<p>The role of leadership in shaping employees’ job satisfaction has received considerable attention in higher education research. However, limited empirical work has examined how leadership is associated with job satisfaction within private higher education institutions (PHEIs), particularly in resource-constrained contexts such as Tanzania. This study examines the influence of transformational leadership on job satisfaction among academic staff in three Tanzanian PHEIs. Guided by a pragmatic research paradigm and a mixed methods approach, the study involved a sample of 300 academic staff. Quantitative data were collected through structured questionnaires adapted from established scales, while qualitative data were obtained through face-to-face semi-structured interviews with institutional leaders. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics and linear regression, while qualitative data were analysed thematically to provide contextual insights. The findings indicate a positive association between perceived transformational leadership and academic staff job satisfaction. The qualitative results further suggest that leadership practices characterized by support, clear expectations, recognition, and professional development opportunities are linked with more positive staff perceptions. These insights highlight the importance of considering both leadership behaviours and institutional conditions in understanding job satisfaction in private universities. Given the cross-sectional and self-reported nature of the data, the findings should be interpreted as indicative of associations rather than causal relationships. The study contributes to the literature by providing context-sensitive evidence on how transformational leadership relates to job satisfaction within private higher education institutions operating under resource constraints.</p>