SOAS appoints new Chief Operating Officer (COO)

17 June 2021

Following an open recruitment process, Khadir Meer has been appointed as the new Chief Operating Officer and Clerk to the Board of Trustees at SOAS University of London.

Khadir has been the Chief Operating Officer at the London Ambulance Service since September 2019, where he has led significant digitalisation and improvement projects, alongside meeting the challenges for the service during Covid-19.

Prior to this he worked as Chief Operating Officer for London within NHS England from 2016-2019 and before that held a series of senior leadership and delivery roles in NHS England, NHS London and a number of London local authorities. Khadir is an alumnus of Goldsmiths College where he studied Sociology as an undergraduate.

On appointing Khadir, Adam Habib, SOAS Director said:

“Throughout the recruitment process, Khadir has shown a real commitment to SOAS values of social justice and tackling systemic barriers to participation and achievement in HE, an impressive track record of delivery in complex public services, and a strong understanding of the sort of approach we need to take to realise the collective vision we are developing for SOAS in our new strategic plan.”

Khadir Meer said:

"It is a huge privilege to join the leadership team at SOAS in the coming months given SOAS’ global reputation and unique position in HE today. SOAS addresses issues of social inequality across the world - and brings the perspective and understanding of the Global South to bear on these issues. For me personally, as a second generation British Asian, it also has great emotional resonance, as an institution which connects so strongly with my own heritage, family history and place in the world. I look forward to playing my part in helping SOAS thrive and create a fairer and more sustainable world for the 21st century."

Khadir will be starting at SOAS in late September. Steve Cannon will continue as our Interim COO.