A vice-chancellor (commonly called a VC) serves as the chief executive of a university in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, other Commonwealth countries, and some universities in Hong Kong. In Scotland, Canada, and the Republic of Ireland, the chief executive of a university is usually called a principal or (especially in the Republic of Ireland) a president, with vice-chancellor being an honorific associated with this title, allowing the individual to bestow degrees in the absence of the chancellor. In Northern Ireland, a vice-chancellor of a university also usually has the subsidiary titles of either president or principal; the title is vice-chancellor and president at The Queen's University of Belfast.

The role of the VC contrasts with that of the chancellor, who is usually a prominent public figure who acts as a ceremonial figurehead only (e.g., the chancellor of the University of Cambridge for 36 years was Prince Philip), while the vice-chancellor is the chief executive. An assistant to a vice-chancellor is called a pro-vice-chancellor or deputy vice-chancellor; these were traditionally academics who were elected to take on additional responsibilities in addition to their regular teaching and research for a limited time, but are now increasingly commonly full-time appointments. In some universities (e.g. in Australian universities: Deakin University, Macquarie University), there are several deputy vice-chancellors subordinate to the vice-chancellor, with pro-vice-chancellor being a position at executive level ranking below deputy vice-chancellor.

The executive head of an Australian university is the vice-chancellor, who serves as the university equivalent of a chief executive officer. The vice-chancellor is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the university and reports directly to the University Council, which the chancellor heads. Assisting the vice-chancellor, the roles of deputy vice-chancellors and pro vice-chancellors have emerged to better manage the administrative overhead of the position.

Canadian university vice-chancellors almost always carry the title of "president (or equivalent) and vice-chancellor"; likewise, in Scotland, they hold the position of "principal and vice-chancellor" (as do a few Canadian universities such as Queen's University and the Royal Military College of Canada). In the Scottish practice, the one individual may have two sets of official robes, reflecting a continuing division of responsibilities between the two posts. The vice-chancellor's robes, therefore, should not be worn in the presence of the chancellor but should only be worn when deputizing for the chancellor.

Almost all chief executives of institutions with university status in England, Wales and Northern Ireland use vice-chancellor as their title. The full titles of the vice-chancellors of Oxford and Cambridge universities, used only in formal address, are "the Reverend the Vice-Chancellor" and "the Right Worshipful the Vice-Chancellor" respectively.

Additional titles are sometimes used alongside vice-chancellor in England and Wales. Most of these involve the use of either "president and vice-chancellor" or "vice-chancellor and president", and have arisen in the 21st century, although the title of the chief executive of Durham University as "vice-chancellor and warden" dates back to 1937 (and refers back to the use of "warden" as the title of the chief executive of the university from its foundation to 1909). Some examples of the use of "president" include the University of Manchester (in England), where the statutes define the title of the chief executive officer of the university as "President and Vice-Chancellor", Queen's University Belfast (in Northern Ireland) and Cardiff University (in Wales).

The chief executives of some member institutions of the University of London that are also universities in their own right also use the title vice-chancellor, e.g. Birkbeck and the London School of Economics (as "president and vice-chancellor")

In India, most central and state level universities have a titular head called chancellor who is either the President of India or an eminent person appointed by the Government of India (in central universities) or state governors (in state universities). The de facto head of a university is the vice-chancellor, the highest paid official of the university. Next in command are more than one pro-vice-chancellor in charge of academic as well as administrative and financial affairs. In deemed universities and institutes of national importance, the head of the institution is either called director general or director, the latter designation being more commonly used in academic terms in the subcontinent. Among the State Universities, The state ministers are de-facto pro-vice-chancellors of universities of professional Importance. Eg. The State Minister for Medical and Health Care will be the de-facto pro-vice-chancellor of the state medical university.