Director: Research Administration (P5) (Division for Research Development & Support: Research Administration Department) at University of Johannesburg

Job Description:

• The Research Administration department within the Division for Research Development and Support manages the University’s submission of accredited research and creative outputs to the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), as well as facilitating key administrative aspects of other research in support of UJ’s institutional research mission.

Responsibilities: 

• Drive the institution’s goal of increasing successful RO by overseeing & managing the compilation & final submission of RO to the Department of Education & Training (DHET) for subsidy, including the roles of strategic planning, decision-making, crisis management, risk management & advisory capabilities.
• Strategic planning and oversight of the Research Outputs (RO) project, including process design, policy interpretation, implementation, and continuous improvement of internal processes, quality assurance, decision-making, and risk management.
• Management of DHET submissions and audits, including planning and coordinating external audits of journal publications; liaising with auditors and stakeholders; addressing audit queries; and ensuring reports and submissions meet DHET requirements and deadlines.
• Risk, ethics, and compliance management, ensuring ethical RO submissions, protection of institutional reputation, mitigation of subsidy loss and legal risk, and compliance with POPIA in collaboration with the Compliance Office and HCM. Assuring that ROs are quality checked against cloning, predatory, and suspicious publishing behaviours.
• Stakeholder engagement and communication, including issuing calls and circulars to faculties and users, liaising with DHET, publishers, auditors, and other institutions, and preparing final correspondence and motivations for ED: RDS and DVC: Research sign-off.
• Quality assurance of research outputs, including screening outputs against DHET criteria, managing copyright and affiliation disputes, balancing quantity and quality, and reporting on “doubtful” outputs through the University Quality Assurance Committee (QAC).
• Encourage authors to create their ORCID or contact the Library and Information Centre to assist.
• Identify strategies & initiatives to strengthen relationship with internal & external stakeholders.
• Promote networking of researchers by collaborating with LIC to host a relevant publishing workshop.
• Promote the use of the Online Research Output Submission Tool (OROST).
• Initiatives to create awareness on predatory publishing.
• Drive processes to promote positive outcomes to contribute to the institution’s ranking.
• Execute the Scopus project to obtain publications omitted by researchers.

Minimum requirements

• A Master’s degree (NQF 9) in Public Management, Public Administration, Information Management, or any related field. A PhD will be an advantage.
• At least five (5) years of relevant experience in project management.
• Minimum of five (5) to eight (8) years’ experience in a tertiary education or higher education environment.
• Proven ability to apply administrative principles and procedures in a tertiary education or research management context.
• Demonstrated senior-level experience, including responsibility for strategic coordination, decision-making, or oversight functions.
• Strong networking and relationship-building skills, with the ability to engage effectively with stakeholders at institutional and national levels.
• Excellent understanding of WoS, Scopus, IBSS, DHET, DOAJ.

Recommendation:

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including developing presentations and report writing, providing advice, and support to Management.
• Strong experience in the Higher Education Sector.

Competencies and Behavioural Attributes:

• Excellent grasp of verification, validation, and audit-readiness processes of outputs.
• Strong analytical and crisis management abilities.
• Excellent understanding of citation metrics, impact indicators, and publication profiling.
• Managing disputes, appeals, and edge cases.
• Ability to work in a highly complex, multi-stakeholder environment.
• Ability to work in a pressurised environment and independently as well as in teams.
• High level of integrity and ethical standards.
• Meticulous attention to detail.
• Time management across immovable deadlines.
• Mentorship and capacity-building orientation.
• Ability to identify and mitigate risks.
• Outstanding planning and organisational skills.