academic administration.
- Strong strategic, financial, operational, communication and stakeholder-management capability.
The leader we are looking for
The successful candidate must have the academic credibility to lead a higher-education institution and the entrepreneurial discipline to build systems, teams and partnerships where they do not yet exist.
- Academic credibility
- Can lead faculty and academic programs with intellectual and professional authority.
- Entrepreneurial leadership
- Comfortable building an institution, not simply inheriting established systems.
- Technology orientation
- Understands how AI and modern technology are changing education, engineering and employment.
- Global mindset
- Believes students in Cameroon should be prepared for opportunities without geographic limitations.
- Execution discipline
- Turns vision into teams, milestones, systems and measurable results.
- Student-centered leadership
- Measures success by what graduates can actually do, not only by qualifications awarded.
- Integrity & stewardship
- Protects academic standards, institutional reputation and resources.
Download the full recruitment profile
The full profile carries the six-month mandate, the success measures and the graduate profile in full.
Download the full recruitment profile (PDF)We believe world-class technology talent can be developed anywhere.
Interested?
Our ambition is to build one of Africa's leading technology institutions and develop graduates capable of competing with technology talent anywhere in the world.
Get in touch and we will send you the full recruitment profile and next steps.