Senior Research Specialist/Manager- Cape Town Durban or Pretoria at HSRC (Human Sciences Research Council)

Minimum Requirements    

• A doctorate (PhD) in the social or economic sciences or related disciplines;
• An established research career as evidenced by publications. For SRS/M – at least seven (7) peer reviewed publications in accredited academic journals some of which to be first / sole authored coupled with several years’ experience post PhD qualification
• Excellent writing skills necessary for publication in internationally accredited peer-reviewed academic  journals, and for drafting briefing papers and reports;
• Record of raising funds for research.
• An interest in one of the priority research areas of DCES will be an advantage;
• A sound grounding in research methods, especially quantitative approaches, will be a strong recommendation;
• The versatility to apply quantitative and qualitative methodologies to challenging subject matter across disciplinary boundaries will be advantageous
• Intellectual and personal integrity, imagination and drive;
• A strong user orientation, based on a commitment to social research that makes a difference;
• The ability and enthusiasm to engage as a team player in large scale multidisciplinary research projects, to manage research teams, and to mentor and train team members.

Duties & Responsibilities    

• Conducting high level scholarly research which meets the challenge of peer review, and has both strategic and policy relevance;
• Responding to requests for tenders and formulating grant applications;
• Managing research teams and large scale long term research projects;
• Proposal writing to secure external funds;
• Mentor fellow employees and emerging researchers;
• Deliver high-quality results and reports to meet set budgets and deadlines;
• Network with major users and funders of social science research to understand their research needs;
• Communicate research findings through modalities like policy briefs;
• Publish in refereed journals;
• Build national and international research links; and
• Manage staff and build capacity within the division.