This qualitative research aims to identify faculty-wide competencies for the purpose of faculty development in the Vietnamese higher education context. Combining with the critical incident method, this study conducted in-depth interviews with senior faculty members and educational leaders at Vietnam's public higher education institutions to identify key areas for Vietnamese academics to improve their professional competence. In light of the competency-based approach, the study classifies competencies for faculty development into five domains: "specialty-related," "teaching," "research," "personal development," and "communication domains." Drawing on the study's findings and domestic and international sources of references, we propose a general competency-based professional development framework that aims to guide faculty development initiatives at multiple levels. While focusing on Vietnam, this research contributes to broadening our knowledge of educational quality improvement and faculty development efforts in the changing context of higher education globally.