SOAS University of London is hiring a Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education). The job is permanent and full time, based at the SOAS campus in Bloomsbury, central London. The Provost works closely with the Vice-Chancellor, deputises for him when needed, leads teaching and learning across the university’s colleges, and sits on both the Board of Trustees and the Executive Board. The SOAS Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor job closes at 9:00am GMT on Monday 9 November 2026, and formal panel interviews are set for the week commencing 25 January 2027.
You apply through the executive search firm Perrett Laver, quoting reference 8611. The Times Higher Education (THE) advert does not give a salary figure. The jobs.ac.uk version of the same advert places the post on SOAS Grade 10, a professorial appointment. Below I explain what the role covers, who SOAS wants, how the search is likely to run, how to write the supporting letter, and how this post compares with other senior UK roles open right now.
SOAS Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor job: key facts
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Employer | SOAS University of London (Executive Office) |
| Location | Bloomsbury, central London, United Kingdom |
| Job title | Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) |
| Contract | Permanent, full time |
| Works with | The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Adam Habib, whom the Provost deputises for |
| Board seats | Board of Trustees and Executive Board |
| Salary | No figure published. jobs.ac.uk lists “Grade 10 (Professorial appointment)” |
| Search firm | Perrett Laver, reference 8611 |
| Informal enquiries | May Charrat, Research Associate, Perrett Laver (May.Charrat@perrettlaver.com) |
| Advert posted | 13 to 14 October 2026 (jobs.ac.uk and THE) |
| Closing date | 9:00am GMT, Monday 9 November 2026 |
| Formal interviews | Week commencing 25 January 2027 |
| Visa sponsorship | Not mentioned in the advert |
Morning deadline
The closing time is 9:00am GMT on Monday 9 November 2026, not midnight. If you plan to finish over the weekend, aim to submit by Friday 6 November. Applicants in West Africa are on GMT or GMT+1, so 9:00am GMT is 9:00am in Accra and 10:00am in Lagos.
Why SOAS is filling the post now
SOAS announced on 23 June 2026 that Professor Joanna Newman, its Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education), would leave in September 2026 to become Vice-Chancellor of Goldsmiths, University of London. Professor Elisa Van Waeyenberge, Dean of the College of Social Sciences, became Interim Provost from September. SOAS’s Executive Board page lists her as Interim Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) and Provost. This search is to find the permanent replacement.
That history tells you two things. First, the job has been a route to a vice-chancellorship, which says something about its weight. Second, an internal interim is in post, so expect a strong internal field alongside external candidates. That should push you to make your letter about SOAS specifically, because a generic senior leadership letter will lose to someone who already knows the institution.
About SOAS University of London
SOAS received its royal charter on 5 June 1916 and admitted its first students in January 1917. It is a member institution of the federal University of London and sits near Russell Square in Bloomsbury. It specialises in the study of Africa, Asia and the Middle East, which is why so many readers in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and South Asia already know the name. Its alumni include the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
The advert describes a university of about 5,500 on-campus students from around 120 countries, plus 3,000 online students and about 532 academic staff. Other recent figures:
| Measure | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| THE World University Rankings 2027 | 401 to 450 | Times Higher Education SOAS profile |
| QS World University Rankings by Subject 2026 | Development Studies 2nd in the world; Politics 16th; Anthropology 19th; History of Art 24th | SOAS news, 25 March 2026 |
| QS Europe Rankings 2026 | 2nd in the UK for international faculty | SOAS news, 28 January 2026 |
| REF 2021 | 87% of research rated world-leading or internationally excellent | THE advert |
| Teaching Excellence Framework | Silver | THE advert |
| International students | 39% | THE 2027 profile data |
The strategy you would deliver
SOAS launched its 2026 to 2030 strategy on 27 January 2026, after the Board of Trustees approved it in July 2025. It puts financial sustainability at its core and names six areas of focus: growing postgraduate recruitment, widening access and course choice, redirecting spending towards priorities, expanding partnerships, reshaping the academic structure and how academics are represented, and building sustainability into operations. An Education Plan and a Research Plan sit under it. The advert says the Strategic Plan 2026 to 2030 and the Education Plan 2030 guide the Provost’s work. Both are on the SOAS website, and you should read them before you write a word.
SOAS also reorganised its departments into three colleges in 2022, each led by a head of college. The Provost leads academic work across those colleges.
Responsibilities of the SOAS Provost
The advert sets out the role in broad terms. In practice the Provost will:
- Deputise for the Vice-Chancellor: work closely with Professor Adam Habib and stand in for him as required.
2. Lead academic strategy: give academic and strategic leadership across SOAS’s colleges.
3. Own teaching and learning: hold institutional responsibility for education, including curriculum reform and decolonisation.
4. Drive student success: lead work on student outcomes and on closing awarding gaps between groups of students.
5. Grow online and blended learning: SOAS already has about 3,000 online students, and the advert names this area directly.
6. Secure the finances: play a central role in SOAS’s long-term financial sustainability.
7. Govern: sit on the Board of Trustees and the Executive Board.
The words “reports to” do not appear in the advert. The structure on SOAS’s governance pages suggests the Provost is one of three Deputy Vice-Chancellors under the Vice-Chancellor, alongside the Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Finance and Operations and the Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research and Knowledge Exchange. This post owns education. Research has its own DVC.
Requirements: who SOAS is looking for
The advert has no essential and desirable split. It lists the qualities below, and the person specification on the Perrett Laver portal will set out the formal criteria.
- Senior strategic leadership in higher education: experience at Pro Vice-Chancellor, Executive Dean or Deputy Vice-Chancellor level is the realistic benchmark.
- A sustained research contribution in your own discipline: SOAS describes itself as research-intensive, so a scholarly record matters here more than at many teaching-led universities.
- Organisation-wide change: a record of leading change across a whole institution, beyond a single faculty.
- Small, specialist institutions: an understanding of the pressures and openings that come with being a small specialist university.
- Trust across groups: the ability to build trust with students, staff, trade unions and external partners. Few adverts name unions at all, so expect a question on how you work with them.
- Decolonisation, diversity and inclusion: the advert puts this “above all”, so treat it as the first thing the panel will look for.
SOAS also says it particularly welcomes applications from working-class and first-generation graduates and from Black, Asian, minority ethnic and other underrepresented groups, in the UK and abroad. Appointments are made on merit.
Salary for the SOAS Provost role
THE lists the salary as not stated. jobs.ac.uk lists the post as Grade 10, professorial appointment. SOAS has not published a figure or range with the advert.
For context only, and not as the advertised salary: at many UK universities Grade 10 sits above the top of the national 51-point pay spine, and professorial and senior executive pay is set individually. SOAS publishes a senior staff remuneration policy on its website. If pay matters to your decision, ask Perrett Laver about the expected range in your informal conversation. Search firms expect that question.
Visa sponsorship and right to work
The advert says nothing about visa sponsorship. If you are not a UK or Irish citizen and do not already hold UK settled status or another right to work, raise this with Perrett Laver at the start. Senior academic posts can usually be filled through the UK’s Skilled Worker or Global Talent routes, but whether SOAS will sponsor this post is the employer’s decision, and the advert does not say. Do not assume either way.
How to apply for the SOAS Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor job
- Open the candidate pack: go to PLusPortal.PerrettLaver.com and search for reference 8611. The job description and person specification are there, along with the exact application instructions.
2. Have an informal conversation: email May Charrat at Perrett Laver to arrange a confidential call. Ask about the panel’s priorities, the salary range and sponsorship.
3. Prepare your documents: the THE advert does not list them. For UK senior searches through Perrett Laver this is normally a full CV and a covering letter that addresses the person specification, plus diversity monitoring. Follow the pack exactly, including any page limits.
4. Submit on the portal: upload through the Perrett Laver portal quoting 8611, or use “Apply on website” on the THE listing, which leads to the same route.
5. Hold the January dates: keep the week of 25 January 2027 free for the formal panel. Shortlisted candidates may also meet staff, students and trade union representatives before then.
How the selection process usually runs
Perrett Laver has not published the full timetable beyond the interview week. A typical UK search at this level runs like this:
- Longlist (November): the firm reviews applications against the person specification and may hold preliminary interviews.
2. Shortlist (December): a panel, likely chaired by the Vice-Chancellor and including trustees, chooses the shortlist.
3. Stakeholder sessions: shortlisted candidates often meet colleges, students and staff groups. At SOAS, expect union representatives to be part of this.
4. Formal interviews (week of 25 January 2027): usually a presentation on a set question, then panel questions.
5. Offer and references: references are usually taken late. Senior notice periods are often three to six months, so a start in spring or summer 2027 is realistic.
How to write your covering letter
The panel will read the letter against the person specification, so use it as your structure. Here is an order that works:
- Opening paragraph: your current role, its scale (students, staff, budget) and why SOAS, in four or five sentences.
2. Education leadership: one concrete example of curriculum reform, with a measurable result.
3. Awarding gaps and student success: what you did, what changed in the data and over what period.
4. Decolonisation and inclusion: show work you have led, not values you hold. Name the change, who it involved and what it achieved.
5. Finance and change: a hard decision you made on courses or budgets and how you took staff with you.
6. Unions and trust: an example of working through a dispute or a difficult consultation.
7. Research: a short paragraph on your own scholarship and how you keep it going.
8. Close: what you would focus on in your first year, tied to the 2026 to 2030 strategy.
A sample opening, for illustration only: “As Pro Vice-Chancellor for Education at [university], I led a curriculum review across [number] programmes that cut the awarding gap for Black students by [figure] points in three years, and I would bring that work to SOAS’s Education Plan 2030.”
Common mistakes
- Leaving decolonisation as a line in the last paragraph: the advert puts it first. So should you.
- Sending a research CV: lead with leadership roles and their scale. Put publications in a short selected list.
- Ignoring the money: the advert ties the role to financial sustainability. A letter with no numbers on budgets looks thin.
- Skipping the informal call: it is the only way to learn what the panel weighs most.
- Missing the morning deadline: 9:00am GMT on a Monday catches people out.
- Paying anyone to “process” your application: Perrett Laver and SOAS charge nothing to apply.
Who should apply and who shouldn’t
You should apply if you are a serving Pro Vice-Chancellor for Education, Executive Dean or Deputy Vice-Chancellor with a research record in a discipline SOAS teaches, real work on awarding gaps or decolonising curricula, and experience of leading through financial pressure. Senior academics from African and Asian universities with strong records in these areas are exactly the kind of applicant the advert invites. Explain your institution’s size and your remit clearly for a UK panel.
You probably shouldn’t apply if your highest role is head of department, if your leadership is mainly in research rather than education, or if you have never managed a budget or led staff through a restructure. You also shouldn’t apply if you cannot move to London or make the January interview week. If you are earlier in your career, look at research fellowships such as the KWI International Fellowships, and keep your CV in good shape with our Europass CV guide.
How this role compares with other senior UK university jobs
| Role | University | Salary as advertised | Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dean of the College of Social Sciences | SOAS University of London | Not stated | 9 November 2026 |
| President | City St George’s, University of London | Not stated | 9 November 2026 |
| Pro Vice-Chancellor (Education and Student Success) | University of Bradford | Competitive | 13 November 2026 |
| Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost | Leeds Trinity University | Not stated | 22 November 2026 |
The Bradford post is the closest match in scope, since it is also an education portfolio. The Leeds Trinity role has the same title but at a smaller, teaching-led university. Our post on the Bournemouth University Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost job explains how UK titles such as Provost, DVC and PVC differ.
Living and working in London
London is one of the most expensive cities in the UK. Housing is the biggest cost, and rents near Bloomsbury are among the highest in the capital, so many staff commute from outer boroughs. Check current rents on the main UK property sites and compare them with the salary range Perrett Laver gives you before you accept an interview. If you are moving from abroad, budget for visa and Immigration Health Surcharge costs if you need sponsorship, and ask whether SOAS offers relocation support.
FAQs about the SOAS Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor job
What is the salary for the SOAS Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor?
No figure is published. jobs.ac.uk lists the post as Grade 10, professorial appointment. Ask Perrett Laver for the range.
When is the deadline for the SOAS Provost job?
9:00am GMT on Monday 9 November 2026. Formal interviews take place in the week commencing 25 January 2027.
Does SOAS offer visa sponsorship for this role?
The advert does not mention sponsorship. Raise it with Perrett Laver early if you need it.
How do I apply for the SOAS Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor job?
Go to the Perrett Laver portal at PLusPortal.PerrettLaver.com and quote reference 8611. Informal enquiries go to May Charrat at Perrett Laver.
Sources and updates
I checked this post on 29 October 2026 against the Times Higher Education Unijobs listing and the same advert on jobs.ac.uk, which gives the Grade 10 detail. The vacancy background comes from SOAS’s news release of 23 June 2026 on Professor Joanna Newman’s move to Goldsmiths, and the current leadership from SOAS’s Executive Board page. Strategy details come from SOAS’s 27 January 2026 announcement of its 2026 to 2030 strategy. Rankings come from SOAS’s QS news releases of January and March 2026 and the Times Higher Education SOAS profile. The full candidate pack on the Perrett Laver portal was not reviewed here, so check it for the documents list and page limits. I will update this page if the deadline or interview dates change.
I am Jude Chinecherem, a final-year MBBS student at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. I know what it feels like to want an education your family cannot afford. When my parents could not pay for my schooling, I had to learn how to find scholarships and work the system out on my own, with nobody to guide me. I came out the other side, and now I share everything I learned so the next student does not have to figure it out alone. This is the advice I wish someone had given me back then.
