[2] In 1998, he began his academia career as an adjunct lecturer at the Syiah Kuala University, where he would fly to Aceh every Saturday to teach electrical engineering.

He resigned and decided to pursue a full-time career as a lecturer in 1999, despite receiving only one-twelfth of his prior wage as a regional manager.

[1] Khairul was entrusted to head the electrical engineering major and later the Tsunami and Disaster Mitigation Research Center (TDMRC).

Under his leadership, the TDMRC was involved in South-South knowledge exchange and was designated as a Science Center of Excellence by the Minister of Research of Technology.

[10] He was appointed to the position after scoring the highest in a selection process held by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology in September 2024.

[11][12] Two months later, he became the acting director general of higher education[13] after the appointment of the previous officeholder, Abdul Haris, to the Coordinating Ministry for Social Empowerment.