Assistant professor in Business Administration with a focus on sustainable business and organizational resilience

We are looking for an up-and-coming researcher who wants to conduct pioneering research to take up a position as Assistant professor in Business Administration with a focus on sustainable business and organizational resilience.

What we offer the successful candidate

Do you want to become a research leader of tomorrow through pioneering projects and research ideas? If so, you now have the opportunity to start as an assistant professor (associate senior lecturer) as part of Lund University Programme for Global Excellence.

The Department of Business Administration invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor in business administration with a focus on sustainable business and organizational resilience. The position is embedded in the university’s strategic commitment to sustainable development. It targets international candidates whose research advances the understanding of how firms and organizations manage risks, build resilience, and engage in responsible governance in the context of major sustainability challenges.

Global sustainability challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and resource scarcity are increasingly recognized as systemic risks with implications for business, financial stability, and global value chains. At the same time, intensifying geopolitical tensions, shifting patterns of globalization, emerging industrial and security strategies, and evolving regulatory frameworks are reshaping the conditions under which firms operate and compete.

These developments create new tensions between openness and protection, efficiency and resilience, and short-term competitive pressures and long-term sustainability goals. Understanding how firms navigate these tensions, across global value chains, innovation systems, and institutional environments, is a central research challenge. At the same time, rapid technological transformation is reshaping the conditions for research itself, making large-scale data increasingly accessible and enabling new forms of analysis through artificial intelligence. We therefore seek candidates who combine strong expertise in business administration and sustainable development with demonstrated experience in advanced quantitative methods, large-scale data analysis, and the use of AI in research.

As an assistant professor you will develop your qualifications over a period of 4 years after which you may be promoted to a tenured position as a senior lecturer, with opportunities for further career advancement You will receive five weeks of training in teaching and learning in higher education and get the opportunity to learn Swedish through the University’s Swedish language courses for new international staff. As you prepare to move to Sweden, we offer you support through our relocation service, and if you’re bringing your family, they’ll receive support and make new connections through Lund’s International Citizen Hub who provides a gateway to Swedish society and your new community.

At the turn of the year 2026/2027, Sweden's largest scientific funder, the Swedish Research Council, will announce attractive funding for Assistant Professors with an international background. Our ambition is that all appointments within the framework of the Lund University Programme for Global Excellence will be nominated for this funding. Read more about the Swedish Research Council here.

Ready to shape the future of research? Learn more about why Lund University might be the right choice for you here and learn more about working in Sweden here. These films will also give you more information about Working at Lund University School of Economics and Management, Moving to Lund and Living in Lund.

Read more about the University joint announcement: https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/lund-university-programme-global-excellence

The Department of Business Administration is a multidisciplinary research environment, reflecting the multidisciplinarity of business administration and the diversity of research traditions characterizing the academic field and the study of organizations in a broad societal perspective. You can read more about the Department and our research here.

Duties – what we expect from you

We want you to thrive at Lund University and be able to make the best of your time at the Lund University and the Department of Business Administration. As an assistant professor, you will therefore have the opportunity to engage whole-heartedly in the research you are passionate about. You are expected to generate new knowledge on how firms anticipate, absorb, and adapt to complex and cascading disruptions in a global environment shaped by geoeconomic and geopolitical change and rapid financial transformation.

As the holder of this position, most of your time will be allocated for your own research in collaboration with strong research environments, research infrastructures and international platforms. The position includes 60% research, 30% teaching, and 10% other duties including training in teaching and learning in higher education and Swedish.

In addition to conducting research, during your time as an Assistant Professor you will also develop your teaching expertise, outreach and collaboration skills, along with Swedish language proficiency. Throughout your employment, you are an active member of your department and participant in its diverse work. You will contribute to and strengthen the department’s ongoing development of AI-integrated research and business education, including the integration of AI-enabled analytical and managerial approaches across business disciplines.

We hope that one of your first duties will be to conduct an innovative research project that is funded by the Swedish Research Council.

Qualifications for employment as an assistant professor

You hold a doctoral degree or have corresponding research expertise in business administration or a sub-discipline of business administration, for example, business finance, entrepreneurship and innovation studies, financial and management accounting, management, marketing, organizational studies, and strategic management. We will primarily prioritise those applicants who have obtained a doctoral degree within the last 5 years from the closing date for applications for the position. If you have official documentation proving that there are special circumstances— such as parental leave, military service or illness, after graduating - that have prevented you from working as a researcher, the doctoral degree in the subject can in such cases have been awarded earlier. In this case, you must include this documentation with your application.

Requirements – what you must have

To be able to be appointed as an assistant professor within the framework of Lund University Programme for Global Excellence, the applicant must have:

• A good ability to initiate, develop and implement high-quality research
• Good teaching ability
• Recent and relevant experience from research in business administration or a sub-discipline of business administration, for example, business finance, entrepreneurship and innovation studies, financial and management accounting, management, marketing, organizational studies, and strategic management outside Sweden
• Demonstrated experience in advanced quantitative methods, large-scale data analysis, and AI-enabled approaches to address complex research questions
• A project description for an innovative project within research in sustainable business and organizational resilience, that you submit with your application. The project description is central to the assessment of candidates, and is expected to present a well-developed and ambitious research project demonstrating scientific quality, originality, feasibility, and relevance to the position
• Documented good leadership skills, e.g. through elected office assignments, leadership courses and assessed leadership skills
• Good communication skills
• Very good oral and written English language skills
• A motivation for and the ability to learn Swedish
• Not received any renumeration or grant from Swedish employers or funding bodies from 31 December 2022 onwards

Additional qualifications – other credentials that we consider desirable  

We want you to thrive at Lund University and be able to make the best of your time at the Department of Business Administration, and for that reason we would like you to demonstrate that you can:

• Have experience of applying and obtaining research funding from funding bodies outside Sweden
• Have experience in collaborating with external stakeholders and contributing to societal impact
• Have other credentials, achievements, and awards demonstrating your scientific excellence
• Contribute in a positive way to the work environment
• Currently hold an international position in the research field

Form of employment

Fixed-term position, 4 years, in accordance with Chapter 4, Section 12a of the Higher Education Ordinance, with the opportunity for promotion to permanent employment as a senior lecturer.

Promotion – what is required to be promoted to senior lecturer

As an assistant professor, you can apply for promotion to permanent employment as a senior lecturer. If you apply for promotion, you will undergo a special assessment to determine if you fulfil the faculty’s requirements for employment as a senior lecturer. It is important for you to know that you can only apply once for promotion and that you must apply for promotion at least six months before your employment as an assistant professor ends.

When you apply for promotion, you will be assessed based on whether you have: 

• developed within your field during your time as an assistant professor
• good national and international standing as a researcher
  • High-quality research published in appropriate outlets and authored during your tenure period as assistant professor; one of the following conditions must be fulfilled: i) 1 publication at level 4* on the AJG list; ii) 2 publications at level 4 on the AJG list; or 3 publications at level 3 on the AJG list
  • One single-authored publication on the AJG list
  • Demonstrated ability to apply for and to obtain external funding, nationally and internationally
  • Active participation in the department and faculty research environment, for example, demonstrated through participating in and arranging seminars
  • Engagement in the broader international research community, such as participation in conferences and workshops, serving as a referee or expert, and other forms of scientific collaboration
• good teaching ability, which means a good ability to conduct, develop and lead teaching and other educational activities at different levels and using a variety of teaching methods
  • Completion of at least 5 weeks of training in teaching and learning in higher education
  • Teaching experience in higher education, at different levels and using a variety of teaching methods
  • Pedagogical competence, including the ability to plan, deliver, develop, and lead teaching and other educational activities, at different levels and using a variety of teaching methods
  • A well-considered and clearly articulated pedagogical philosophy, grounded in research and proven experience on teaching and learning in higher education
  • The ability to critically reflect on your teaching practice, including how teaching supports student learning and relative research and proven experience on teaching and learning in higher education
  • Experience in applying student-centred teaching approaches that promote active learning and student engagement
  • Good communication skills in teaching contexts, including the ability to engage students in dialogue and support their learning
  • A reflective and professional approach to teaching, with evidence of continuous pedagogical development
  • It is an advantage to have experience of pedagogical development work, including course or curriculum development, implementation of new teaching methods, and participation in peer review of teaching, such as teaching observations, course evaluations, or collegial feedback processes, and demonstrated ability to integrate feedback into teaching practice
• ability to participate in supervision of doctoral students to achieve a doctoral degree
  • Experience in supervising doctoral students, for example, as an assistant supervisor, teaching in doctoral courses, or other assignments related to doctoral education
• ability to engage with wider society and communicate your activities
  • Experience in engagement and communication, for example, collaborating with external stakeholders, participating in policy work, disseminating research results outside academia, or contributing to societal impact
• ability in other contexts to lead and develop activities
  • Experience in leadership roles, such as principal investigator in collaborative research projects, organizing conferences, seminar series, or holding administrative assignments

General requirements profile for a senior lecturer at Lund University School of Economics and Management are presented here:

https://www.lusem.lu.se/about-lund-university-school-economics-and-management-lusem/work-lund-university-school-economics-and-management/apply-academic-position-lusem

Application procedure

Please send in your application by clicking on the ”Apply for position” button in the upper right-hand column of the vacancy notice.

The application should be written in English.

LUSEM uses academic qualifications portfolio to document and present qualifications. Please submit your application in three separate PDF-files according to the template and instructions.

You find the template and the instructions here: 

• Intstructions to applicants: https://www.lusem.lu.se/sites/lusem.lu.se/files/2024-02/instructions-to-applicants-for-emlpoyment-as-professor-and-senior-lecturer-at-LUSEM.pdf
• Template academic qualifications portfolio (Word). If this link doesn't work, please try another browser. https://lusem.prodwebb8.lu.se/sites/lusem.lu.se/files/2024-02/template-a-g-qualification-portfolio-lusem.docx

Please let us know if you have any questions on how to write the application.