Principal Researcher: Road Construction Materials LTP and Geometric Design at Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)

Key responsibilities:

• Provide technical and strategic leadership to staff in the Pavement Design and Construction (PDC) research group by ensuring quality scientific outputs and the professional development and transformation of the group's scientific capacity;
• Promote a culture of scientific excellence in terms of both quality and delivery;
• Act as an ECSA or other statutory registration body mentor, supervisor, and referee for the SET team members;
• Lead innovation in road materials design and development;
• Lead research in the structural design of road pavements;
• As an expert in the field of PDC and associated research,  providing thought leadership to position the research group in this field;
• Proven contract and project management experience on medium sized projects, preferably involving multi-disciplinary research and development, both in South Africa and international and
• Effective Project Management.

Qualifications, skills and experience:

• A master's degree in civil engineering with at least ten years civil engineering experience specialisation in pavement design, with practical experience in road construction and geometric design.
• A PhD in civil engineering is preferable.
• Registered as Professional Engineer.
• A track record in publishing high quality peer-reviewed research papers and articles. 
• Research experience in Advanced Long Term Pavement Performance Testing. 
• A track record in attracting and securing funding to support a team and formulating strategies.
• Good understanding of the transport sector in South Africa.
• Excellent interpersonal and organisational skills.
• Ability to continuously disseminate research outputs in the form of technical papers.
• Ability to innovate and generate new knowledge.
• Must have good communication, presentation and writing skills.
• Must have the ability to work accurately, efficiently and independently as well as in a team. 
• Must be computer literate as well as have the ability to understand and use domain specialised software.
• Ability to work in a methodical manner is essential.
• Ability to carry out strategic stakeholder interactions at all levels.
• Ability to effectively present ideas, concepts, plan and procedures.
• Demonstrated track record of the ability to work accurately, independently and efficiently.