Dr Julia Smith started her academic career in the Centre for Research into Industry, Enterprise, Finance and the Firm (CRIEFF), Department of Economics, University of St Andrews, in 1993, as a Research Assistant, Associate then Fellow. She worked on a number of research projects under the guidance of the Director of CRIEFF, Professor Gavin C Reid. She then went on to a Postdoctoral Research appointment with Professor James Foreman-Peck, at the Institute of Economics and Statistics, University of Oxford, where she was also a member of St Antony's College. From there, Dr Smith moved to Cardiff Business School, University of Wales Cardiff, where she was a Lecturer then Senior Lecturer in the Accounting & Finance Division. She has been a Reader in Accounting & Finance at the University of Strathclyde since 2006.

Dr Smith's research interests are in the area of management accounting, venture capital, and small business. She has worked on interdisciplinary projects with academics in accounting, finance and economics. Her current research covers work on management accounting in SMEs, venture capital decisions in high-technology investments, and entrepreneurial orientation in social enterprises. She has recently been funded by the Fondation Maison des Sciences de l'Homme DEA scheme (Paris) for visiting scholars, to develop research collaborations in France. She has also been awarded $13,850 from the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA), New Jersey, for a project on 'Making the case for business investment'. She has been appointed a Panel Advisor to REF 2029, as a member of the REF Secretariat on Main Panel C (Social Sciencers).

Dr Smith is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (FCMA), A Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA) and was a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, manufactures and commerce (FRSA, 2000-23), and Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Her teaching interests are in management accounting, financial management, and accounting & financial management for smaller enterprises. Until March 2022 she was Director of Research for Accounting & Finance at Strathclyde, and on the Faculty and University Research Committees.

She was recently on research leave as an academic visitor at the University of Angers and Visiting Professor at ESSCA School of Management in Angers, France.

As a qualified Chartred Management Accountant (FCMA CGMA), Dr Smith's teaching interests are in: management accounting, financial management, and accounting & financial management for smaller enterprises. She was until recently Director of the MSc in International Accounting & Finance and remains responsible for PhD applications in Accounting at Strathclyde.