Negm was newsroom chief editor at Al Jazeera and has also worked at Al Arabiyah as director of news and is currently general manager with the Middle East Broadcasting Corporation in Dubai.
He will work alongside launch director Gary Rogers, a former editor with BBC Television News and Five, who has launched TV channels in Asia and the Middle East.
The BBC's Arabic TV service was unveiled in October last year when the BBC said it was answering a "popular call for an Arabic TV service".
The new service will take on the likes of Al Jazeera, which is crossing from Arabic to English and launching its own English-language channel to take on the BBC and CNN.
Nigel Chapman, director of the BBC World Service, said: "Salah is joining a powerful team who will lead this channel to success. We are fortunate to have someone of his calibre and track record who understands both the competitive market in which our Arabic TV service will operate -- and the core BBC values which will underpin the new service."
Negm said that for him the job was the best in broadcasting, the launch of which he said would be massive challenge.
"I don't underestimate the challenge -- or the competition in a crowded media market place. But BBC Arabic will be the only major international news provider in the Middle East offering a service in Arabic across television, radio and online -- sharing views and perspectives across the region and the wider world with access to unrivalled resources for gathering and analysing news which will have wide appeal."
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