Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor

SOAS University of London is a world-leading specialist university, renowned for its scholarship across the arts, humanities, social sciences and law as they relate to Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Based in the heart of Bloomsbury, we are home to around 5,500 students from some 120 countries on campus, a further 3,000 online, and around 532 academic staff. Our mission is to be an excellent, research-intensive university that challenges established hierarchies of knowledge and equips our students to build a socially and globally just future.

Since 1916, SOAS has brought together regional expertise, disciplinary depth and language study to illuminate the world's past, present and future, from democracy and development to human rights, religion and social change. In REF 2021, 87% of our research was rated world-leading or internationally excellent, with more than half of our disciplines in the UK top ten. We have 13 subjects in the global top 100, including Development Studies, ranked second in the world, and we rose 53 places to joint 458th in the QS World University Rankings 2027.

Our Strategic Plan 2026–30 sets out a bold vision for the University. We are deepening engagement with our specialist regions, pioneering world-class research and championing equitable international partnerships, with research-led teaching and the student experience at the heart of everything we do. Building on our TEF Silver rating and guided by Education Plan 2030, we have introduced semesterisation, launched a reimagined online offer, and invested in student-facing systems and our campus.

The Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) is a crucial appointment for SOAS's future. Working closely with the Vice-Chancellor and deputising as required, the Provost will provide academic and strategic leadership across our colleges. They will hold institutional responsibility for teaching and learning, including curriculum reform and decolonisation, student success, closing awarding gaps, and online and blended learning. They will also play a central role in securing SOAS's long-term financial sustainability, and will sit on both the Board of Trustees and the Executive Board.

We are seeking an outstanding individual with the credibility, vision and leadership to shape the next chapter of SOAS's story. You will bring senior strategic leadership experience in higher education, a sustained contribution to research in your own discipline, and a track record of leading organisation-wide change. You will understand the challenges and opportunities of small, specialist institutions, and you will build trust with students, staff, trade unions and external partners. Above all, you will share our commitment to decolonisation, diversity and inclusion, and be energised at the prospect of being part of such a special and distinctive institution.

We would particularly welcome applications from candidates from working-class, first-generation Higher Education, Black, Asian, other minority ethnic and underrepresented groups from within the UK and beyond. All appointment decisions will be made on merit, following a fair and competitive process.

For details of the appointment, including further information about the job description, person specification and how to apply, please visit https://PLusPortal.PerrettLaver.com quoting reference 8611.

Closing Date: 9^th November 2026.

Advert information