Opened in 2006, Xi’an Jiao Tong-Liverpool University (XJTLU), the largest joint venture in China (XJTLU, 2019a), has grown rapidly in the intervening period, from initially teaching in a single building to now running two Suzhou campuses and an affiliated campus in the satellite city of Taicang. As an English Medium of Instruction (EMI) educational provider, English clearly plays a paramount role at this institution, and its teaching is provided at one of the largest language centres in Asia. The English Language Centre (ELC), formerly the Language Centre (LC), therefore has to employ a considerable number of staff, a high proportion of whom are expatriates. Unfortunately, the ELC, which now resides within the School of Languages, has experienced a prolonged period of upheaval, uncertainty and discontinuity, culminating in a formal complaint being lodged against the then leadership and a series of resignations and departures towards the end of 2019. Against this background and in the hope of providing insightful understanding of expatriate teachers’ lived experience this research project considers the employment motives and job satisfaction of expatriate ELC teachers covering a range of service periods. This research has a strong significance for teacher development in a globalised Higher Education (HE) sector as employment motivation and subsequent job satisfaction are core determinants to job retention and academic well-being. Besides the financial and time costs of recruitment initiatives, there is the damage of high turnover, as much for those who remain as those who depart. Therefore, a better understanding of these under researched employment and educational domains, in an institution which would consequently benefit, demonstrates the practical and academic value underpinning this study. It also comes from studying an under researched institutional type and demographic group in an increasingly important and competitive transnational field. Additional academic value comes from having conducted an extensive literature review and determined that new conceptual frameworks were warranted for both employment motivation and job satisfaction. By adopting an exploratory interpretive research design, and drawing on the insights of 20 practitioners, through administering semi-structured interviews, this study seeks to better understand staff feelings and their perceptions of working experiences. The results suggest that while the institution has a number of appealing points for prospective and current staff, such as their co-workers, the students and the employment package, attention is needed in areas such as recognition, progression and leadership. This is because positive features were being overshadowed by negative aspects, which had tilted the equilibrium for the worse and led to a number of staff either considering departing or actually leaving. This study offers useful insights for educational providers, policy makers, leaders and educators
