Job title: Lecturer (Assistant Professor) / Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) position focused on the Politics of China.
Department: Politics and International Studies
Contract Type: Permanent
Grade: 8/Ac3 - 9/Ac4
Salary: Lecturer (£51,902.57 - £61,048.57) Senior Lecturer (£62,738.57 - £71,981.57) per annum inclusive of London Allowance.
Location: Bloomsbury, Camden, Greater London
Hours: 35
SOAS University of London is the leading Higher Education institution in Europe specialising in the study of Asia, Africa and the Near and Middle East. SOAS University of London is positioned to play a leading role in reimagining higher education globally, with a new strategic plan in place as the basis for the renewal and revitalisation of the School which commits SOAS to both student responsiveness and research intensity. SOAS is moving towards a new model of international partnerships which is responsive to the transnational character of our global challenges.
About the Role
The Department of Politics and International Studies is pleased to invite applications for a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) / Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) position focused on the Politics of China.
The appointee will strengthen and work with the Department’s active group of East Asia-focused scholars, contributing to—and shaping—the Department’s research profile as well as delivery of our undergraduate and postgraduate degrees.
Apart from the publication of outstanding academic research, the role holder will convene and teach both general and specialist modules (individually and with others), advise both undergraduate and postgraduate dissertations, supervise PhD theses (pending completion of a probationary period), and provide pastoral care for students. The role holder will also be expected to work in a collegial and collaborative manner with both academic and non-academic staff across the Department and the School.
Alongside a thematic specialism and regional expertise focused on the politics of modern China, some experience running online modules and executive education, as well as engagement with non-academic audiences, will be beneficial.
You can find further information on the key criteria for the role in the Job Description and Person Specification, along with a full list of duties and responsibilities, which can be found on the SOAS website
About the Department
Within SOAS, the Department of Politics and International Studies is a world-leading, research-led department, ranked 3rd globally for its outstanding “Academic Reputation” (QS World University Rankings 2025).
The Department of Politics and International Studies is currently one of the largest at SOAS. It is known for its research-based engagement with the political realities of Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, and for providing innovative and challenging perspectives on these realities.
Our academic staff, together with our research students, work across a wide spectrum of global, international, regional, and theoretical issues, including international security, international organisations, international political economy, diplomacy, and migration, as well as comparative political theory, the politics of regimes and resistance, cultural identity, urban politics, climate change, and violence.
We are an exceptionally diverse department with expertise in both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Most of our faculty members have regional and theoretical interests, a command of one or more languages in the regions they study, and substantial fieldwork experience.
One of our core commitments lies in fostering a supportive learning environment for our students. There are currently about 1,250 students enrolled on the Department’s on-campus degree programmes. The majority study for a BA in Politics (or Politics with another subject) or a BA in International Relations (or International Relations with another subject). In addition, the Department hosts three postgraduate programmes: MSc Politics and International Relations, MSc Global Energy and Climate Policy, and MA International Studies and Diplomacy. The Department also delivers the MA Global Diplomacy online programme.
N.b. Our MSc Politics and International Relations programme appeals to generalists as well as those with specific thematic and/or regional interests, offering distinctive pathways focused on Comparative Political Theory; International Politics and Security; Conflict, Rights, and Justice; and the Politics and International Relations of Africa; the Middle East; South Asia; Southeast Asia; East Asia; and Central Asia.
Nurturing multiple research-oriented events every week, the Department hosts interdisciplinary research centres/clusters focused on International Studies and Diplomacy as well as Comparative Political Thought; International Politics and Security; Conflict, Rights, and Justice; and (more generally) the politics and international relations of Asia; Africa; and the Middle East.