Contact
Email Ranel Miranda at r.miranda@leeds.ac.uk
I bring the boardroom into the classroom. Before moving into higher education I advised on mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transactions across multiple sectors, built a five-year strategic growth model for Bosch's electric vehicle division and consulted on risk and compliance at Grant Thornton. That industry grounding shapes how I teach – I don't just explain frameworks; I show students where they break down, where they hold up and how real decisions get made under pressure.
My role
As a Teaching Fellow on the Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeship (CMDA) programme at the University of Leeds I work with aspiring business leaders who are navigating professional life and academic study at the same time. I design and deliver lectures, workshops and seminars and provide one-on-one mentoring to help students connect theory to the challenges they face at work every day. I collaborate with industry partners to keep the programme relevant and assess students through coursework, presentations and research projects that demand both rigour and practicality.
Prior to joining Leeds I taught business and finance across a range of higher education settings. I served as module leader for multiple business and finance disciplines at University Academy 92, collaborating with Ernst & Young to integrate real-world insight into the curriculum and supervising undergraduate dissertations. At Lancaster University Management School I worked as a Research and Teaching Associate, supporting MSc modules and delivering business strategy research. I have also lectured on business, marketing, strategy and entrepreneurship at Oxford Royale Academy, part of the University of Oxford's summer programmes.
My academic specialisms span corporate strategy, strategic management, project management, marketing, business model innovation, risk governance, organisation behaviour and M&A. I integrate applied business decision-making frameworks into my teaching, drawing on both scholarly literature and industry experience. I am passionate about inclusive, evidence-based pedagogy and am currently on track for a Fellowship in the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).
My research sits at the intersection of corporate strategy, M&A and executive leadership, particularly the behavioural and organisational dynamics that shape high-stakes decision-making. My most recent publication, ‘Unpacking Deal Fatigue in Acquisitions from the Perspectives of Investment Bankers’, appeared in the August 2025 edition of the Research in Business and Economics Journal. I am currently developing a paper in collaboration with scholars at California State University examining CEO leadership archetypes across U.S. industries, expected for publication in 2026 or 2027. I also served as a reviewer for the Academy of International Business (AIB) Annual Conference in 2026, reflecting my engagement with the international business research community.
Away from Leeds I am AI and Strategy Consultant and Head of Growth UK and Europe for Think Aurelius, a UK-US AI strategy consultancy, where I advise organisations on AI adoption, integration and ethical implementation. I hold an MSc in Strategy from Lancaster University, an MBA in Leadership and Management, a Level 5 Diploma in Education and Training (RQF) and I am a Chartered Manager (CMgr MCMI).