Jose Maria Conde

José M. Conde is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA, 2025) and Assistant Professor at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, where he has worked since 2009. His career sits at the intersection of academic leadership, international education, and professional translation and interpreting practice.

José's connection to Erasmus mobility spans his own career: he was an Erasmus student at the Université Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris (1999–2000), before going on to serve as Director of Studies for Incoming Exchange Students at Heriot-Watt, where he set up, developed and maintained Erasmus exchange agreements with universities across the EU and led academic support for hundreds of incoming students. He represents the university in its relations with external bodies including DG SCIC (the European Commission's interpreting service), the European Parliament, CIUTI, and the Spanish Consulate in Edinburgh, and has helped the area navigate periods of major institutional change, including Brexit and COVID-19.

Since 2024, José has been Programme Director for the Postgraduate Translation and Interpreting programme, leading the programme team on curriculum development, assessment design, quality assurance and the student experience, and previously led the Spanish team as Head of Spanish. Alongside his academic role, he maintains close ties to professional practice as a freelance conference interpreter, working since 2003 across Spain, France, the UK and internationally, including at COP26 (Glasgow, 2021).

José holds an MA in Translation & Interpreting from the University of Granada (2001–2004) and an MA in English Language & Literature from the University of Seville (1994–2000). He is an Associate Member of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI, 2023–present) and has received Heriot-Watt's Graduate Teaching Award (2013, 2017) and Award for Teaching Innovation (2019).