As President, you are the academic head of CODE University of Applied Sciences. You have overall responsibility for the university’s academic approach, its legal integrity, academic governance, and long-term development.
You are not a caretaker of the status quo. You are a steward of CODE’s mission, culture, and academic model-entrusted with preserving its DNA while guiding the institution through its next phase of growth, maturation, and impact.
You are the public face of CODE - equally at ease representing the university externally and present within its community day to day.
As a leading member of the Presidium, you shape CODE’s future in close cooperation with its stakeholders: students, alumni, faculty, academic senate, chancellor and boards, while safeguarding academic independence.
Your Responsibilities
Academic Leadership & Strategy
- Act as steward of CODE’s vision on learning and entrepreneurship.
- Further develop CODE’s academic approach and ensure its positioning as a leading entrepreneurship-focused university for digital innovation - with a distinctive learning model, culture, and values (“To empower digital pioneers”).
- Champion entrepreneurial thinking and acting as drivers for change and development in the world - positioning CODE's graduates and community as agents of positive societal impact
University Governance & Legal Responsibility
- Represent CODE in all matters of university law and ensure compliance with statutes and higher-education regulations.
- Prepare, chair, and implement resolutions of the relevant academic bodies, in particular the academic senate.
Academic Quality, Accreditation & Research
- Oversee and drive academic standards, quality assurance, and continuous improvement.
- Lead and oversee (re-)accreditation processes and ensure regulatory readiness as the university scales.
- Promote research activities and oversee the development and management of academic institutes and international cooperations.
Faculty & Academic Operations
- Inspire and enable faculty to fully live CODE's project-based, inquiry-driven, entrepreneurship-focused pedagogy.
- Provide leadership for academic colleagues, including responsibility for academic personnel matters within the statutory framework.
- Ensure that teaching and examination obligations are fulfilled, with the right to supervise and issue instructions where required.
Community, Culture & Representation
- Act as a credible ambassador for CODE’s model, values, and societal relevance.
- Cultivate close, visible relationships with students, alumni and faculty and strengthen a culture of trust, inclusion, and innovation.
- Represent CODE vis-à-vis the Berlin Senate, political stakeholders, the academic community, accreditation bodies, and partners from industry and the startup ecosystem.
Institutional Development & Growth
- As a leading member of the Presidium, co-shape the university strategy and contribute to the implementation of the business plan.
- Work closely with the chancellor and the academic senate to align academic strategy with sustainable institutional growth.
- Support the development of new educational formats consistent with CODE’s mission and quality standards.
Your Profile
Formal Eligibility
- You meet the statutory requirements for appointment as President under CODE’s Basic Regulations, i.e. a university degree and leadership experience.
- A doctoral degree and/or eligibility for appointment to a professorship under the Berliner Hochschulgesetz are highly welcome and strengthen your candidacy.
Leadership Experience
- Proven experience in leading an academic institution, a substantial academic unit, or a mission-driven organization in a complex governance environment.
- Demonstrated ability to balance academic freedom, legal compliance, and strategic development.
Stewardship Mindset
- You see the role of President not as an administrative position, but as institutional stewardship.
- You are passionate about reinventing learning and teaching for the age of AI, and bring a clear drive to further CODE's pedagogic approach.
- You are deeply committed to preserving and evolving CODE’s entrepreneurial DNA while professionalizing structures, processes, and governance.
- You are comfortable leading through influence, culture, and shared purpose rather than hierarchy.
Academic Track-Record & Entrepreneurial Affinity
- Teaching experience in modern higher-education pedagogy, such as project-based learning, inquiry-based learning, and constructive alignment.
- Genuine affinity with technology, design, entrepreneurship, and startup ecosystems-and the ability to engage founders, investors, and tech leaders as peers.
- Solid research experience proven with peer-reviewed publications in the field relevant to CODE.
Network & Communication
- Well connected within academia and capable of representing CODE credibly in regulatory and political contexts, or a strong embeddedness in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
- An inspiring communicator, equally comfortable in external representation and internal community building, who can connect students, faculty, partners, and political stakeholders around a shared mission.
Languages
- Fluency in English and German is required.
Why CODE
CODE offers a rare opportunity:
To lead a university that was designed from scratch for the digital age-and to shape its future at a moment where impact, scale, and institutional maturity converge.
If you believe universities should empower people to build, not just to know-and if you are motivated to steward a bold educational vision into its next chapter-we look forward to your application.
What you can expect:
- Fixed-Term contract (4 years).
- Full-time position (40 hours per week).
- Start Date: 01 March 2027
Application Process
Please submit your application (motivation letter + CV in one PDF) by May 31, 2026 through our portal: https://code.jobs.personio.de/
